Original subtitles

Dear me, I've never seen so many long faces.

It is customary to be sad at a funeral.

Well, the Republic is old and infirm.

Death can be a merciful release in such cases.

You do not mean that.

You do not believe that.

You of all people shouldn't joke about tyranny.

I am deadly serious.

It is in all our interests to be reconciled with Caesar now, for the good of Rome.

The good of Rome, indeed.

As soon as this... farce is done, I shall retire to the country

and wait for the city to come to its senses.

It is the only honorable thing to do.

My dear friend, we have no honor.

If we had honor, we would be with Cato and Scipio in the afterlife.

The Senate will hear Marcus Tullius Cicero.

On this eve of his most glorious triumph,

I move that Gaius Julius Caesar be made Imperator

and granted absolute power over Rome for a period of ten years.

As some of you know, Caesar and I have had our disagreements.

However that may be, he has shown himself

to be as wise and merciful in victory as he was invincible in battle.

Let this be an end to division and civil strife.

I willingly pledge my loyalty to him and I urge you all to do the same.

I heartily commend the motion proposed by Marcus Tullius Cicero.

The motion is carried unanimously.

Many of you here today fought against me.

Many of you wished me dead.

Many of you perhaps still do.

But I hold no grudges and seek no revenge.

I demand only this...

that you join with me in building a new Rome...

a Rome that offers justice, peace and land to all its citizens,

not just the privileged few.

Support me in this task and old divisions will be forgotten.

Oppose me...

and Rome will not forgive you a second time.

Senators...

the war is over.

Domina.

Atia of the Julii is here.

Atia?

Here now.

She wishes to see you.

Atia... in my house?

My dear Atia.

How lovely to see you.

My poor friend.

What have they done to you?

You're so sweet. Come sit down.

I'm very sorry I haven't visited sooner but I was far too upset to face seeing you.

The very idea, it's too sinister.

A noblewoman stripped naked and beaten on the streets.

Horrible. Horrible.

Tell me truly, how are you now?

I'm recovering very well.

Have they found the culprits?

They have not but justice will find them eventually.

I'm quite sure of that.

Will you have some lemon water?

That would be lovely.

- Brutus is well, I hope. - He is.

It's so wise of him to choose submission to my dear uncle.

I was very afraid he might try some foolish act of bravery.

Men are so silly about their honor. No?

I've come to ask you if you will sit with me at the triumph.

Even though I'm being besieged by sycophants asking for space, I thought no,

if someone were to have first choice, it should be my dear friend Servilia

who's been through so much pain.

That is very thoughtful of you...

but I think I shall not be well enough.

Well, that's a pity.

- Are you sure? - I am.

- Well, if you change your mind... - I will let you know.

People tell me that Octavia's left the city but no one knows where.

I hope there's nothing amiss.

Not at all. She's staying at my cousin's villa in Paestum,

mooning over some young fool of a poet she's met there.

She'll be back in time for the triumph.

Brother. What are you doing here?

I've come to take you home.

- This is my home. - This? This is not your home.

I'm happy here.

I don't believe you. In any case, your place is with your family.

Bad enough to run away.

But to these people? This isn't the healthy way of life.

You call our family healthy?

Our corruption stinks in the nostrils of Mother Earth.

This is your foreign priests talking.

They're frauds. They only want your money.

Priests are nobody. They're just servants here.

This is the Great Mother's house. The Great Mother wants nothing from me.

- I'm a worm in her sight. - You are not a worm.

You are a daughter of the Julii. It looks very ill, you running away like this.

Reflects badly on the whole family if it were known publicly.

For a moment I thought you wanted me back because you missed me.

Don't be silly. We've missed you terribly.

Your mother has missed you. Even the servants and animals have.

And you?

And I.

I've missed you.

I can't go back.

What's done is done.

I forgive you. Your mother forgives you.

You forgive me? Mother forgives me?

What if I don't forgive?

Whatever you think she may have done,

consider the possibility she did it out of love for you.

I'll never forgive her.

Be that as it may, your forgiveness is irrelevant.

You must come home.

I'm sorry.

I will not.

I don't want to use force.

The priests will protect me.

They won't. I've bought them.

Quite cheaply.

I beg you, let me stay here.

What have you done?

Fellow citizens of the Aventine!

Fellow citizens!

Fellow citizens of the Aventine!

My name is Lucius Vorenus,

tribe of Stellatina, veteran of the 13th Legion.

Some of you may know me.

I bring you good news.

Caesar has put an end to patrician tyranny

and will ensure that the common people be heard once more.

Go back to Gaul, ginger knob.

I'll not deny it, I have a Gallic look about me but I'm as solid Roman as you are.

I've shed blood for Rome. My father shed blood for Rome.

As did his father and his father before him.

My wife... my wife was born here in the Aventine!

I am as solid a Roman as any man here!

If I am elected as your local magistrate, I promise on Jupiter's stone

to strive to make this an era of peace, prosperity and justice for all Aventine.

