All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S03E09_English

- [Male Narrator] Our
history is no more

than a series of
incredible events.

Every one of us can
influence its course.

(dramatic music)

The most infinitesimal
of our decisions

can influence the
future of humanity.

To know the past is
to foresee the future.

2018, Rome, restoration site
of the Temple of Jupiter.

Consecrated in 509 BC,

this monument is
among the world's

oldest places of
worship still active.

Soon, the inhabitants of
Italy would be able to pray

to their great god, Jupiter.

Upon the death of Julius Caesar,

nobody could manage
the necessary reforms

in order to turn the Roman
republic into an empire.

Deprived of its
tremendous influence,

Christianity has remained
confined to the Middle East

and has not succeeded
in asserting itself.

Nowadays, Jupiter is the
official religion of Italy.

Jupiter Optimus
Maximus is worshiped

by more than 100
million believers,

but none of that ever happened.

In 45 BC, a small grain of
sand will allow Augustus

to exceed to power and to turn
the republic into an empire.

January 11th in the year 49 BC,

at the head of the 13th Legion,

Caesar illegally enters Italy
before marching on Rome.

Five years later, the will
of the late Julius Caesar

designates his great
nephew, a certain Octavian,

as his legitimate heir.

September 2nd in the year 31
BC, the war fleet of Octavian

defeats Mark Antony's at
the naval battle of Actium.

These three events
are key moments

that mark the transformation
of the republic

into the Roman empire.

September 27th in
the year 52 BC.

The night was long.

Yesterday, the Gallic armies

rushed at the Roman
fortified camp.

At the last minute,

the legions of Julius
Caesar drove them back.

Today, the Roman
proconsul lays waiting

for the surrender of their
leader, Vercingetorix.

The Roman republic is
about to conquer Gaul.

Rome has come a long way,

and today, there's nothing
left of the small town

founded by the legendary
Romulus 700 years ago.

With its armed forces, Rome
has conquered all of Italy,

then this city was led

in new wars of conquest
by ambitious generals.

After its victory in
the city of Carthage,

its great rival, Macedonia,
Greece, Asia Minor and Syria

have each become
Roman provinces.

Endless victories have showered
the victorious generals

with gold and populated
Rome with slaves.

But an empire is not led
the same way a town is,

and the republic is overtaken

by the dazzling
success of its legions.

This tremendous expansion
has drastically changed

the balance of the
original city state.

The administration
of the new provinces,

sometimes thousands
of kilometers apart

from one another, is complicated

and threatens the old
republican organization.

Indeed, its institutions
have barely evolved

since their origins.

Power is still in the hands

of a handful of big
aristocratic families,

using their wealth
to rally partisans.

The more partisans
a family possesses,

the more influence on political

and military decisions it has.

It is the system of clientelism.

But in the first century BC,

the balance of powers is
undergoing massive changes.

The economy is disrupted.

Inequalities gain ground.

The people's dissatisfaction

degenerates into
violent revolts.

The republic lives in a
near continuous atmosphere

of civil war.

For ambitious and
charismatic men,

it is the opportunity
to free themselves

from the grip of great
aristocratic families

and to climb the rungs of power.

The people of Rome now seem
ready to follow the leader

who will promise them civil
peace, stability and order,

a man like Julius Caesar.

In 58 BC, then proconsul,
he gets a military command

outside Italy, at
the gates of Gaul,

an excellent occasion to earn
the military prestige he lacks

and to accumulate a
tremendous war treasure.

In less than eight years,

Caesar conquers the
numerous Gallic tribes,

crushes Vercingetorix's
uprising,

and imposes Roman law on Gaul.

In Rome, some begin to worry
about this ambitious general.

As soon as both the war
and his mandate are over,

he is commanded by the
senate to return his legions

and to come back to Rome
as an ordinary citizen.

If he obeys, he might be
kept in the background.

If he refuses, he makes
himself an outlaw.

On January 11 in the year
49 BC, he faces the Rubicon.

This river marks a
symbolic frontier.

Beyond it is the
sacred land of Italy.

No general has the right

to cross the Rubicon
with his armies.

Caesar faces his fate.

He decides to break the law

and advances on Rome at
the head of his legions.

The die is cast.

- [Female Narrator] Welcome
to the memory of humanity.

Every historical event,
regardless of how small,

is recorded and connected.

You only need to change one
to upset all the others.

Here, we are able
to control time,

analyze and compare
billions of events

in order to rewrite
history in infinite ways.

