The entertainment business is attached to the Roman Empire almost as much as it is to serial killers.
Hardly a year passes without a new series on one or the other.
This summer it’s Those About To Die, giving us Anthony Hopkins in a toga as the Emperor Vespasian nearing the end of his days and considering who will inherit his throne.
Perhaps it’s the amount of time that has passed but isn’t it curious that the Roman Empire has escaped the opprobrium levelled at the later European colonial powers?
It’s difficult to imagine a new drama based on ‘the glory’ of French, Spanish, British, Portuguese or Dutch expansionism.
But back to the Amazon Prime offering. It’s AD 69 and Rome is in a bad state. It’s the year of the Four Emperors and populism and corruption rule in the seat of the great empire.
The Flavian dynasty is deeply unpopular, particularly when on occasion it can’t feed its people, and Vespasian’s two sons, Titus and Domitian, compete for the top job.
Titus is the warrior prince who seems well suited to the role, but his scheming and venal brother Domitian is making moves.
Vespasian, who feels his demise is nearing, favours appointing Titus but he warns his son that he must ditch his Judean lover.
Vespasian made his name as a general in the invasion of Britain and later by crushing the Jewish rebellion in Judea. However, when he was selected as emperor by the Roman legions in 69 he handed over the siege of Jerusalem to Titus and he strongly disapproves of his son hooking up with a Judean queen.
But this isn’t Vespasian’s only concern. The grain ship hasn’t arrived, again, and the masses march to the royal place looking for blood.
Domitian comes up with the answer – a diversionary tactic of the city’s favourite sport, chariot racing.
The racing, and betting on it, are the main interests of the city, but in traditional swords and sandals style, Those About To Die, also gives us plenty of politics and sex.
Domitian leans into the idea of distracting the masses and leads the building of the Colosseum which he fills with gladiators and animals from across the lands conquered and subdued by the Roman legions.
“The crowd wants to see blood and they want to be close enough to see it,” Domitian tells his father, although he could be speaking as an Amazon Prime producer.
Among the sub-plots are a group of Spanish horsemen trying to establish themselves in the city of opportunity; a north African woman who has followed her son and two daughters to Rome after they were enslaves by legionnaires; and the daughters for stabbing a Roman soldier who tried to rape one of them and her son for attempting a rescue.
Then there’s bookmaker Tenax, an ambitious operator who sees no reason that he can’t one day be emperor just like Vespasian who came from a humble background.
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This is the stew in which Those About To Die plays out and it does it with enough pizzazz to maintain your attention for 10 episodes.
Hopkins lends some gravitas, but this is a production focused on hitting targets rather than producing great drama.
For that reason, it’s chosen the very well covered Roman era of gladiators, the Colosseum and political instability.
Directed by the man behind Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, Those about To Die was never going to be short of entertainment.
