ROME: THE STOLEN EAGLE {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this drama series about ancient Rome during the first century B.C., focusing on its transition from Republic to Empire. In this episode, which opens in 52 B.C., a brief overview of the history of Pompey and Caesar’s rule is given, explaining that Caesar has been fighting the Gallic Wars for eight years and that his popularity with the people worries many in Rome, who think he may try to make himself a king. Two of Caesar’s soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, fight the Gauls in a fierce battle, but the reckless Pullo breaks ranks and goes tearing off on his own, to stern Vorenus’ great displeasure. He has Pullo flogged and sentenced to death for disobedience as Mark Antony looks on. After the battle, the King of the Gauls comes and is forced to kneel before Caesar, effectively ending the war. As the Roman soldiers gleefully loot the town, Caesar receives a letter that his daughter, and Pompey’s wife, has died in childbirth, and he grieves for both his child and the loss of the familial tie between himself and Pompey. He soon parades back into Rome, flouting the spoils of war.
Timon, a hired man, brings a pure white horse to Atia of the Julii, who rewards him for the deed in her bedroom. She tells her teenaged son, Gaius Octavian, to take the horse as a gift to his great-uncle, Caesar. He has doubts about going alone in the dangerous country, but she promises he will have slaves to protect him. Elsewhere, in the Senate, the politicians argue fiercely about Caesar, with Cato condemning him as a criminal. Cicero attempts to keep the peace, but it goes badly. Later, Scipio introduces his daughter Cornelia to the newly-widowed Pompey, and Cato takes Pompey aside to implore him to renounce Caesar before it is too late. Pompey begins to consider the idea when he learns that Caesar is to receive the white horse that he himself wanted.
In Gaul, Caesar’s standard, a golden eagle, is stolen by thieves. Caesar hears of the robbery and discusses the matter with Marcus Junius Brutus, whom he regards as a son. Soon, the thieves come upon Octavian and his party, and they kidnap him and his horse. Mark Antony appeals to Lucius Vorenus for help recovering the stolen eagle, and Vorenus’ cruel interrogation methods prove successful when a crucified Gaul says that the “Blue Spaniards” have the standard. Vorenus reluctantly frees Pullo from jail and takes him along on the quest to retrieve it, stating that he doubts there is any chance of recovering the item and that they will be disgraced when they fail, so he chose someone who was already condemned to accompany him.
Brutus greets his mother, Servilia, and gives her a letter from Caesar, her former lover. At dinner, Brutus and Pompey discuss Caesar and the standard, and Brutus suggests that Caesar’s men are disheartened and “mutinous” because of the theft. In a letter, Caesar tells Atia to find a new bride for Pompey as a gift from him, and after performing an elaborate ceremony of blood to protect Octavian, Atia plans to have her daughter, Octavia, divorced from her husband, Glabius, and married off to Pompey as soon as possible. The girl objects at first, but Atia insists, and Pompey warms to the idea at once.
As they make camp for the night, Pullo and Vorenus discuss women, and Vorenus reveals that he is married, which is unusual for a legionary, and that he has not seen his wife in nearly eight years. The next morning, they discover that they have been robbed, but soon come upon a band of thieves, and they attack and take their horses and loot. They soon discover that the thieves were holding Gaius Octavian hostage, and he tells them they will be rewarding for rescuing him. When he learns of their quest, however, he explains that losing the eagle was actually beneficial to Caesar, because it fooled Pompey into thinking him weak, meaning that he will attack first and start the war that Caesar wants. Vorenus and Pullo are startled, and even more so when they find the eagle amongst the thieves’ possessions. They bring it, and Octavian, to Caesar, and the soldiers celebrate. Caesar realizes that Pompey has turned on him and that the war between them has commenced. Pompey, in turn, presents his new bride to the people—Cornelia, Scipio’s daughter. Atia is enraged that he turned down Octavia, and the two of them swear vengeance against him. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 28, 2005 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:90577
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2005-2007
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frank Doelger … Executive Producer
- Anne Thomopoulos … Executive Producer
- William J. MacDonald … Executive Producer, Created by
- John Milius … Executive Producer, Created by
- Bruno Heller … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Stan Wlodkowski … Co-Executive Producer
- Jim Dyer … Co-Executive Producer
- Eugene Kelly … Co-Executive Producer
- Eleanor Moran … Producer
- Marco Valerio Pugini … Producer
- Mark McGann … Co-Producer
- Bruce Everett … Co-Producer
- Robert Papazian … Co-Producer
- James Hirsch … Co-Producer
- Frank Yablans … Co-Producer
- Todd London … Co-Producer
- Michael Apted … Consulting Producer, Director
- Jeff Beal … Music by
- Kevin McKidd … Cast, Lucius Vorenus
- Ray Stevenson … Cast, Titus Pullo
- Polly Walker … Cast, Atia of the Julii
- Kenneth Cranham … Cast, Pompey Magnus
- Lindsay Duncan … Cast, Servilia of the Junii
- Tobias Menzies … Cast, Marcus Junius Brutus
- Kerry Condon … Cast, Octavia of the Julii
- Karl Johnson … Cast, Porcius Cato
- Indira Varma … Cast, Niobe
- David Bamber … Cast, Marcus Tullius Cicero
- Max Pirkis … Cast, Gaius Octavian
- Lee Boardman … Cast, Timon
- Nicholas Woodeson … Cast, Posca
- Suzanne Bertish … Cast, Eleni
- Paul Jesson … Cast, Scipio
- James Purefoy … Cast, Mark Antony
- Ciaran Hinds … Cast, Gaius Julius Caesar
- Manfredi Aliquo' … Cast, Castor
- Lydia Biondi … Cast, Merula
- John Boswell … Cast, Curial Magistrate
- Allan Caister-Pearce … Cast, Head Priest
- Giovanni Calcagno … Cast, Vercingetorix
- Fabio Carfora … Cast, Sextus
- Alessio di Cesare … Cast, Rubio
- Lydia Leonard … Cast, Julia
- Russell Mabey … Cast, Crucified Man
- Steven Matthew … Cast, Prisoner
- Ian McNeice … Cast, Newsreader
- Bob Mercer … Cast, Slave Trader
- Gerard Monaco … Cast, Lyco
- Matt Patresi … Cast, Durio
- Anna Patrick … Cast, Cornelia
- Roberto Purvis … Cast, Glabius
- Bart Ruspoli … Cast, Antony's Tribune
- Ted Rusoff … Cast, Strabo
- Alan Stocks … Cast, Andros