redfiona99

Nothing awful happened to the Vorenii. Admittedly the set-up for truly awful occured (and dear Memmio, I value your life for nothing if your man goes through with this), but nothing happened.

Which makes me sad, because something that features the battle of Philippi should not be filler material, because that was the last hope for a Republican Rome. The thing I have found interesting is how the series has avoided the Shakespeare-y bits (no ides of March, no 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen, no infamy, infamy or 'I come to bury Caesar not to praise him') which has lead to a different Brutus and Cassius than usual. Usual story has Brutus doing it for the best possible reasons (Brutus the most noble Roman etc), while Cassius is doing it for envy. While in this iteration, Cassius is the nobler of the two, while Brutus is a mimsy living in his ancestor's shadow and easily manipulated by his Mother.

PS: Dear makers of Rome - you will not get me to cry over Cassius by giving him character detail this late on.

However, you do get bonus points for getting details like the squares right. Much love. And turtle formation.

There was a gap in my knowledge of Roman history about exactly what happened to Cicero, but I remembered it being bad. I didn't quite remember how bad. But he did at least take it like a man. Again, trying to explain to once and present housemate that its entirely possible to conduct a nice, pleasant assasination didn't go over very well.

Idiot comment of the week from me - I'd really love to see James Purefoy and Atia as Anthony and Cleopatra - totally forgetting that Purefoy was playing Anthony at the time.

Anthony and the whole thing about 'if in doubt, attack'. I <3. And Agrippa charging after him. And Octavian really, really not following. Poor squeamish darling.

And the scene at the start, where he's declaiming that all of Brutus and Cassius's allies in Rome have to die. And having to suffer everyone else's additions. I also love how he assumed Atia was going to suggest Servilla.

Meanwhile Agrippa was busy signing his own death warrent with Octavia. Really, 3rd of Octavian's triumverate is bound to spill the beans eventually. And then everything is going to come crashing down. Although I'm still puzzled because I know that Octavia and Anthony marry, even if its only a strategic marriage, and I don't see how Octavian would gain more by marrying Octavia to him than his mother. Other than Antony might then have issue and surely that's the last thing Octavian wants.

And then of course there's Pullo's offspring, or Tiny Titus as I shall henceforth refer to the possible progeny. Dear HBO, when you end this with Vorenus and Pullo killing each other on the field of battle, or whatever other horrid way of getting rid of them that you have planned (I am really not looking forward to the end of the series because I have a feeling in my bones that our main heroes will not end well), if you hurt Eirene as well, I shall be most displeased. On that tip, dear Gaia - get the hell away from that house.

So I am both looking forward immensely to the last 4 episodes and feeling utter dread because I have grown attached to these characters and do not want to know what terrible fate HBO has in store for them.