Tomorrow Caesar holds a triumph,

a symbol of his love for the people of Rome.

- Cack! - Why don't you shut up, you...

Ladylike, madam, ladylike.

Five days of feasting and games as appreciation

for the trust and support the people of Rome have given Caesar.

Freedom, more like! We've given him our freedom and our honor!

I would not be standing here on Caesar's slate if I did not believe, if I did not know,

that he has only the Republic's best interests at heart.

A new era. Tomorrow's triumph, a new era.

With tomorrow's triumph, a new era begins.

For all Aventine. For all Rome.

- It was good. You did well. - Thank you.

King of all the Gauls.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

It does.

Goodbye, old friend.

Do your best to tidy him up. He looks dead already.

Found you at last, you bastards. Been through the whole army.

The famous Titus Pullo. To what do we owe this honor? You come to wish us luck?

Listen, I've got most of my kit but I've lost my crest.

Surely someone's got a spare, you think?

It's not like I lost my sword.

You can't march with us. You left the Legion. You signed yourself out.

I know, but... 13th forever...

It's enlisted men only. You're a civilian.

Civilian? I'm the hero of the whole mumping Legion, I am.

I saved your skin. Shouldn't have to remind you of that.

If you want to sign up, that's a different story.

You can march with us till your feet are nubs.

- Haven't I spilled enough blood for the 13th? - Don't be like that.

I don't fucking make the rules, do I? I follow them.

It's enlisted men only. Don't push it.

If you come by after, I'll stand you some drinks...

Stand me some drinks? I've got better things to do than go drinking with the likes of you.

Well, walk on then, citizen.

Walk on!

Right, ladies, on your feet! Time to look like soldiers!

Is this too much?

- Just enough, I'd say. - I don't know.

I think it's too purple. I want to suggest purple without actually wearing it.

It will look less loud in direct light.

- What do you think? - Jupiter in life.

Resemblance is uncanny.

What do you find amusing?

It's absurd, isn't it?

Dressing up, playing at being God?

Playing? I'm not playing.

This is not a game.

As you wish. It is not a game.

Something more red.

- Is the canal around the circus filled? - It is.

- It was not last night. - I saw to it at first light.

Good. Make sure the elephants are given their emetics in good time.

I don't want my chariot slowed by giant turds.

You are looking much better.

I am not better, however.

Well, I must get you out to the country, perhaps.

Some fresh air and sunshine would do you good.

This lying abed is not healthy.

I rise when I have reason to do so.

Don't loiter here pretending to be solicitous.

Go to your friend's obscene display.

Mother...

Go.

Go.

Do you want some color on your cheeks?

Please, darling, say something.

This horrid silent business, it's most upsetting.

- What did they do to you? - They did nothing.

She speaks. Here's a start.

They were very kind to me.

Kind enough to let you hack away at yourself like a side of pork.

My poor little grump.

I didn't realize until now how much I missed your gloomy presence around the place.

Domina, there's a beggar at the door who says he is Quintus,

natural son of Pompey.

He asks for your son's protection.

Send him away.

- Take your hands off me! - Get out!

Brutus!

Scared to talk to me, coward? You're a coward, Brutus!

I swear by Janus, Jupiter and Juno...

I swear on the grave of my father,

I, Quintus Valerius Pompey,

I'm going to kill that son of a whore tyrant!

I'll get Ajax to deal with him.

Wait.

Pompey's natural son?

I am.

I gather at least you're still no friend to Caesar.

I'll burn him alive.

- I will pluck out his eyes... - Be calm.

You're among friends.

All will be well.

Have him washed and fed.

Glorious Caesar!

Tables for 5,000 men will be set up in the cattle forum.

Slaves and freedmen are not eligible.

Those citizens that cannot find a proper seating place must leave

when ordered by the civic officers.

Gaius Julius Caesar has decreed, in tribute to their virtue,

each and every citizen of Rome will be issued from the public treasury

the sum of 100 denarii.

Further, 20,000 deserving families will be given farms

on the public lands around Capua.

Further, for the coming year, all rents... all rents

on low dwellings in the city will be paid in full

by Gaius Julius Caesar.

Very noble and very nicely expressed, if I may say so.

Might I have a quiet word?

Of course.

A quiet word.

You may speak in front of Quintus.

As you wish. It is of Quintus I speak.

The good man has been here several days now.

Perhaps he grows weary of entertaining us with his happy presence.

Do not mind him, Quintus. He has no manners.

He shall stay as long as it pleases me.

Well, that's the thing, Mother.

I do not see in what way he could possibly please you.

What is his purpose? Does he help you to write poetry?

- He has a good ear. - Indeed?

- You surprise me. - He has fire in him. It warms me.

Light more lamps if you are cold!

It looks very ill to keep a son of Pompey in our house.

And we should strike such fine figures otherwise!

So you see, the fourth clause of the previous statute only applies in cases of fire and flood,

unless stipulated in the appendix.