In Latin, res publica
means public affair.

It doesn't necessarily refer
to a democratic system.

Indeed, Rome is lead by a
narrow aristocratic class.

It is, therefore, an oligarchy.

For the Romans, the term
libertas for freedom

explain their government
system a lot better.

In the soul of the republic,
the libertas is embodied

by the union of the senate
and all the citizens,

summed up by the phrase
Senatus Populusque Romanus,

the famous SPQR.

Senators are chosen according
to their prestige and dignity.

They are looked upon as the
guardians of ancestral
customs.

They promulgate laws and
manage the financial field.

The representatives
of the population

elect the magistrates in
charge of executive power.

These senior
officials are endowed

with specific powers
for a determined period.

The consuls, the most
powerful of them, are invested

with the imperium, the civil
and military command power.

However, like every
magistrate,
the consuls must get rid

of their power once
their mandate has ended.

If they refuse to do so, they
are condemned by the senate,

the one and only
guarantor for legitimacy.

It is Caesar's choice.

He breaks the law and becomes,

by this very fact, an
enemy of the republic.

- [Male Narrator] For Caesar,
it is the moment of truth.

After he hunted down
the republican armies

across the whole
Mediterranean, it is here

on these Spanish slopes that
everything will be settled.

(dramatic music)
(men screaming)

On March 17 in the
year 45 BC in Munda,

Julius Caesar defeats
the republican army

and puts an end to a
dreadful civil war,

Caesareans against republicans,
legions against legions.

- [Man] Caesar!

- [Male Narrator] He won his bet

and goes back to Rome
as a conquering hero,

proclaiming himself the true
defender of the republic.

But the outcome is
not as yet certain.

Now, he must
legitimize his power.

Always abiding by the law,

he will search for
the slightest flaws

and exploit them
to his advantage.

In the year 49 BC,

he had already appointed
himself dictator,

a position endowed
with exceptional powers

normally used to deal
with emergency situations.

Caesar ignores the
six-month term of office

and makes his rule permanent,
but he doesn't stop there.

He also gets the right to
appoint the other magistrates,

governors, consuls and tribunes,

as well as the army command.

Caesar has all the powers
and dominates political life.

He commands dozens and
thousands of veteran
legionaries

entirely devoted to him,
appoints his nearest relatives

to key position, is
loved and respected

by the common people, and
above all, owns a huge wealth.

The senate under
control can do nothing

but notice the situation.

For the ancient senatorial
families, holders of power

since the beginnings of Rome,
Caesar is a real danger.

In the restricted circles
of the Roman aristocracy,

some people begin to
envisage assassination.

That day of March
in the year 44 BC,

while Caesar was on
his way to the Curia,

where the senate stands,

the ruler of Rome is at
the peak of his power.

Caesar seems invincible.

- [Female Narrator] Rome
wasn't built in a day.

Originally a monarchy,
it became a real republic

at the time of the
eviction of its last king,

Tarquin the Proud.

Romans have kept
a very traumatic,

almost mythical memory
from this period,

as well as a deep projection
of every form of monarchy.

Very attached to the
notion of libertas,

people have found new heroes
like Lucius Cincinnatus,

this citizen who is said
to have left his field

to lead the armies and save
the
homeland from a great peril.

Endowed with the extraordinary
and almost unlimited powers

of the dictatorship, he
is said to have defeated

the enemies of Rome then
given back his powers

to the senate before returning
to the plowing of his field

as a modest citizen.

With the passing
centuries, he has become

a semi-legendary paragon
of virtue and humility,

an example of devotion
to the public good.

Numerous Roman politicians
will later claim

to be followers of this man.

As for Caesar, he does
precisely the opposite.

He becomes an enemy of the
republic by advancing on Rome,

subjugating the senate,

then seizing the
power for his own use.

For many people, the
ghost of Tarquin the Proud

and of the monarchy threatens
again their beloved republic.

- [Male Narrator] Stabbed
to death 23 times,

Caesar lies on the
ground of the Curia,

assassinated in the
senate by 20 conspirators.

All the other
senators have fled,

afraid they might be
suspected of complicity.

Among conspirators,

there was a strong
evidence of indecision.

They first think about
getting rid of the corpse

in the Tiber, then
give up the idea.

Surprisingly, nobody
seems to have planned

what to do once the
dictator is dead.

Mark Antony, Caesar's loyal
lieutenant and a veteran

of all his campaigns,
jumps at the opportunity.

