This show was great. Pretty much every event I checked was depicted exactly as (we think) it happened. Even the first scene where Lucius saves drunk Titus was inspired by some entry in Caesar’s diary.
The actual event was significantly different - the only thing they really share is the names of the two people in question. But other than that (and the needless slander of Atia), the attention to historical detail and nuance was astounding, easily one of the best/most accurate Roman media out there, up with I, Claudius.
You’re right, only the names are shared. I mis-remembered that the rescue in the battle was an actual event. The characters are clearly fictional but using real names was a nice detail.
You remember correctly that the rescue in battle was an actual event! But not nearly in the circumstances depicted.
In the actual event, both of them were centurions, and both trying to outdo each other in feats of daring and valor during a long and eventless siege by Gauls. They were both being ‘Pullo’ in the opening scene, in a sense. By daring, they keep the morale of their men up during long periods of inactivity. Centurions were expected to do so when circumstances allowed - no breaking ranks in the middle of battle, but in quiet moments, starting trouble on your lonesome (or in a small group) was perfectly valid as long as it didn’t endanger the unit (or as long as it wasn’t completely reckless and throwing your life away).
That kind of ‘combat by champion’ was very common in societies of that era, not to decide entire battles, but as small events before the big clash which could invigorate or dampen the spirits of the army as a whole. Centurions, as men from the ranks who were expected to be the hardest motherfuckers around, were to some degree expected to participate in daring actions like that, to reassure their men that they were being led by example (centurions also had horrific casualty rates).
Anyway, if memory serves, in one of these skirmishes Pullo is hit by a javelin that narrowly misses impaling him, but fucks with his scabbard and stops him from drawing his sword as the enemy rushes him. Vorenus, who was watching up til this point (rather than assisting, since the two were rivals for promotion, and the point was each trying to show off their individual valor), rushes out of the fortifications alone to cover Pullo until he can unfuck his sword, saving his life. As the two of them withdraw, Vorenus loses his footing and almost gets killed by the Gauls, but Pullo valiantly saves Vorenus’s life in turn, helping him make it back to the safety of the fortifications.
Their enmity ended after that, and everyone clapped the onlooking legionaries cheered to see a couple of brave centurions save one another and ice a half-dozen barbarians in the process.
The show dynamic between Vorenus and Pullo is fantastic though, unironically, I’m glad they went with it instead.
This show was great. Pretty much every event I checked was depicted exactly as (we think) it happened. Even the first scene where Lucius saves drunk Titus was inspired by some entry in Caesar’s diary.
The actual event was significantly different - the only thing they really share is the names of the two people in question. But other than that (and the needless slander of Atia), the attention to historical detail and nuance was astounding, easily one of the best/most accurate Roman media out there, up with I, Claudius.
I found the note from imdb I remembered:
You’re right, only the names are shared. I mis-remembered that the rescue in the battle was an actual event. The characters are clearly fictional but using real names was a nice detail.
You remember correctly that the rescue in battle was an actual event! But not nearly in the circumstances depicted.
In the actual event, both of them were centurions, and both trying to outdo each other in feats of daring and valor during a long and eventless siege by Gauls. They were both being ‘Pullo’ in the opening scene, in a sense. By daring, they keep the morale of their men up during long periods of inactivity. Centurions were expected to do so when circumstances allowed - no breaking ranks in the middle of battle, but in quiet moments, starting trouble on your lonesome (or in a small group) was perfectly valid as long as it didn’t endanger the unit (or as long as it wasn’t completely reckless and throwing your life away).
That kind of ‘combat by champion’ was very common in societies of that era, not to decide entire battles, but as small events before the big clash which could invigorate or dampen the spirits of the army as a whole. Centurions, as men from the ranks who were expected to be the hardest motherfuckers around, were to some degree expected to participate in daring actions like that, to reassure their men that they were being led by example (centurions also had horrific casualty rates).
Anyway, if memory serves, in one of these skirmishes Pullo is hit by a javelin that narrowly misses impaling him, but fucks with his scabbard and stops him from drawing his sword as the enemy rushes him. Vorenus, who was watching up til this point (rather than assisting, since the two were rivals for promotion, and the point was each trying to show off their individual valor), rushes out of the fortifications alone to cover Pullo until he can unfuck his sword, saving his life. As the two of them withdraw, Vorenus loses his footing and almost gets killed by the Gauls, but Pullo valiantly saves Vorenus’s life in turn, helping him make it back to the safety of the fortifications.
Their enmity ended after that, and
everyone clappedthe onlooking legionaries cheered to see a couple of brave centurions save one another and ice a half-dozen barbarians in the process.The show dynamic between Vorenus and Pullo is fantastic though, unironically, I’m glad they went with it instead.