if you've got an impulse let it out

[enthusiastick]

I'm continuing to enjoy HBO's Rome, because like many of the things I enjoy its basically a soap opera for geeks. I find myself having increasingly complicated analytical thoughts on it, a sure sign that I like it a lot and also am completely out of my mind.

For example: one of the things I enjoy in the show most is Octavian, Atia's son, the somewhat effeminate mama's boy who pouts his way from one uncomfortable scene to the next. And it occurred to me that, while he's clearly intended to be a relatively major character, a large part of my enjoyment of him comes from knowing who Octavian is. I suppose I should post a spoiler warning, but really this is all ancient history (literally, and I apologize for the terrible pun), so I won't.

For those non-Classics geeks in the audience, Octavian grows up to be Caesar Augustus, an emperor of such staggering success that they renamed a month in his honor. He initiated the Pax Romana, a policy that's devastating to Rome in the long term but politically quite advanced, and generally he's a much bigger deal as actual emperors go than Julius Caesar could ever hope for. Julius Caesar, after all, was brutally stabbed to death relatively early in his imperial career.

And so the question arises, does the average viewer of Rome know who Octavian is and will be? I suppose its possible. After all, the average person actually bothering to watch and enjoy this show is quite likely a geek. But for me its positively fascinating to see the historical character in this light. I had never considered, for example, how psychologically damaging it must have been having Atia for a mother. Augustus is clearly a pretty screwed up adult; volumes of both fiction and non-fiction have been written about that. But its neat to see him as an adolescent, before he was anybody except Caesar's nephew.

This whole line of thinking arose because for the past couple of episodes there's been no Octavian goodness. He got sent off to boarding school by his mama, and hasn't been onscreen the whole time. The show keeps lurching forward in time unevenly. In the last episode we went from Caesar's arrival in Egypt all the way up to the birth of his son by Cleopatra (another character they've done a really fascinating take on). The scene cut was a little jarring, and made it seem like within 5 minutes of sleeping with her Caesar had an infant in his hands.

I'm really worried, therefore, that when and if they decide to bring Octavian back into play they'll have recast him with an older actor, since all this time has passed. That would make me very sad. The fellow playing him now (who is basically a slash fic writer's dream come true) is one of the reasons I like HBO's take on the character so much, and I'm not happy with the idea of someone else mucking him up. So I'm simultaneously hoping for and dreading Octavian's return.

Comments

[loopygirl.livejournal.com]

Heh - I went to the Art Institute two weeks ago, and spent quite a lot of time in their Roman exhibit. They have a very fantastic sculpture of Augustus next to a brief display recapping his accomplishments. It was really hard not to salute the statue.