At Caesar's funeral, he
delivers
a moving funeral oration

that galvanizes the masses.

Mad with rage and
thirsting for revenge,

the inhabitants of Rome are
getting increasingly angry.

Caesar's assassins find
themselves forced to flee.

From now on, Mark Antony
is free to do as he pleases

and cleverly acts as
Caesar's successor.

But the assassinated
ruler has written a will.

In this rigorously legal
document, it is stipulated

that he adopts Gaius
Octavius, his great nephew,

and that he bequeaths
his wealth to him.

A little known
18-year-old young man

becomes the legatee of the
prestigious name of Caesar.

Mark Antony gets the
military prestige

and the people's favor.

Octavian inherits
Caesar's name and wealth,

at least on paper.

Indeed, the young
Octavian is, in fact,

deprived of his
legacy by Mark Antony.

Between the two successors,
conflict is inevitable.

During this time, Caesar's
assassins take advantage

of the situation to raise
a large army in the east

in the name of the republic.

In the face of danger,

Octavian and Mark Antony are
forced to forego their
conflict

and seal a treaty of alliance.

Rome lapses into
civil war again.

(men scream)

During the dreadful Battle
of Philippi in 42 BC,

Mark Antony proves
that he is indeed

Caesar's worthy military heir.

Once again, the
republicans are wiped out

and Caesar's assassins are
forced to commit suicide.

Two years later, in Rome,

Mark Antony and
Octavian's common ovation

gives the impression
that both men get along.

Obviously, it is an illusion.

An agreement gives the
east to Mark Antony,

who lives a royal lifestyle
there with Queen Cleopatra.

Octavian, the ruler of the west,

sets up a smear campaign to
ruin his rival's reputation.

It is thus said that
Mark Antony would disown

his lawful wife for the
beautiful Egyptian queen.

Bewitched, the general,
weakened
by Cleopatra's charisma,

would have deserted Rome
and behaved like a monarch.

In front of a horrified senate,

Octavian reads
Mark Antony's will,

which was seized illegally.

The entire west sides with him.

But Octavian is a cautious man

and he doesn't openly attack
Caesar's former lieutenant.

He claims to be the
defender of Rome

and declares war
only on Cleopatra.

Hostilities are reopened.

- [Female Narrator] We are
now at a point of divergence.

A point of divergence
is a key moment

across roads in our history
where our world can swing

from one side or the other.

In his will, Caesar decides
to adopt his great nephew

and to bequeath his name,

his prestige and
his wealth to him.

The dictator has probably
detected in Octavian

the necessary competence and
intelligence to take over.

Without this will, Mark Antony,

who already had a very
strong popular support,

wouldn't have had
a serious rival.

However, as brilliant as he was,

there's a strong chance
that the republic

wouldn't have turned into an
empire under his authority.

It might have stagnated
then declined.

Yet the empire has constantly
spread its Greco-Latin culture

and its laws, but also
the Christian faith,

which is permanently adopted
during the fourth century.

From that moment on,

Christianity has become the
great religion of the west,

to the detriment of the
polytheistic pagan worship

nowadays almost
entirely extinct.

It is very likely that
the Christian faith

would have been restricted
to the Middle East.

Today, the western world would
still be deeply polytheist.

In Rome, Jupiter and Venus,

and not Jesus Christ,
would be worshiped.

- [Male Narrator] September
2nd in the year 31 BC,

Western Greece, near
the town of Actium.

The two strong fleets
confront each other

in a huge fratricidal battle.

Mark Antony and Cleopatra

face the tactical
genius of Agrippa,

Octavian's brilliant general,

the final great
battle of civil wars.

On the evening of an
indecisive confrontation,

it seems that Mark Antony,
who has lost a big part

of his fleet and of his
legions, has failed for good.

One year later, in
Alexandria, abandoned by all,

he has no other choice
than committing suicide.

The war is over.

Octavian won.

He restored order
and civil peace

in the republic plagued by
disturbances during 18 years.

However, he knows that he
can still lose everything

and end up like his great uncle.

Octavian is not Caesar.

A cautious man, he keeps
on wearing his breastplate

during the sessions
of the senate.

He knows that even if
Romans are fiercely opposed

to the very idea of
monarchy, they would support

a strong leader regaining
control of the senate

and ending the
chaos of civil wars.

He cleverly gives back
his extraordinary powers

to the senate during
an eloquent speech,

obvious proof of
his complete respect

towards the republican
institutions

and of his love for the
sacrosanct libertas.

The bet was won.

The senate, seeing in
him the man it needs,

the new Cincinnatus,
begs him to keep on

serving the republic and
offers him a 10-year imperium.

The senators even bestowed
the title of Augustus,

the one whose word
is sacred on him.

It is more than a simple name.

From now on, Octavian
embodies the auctoritas,

the moral authority
which makes of him

a greater human being.

He becomes the guardian
of the imperium,

the first among the
citizens, the Princeps.

To the rapturous
applause of the crowd

Imperator Caesar
Divi Filius Augustus

becomes the undisputed
master of Rome

at the senate's request.

Every institution is retained.

People keep on voting.

The senate continues to gather.

The republic remains in power.

The old magistratures, now all
under Augustus's authority,

are all carefully maintained.

That's how the
republic has died out,

without any official
proclamation

and has handed over
power to the empire.

- [Female Narrator] Augustus
has managed an amazing feat.

Even though he cloaked himself

in the role of the
republic's shield,

he succeeded in depriving
the latter of its substance.

If he had failed to do so,

he would have been remembered
as a tyrant or a usurper.

A similar situation is to be
found in the medieval Japan

at the turn of the 17th century.

At that time, the
country had been plagued

by decades of
dreadful civil wars.

Ieyasu from the clan
Tokugawa decides to rebel,

officially to defend
the emperor's interest,

but in fact, to seize power.

Having won the Sekigahara
battle an extremist,

he becomes shogun and seizes
the power for his dynasty.

It is the beginning

of a long period of
civil peace, the Edo era.

Ieyasu and his entire clan
came very close to infamy.

Both Caesar and Ieyasu
have risked their future

on a throw of the dice.

As for Augustus, he hasn't
left anything to chance.

- [Male Narrator] Rome
in the year 14 AD.

In his palace, the
75-year-old emperor

is living his last hours.

Even though his long
40-year-old reign

began with violent civil wars,

it also witnessed art,
sciences
and architecture booming.

The eternal city,
capital of the empire

has been largely rebuilt

and enriched with
prestigious buildings.

Augustus inherited a brick town,

which he turned
into a marble city.

The borders of the empire
have been pushed back

thanks to new conquests.

Augustus's legions, subjected
to an iron discipline

and equipped with
the best weapons,

have won great victories, but
also encountered a few defeats

such as the one of Teutoburg

in the distant and dark
forests of Germania.

After the beginning of a reign

which was tainted with
violence and brutality,

Augustus gave a new
image of himself,

the portrait of a thoughtful,
fair and stable emperor.

His motto, festina
lente, translated into
make haste slowly,

reveals his true nature.

He was clever enough to
surround
himself with worthy people

such as the General Agrippa
or the well-known Maecenas

who devoted a big
amount of his wealth

to the promotion
of men of letters.

Despite the deep
aversion of Romans

to the monarchy,
Augustus even succeeded

in gradually imposing
the idea of a successor.

The empire seems eternal.

In fact, it is
only the beginning.

At its peak in the
second century AD,

its territory will stretch

to five million
square kilometers,

where more than 60
million inhabitants

will live in peace
under the Pax Romana.

Two centuries later,
waves of barbarians

coming from the north of Europe

will flood over the
imperial borders.

Overcome by force of numbers,
undermined by bribery,

budget deficit and
conflicts of succession,

the empire will totter,
but that is another story.

- [Female Narrator] Augustus
has never been an emperor

as we understand
this title nowadays.

He contented himself with
controlling every key
position,

gathering all the powers.

It is as if in our
present day democracies,

only one man could be
president for life,

could appoint the
Prime Minister,

the director of finance
in the central bank,

the military chief of staff,

the first secretary
of the syndicates,

and the chief of
religious affairs.

A clever man, Augustus has
succeeded in offering Rome

security and stability in
exchange for supreme power.

Augustus's great gift was
using
every tool at his disposal

to consolidate his power,

war, political action,

but also plot and manipulation
of public opinion.

He has even often showed himself

implacable, cruel and merciless.

However, after the came to
power
after decades of civil war,

he has constantly sought
peace by all possible means.

He hasn't simply seized
power for his own use,

but also, he strove
for Rome's greatness,

adopting the utmost strictness
and an austere way of life.

He gave the Pax Romana,
a common future,

and a tremendous empire to the
peoples of the Mediterranean,

a 1,000-year-old empire,
the Roman empire.

(dramatic music)