- Do you see? - Not clearly.

I'm not sure I can explain it in simpler terms.

Can it wait until after the election? There's no point learning all this if I lose.

You will not lose.

You're very sure of that. There are other candidates.

I warned you about mocking me.

Forgive me, sir. I had thought you understood the system.

The other candidates are straw men.

Straw men?

It saves a lot of useless strife if there's no opposition

but it would look ill if Caesar's man was the only one standing.

These facts disturb you somehow?

The elections are sanctioned by Jupiter Capitolinus.

They are sacred.

Caesar also is sanctioned by Jupiter, is he not?

By augury, by triumph, by acclaim of the people.

Anything he does is sacred.

In a way, he is a demigod.

For one day only.

For the rest, he is a mortal man like you and me.

Mortal or not, he is trying to save the Republic.

By corrupting the elections?

The Roman people are not crying out for clean elections. They're crying out for jobs.

They're crying out for clean water, for food, for stability and peace.

You can do great things for your people.

You can help save the Republic.

Or you can go back to your shop and resume selling mutton and pig,

have dirty hands but a clean conscience.

So what do you say?

- Say to what? - You haven't heard a word I've been saying.

Is everything all right?

Forgive me.

So what was it you needed?

I want to free Eirene, take her off to the country, if you'll lend me some money.

- Of course. - And come with me to the slave registry.

- To vouch your name for my ownership. - Why are you freeing her?

- Can't marry her otherwise. - Marry her?

Look, I've...

I've been feeling strange and low and empty these last months and...

Anyway, I've puzzled it out and I realized what it was.

I love Eirene.

I love her and I want her to bear my children and be my wife and...

Congratulations, I suppose.

So you'll be going to the country, you say?

- Leaving Rome? - Rome's no place for me.

I need clean air, room to move.

And what will you do when you get there?

There's always work for a good man with a sword.

Well, as long as you're sure.

I've thought it through.

I've never been so sure of anything in my life.

I'm happy for you. I hope you find your path.

Still here? I thought you were retiring to the country as a point of honor.

You do right to mock me.

You make me feel small.

A joke, old man, a joke. I'm always happy for your company.

So, why didn't you tell me beforehand?

- I could have been of assistance, perhaps. - What are you talking about?

Everyone is reading it!

I saw some temple prostitutes with a copy.

"A call to virtue."

The writing is adequate, which is something we should talk about,

but the sentiments are full of grace and bravery.

"Sons of the Republic, the blood of our forefathers

"calls you to honor the memory and emulate the deeds

"of Porcius Cato, the last true Roman."

Who wrote this?

You did.

Gods beneath us!

Mother!

Mother, have you seen this? This lunacy?

Of course I've seen it. It's not lunacy.

It is a cogent defense of Republican principles against the forces of tyranny.

- I am rather proud of it. - You wrote this? In my name?

Cassius contributed several nice turns of phrase.

You know Cassius, of course.

Of course. Delighted.

Quintus.

- It's lovely to see you again. It's been too long. - Indeed.

You will excuse me if I speak with my mother privately?

I'm deeply sorry you feel I have failed you but this is going too far.

My name is not yours to be used...

You haven't failed me. You can't fail me, I'm your mother.

- You have failed the Republic. - Dear gods!

Bring me a pen and paper.

It's bad enough that you keep that little madman Quintus in this house, but this!

I don't know what to tell him.

Why don't you fall on your knees and kiss his feet and beg for mercy?

- It served you in the past. - But not you.

Perhaps you did not beg hard enough.

You do understand...

he might have me killed for this?

Rome has fallen into the hands of a corrupt monster.

You, direct descendant of the father of the Republic,

what do you do?

What would you have me do?

What would your father have done?

What would his father have done? Would they bend their knees to a tyrant?

They would take account of the specific circumstan...

They would chase him out of the city like any mad dog.

Chased him out?

And how am I to do that, exactly?

You would not be alone.

These fine men in the house are very good. I am reassured.

They are good men and there are many others, men of rank and wisdom.

It is no dog gone mad.

I would rather be mad than disgrace our name.

No more!

You send your fool henchmen away and forget this insanity.

- Brutus. - Cassius, it's lovely to see you.

But, as you can see...

Of course, forgive the intrusion. Perhaps I may visit another time.

Good. Certainly.

On Jupiter's stone, you're a Roman citizen

and you attest this man's ownership of listed property?

I am. I do.

Sign here.

Any kind of mark will do.

I can write my name as good as the next man.

Done.

42. 42 up.

Eirene.

Come over here. I want to talk to you.

I'll leave you to it.

I've been to the registrar. You're no longer my slave.

You've sold me? Please don't sell me. Don't send me away. I beg you.

I'm setting you free.

You're free. It says so here.

Thank you. Thank you. You're the kindest man alive.

I love you, sir. I love you, sir.

Here. Here. It's a dress.

Go try it on. Let's see how it looks.

Titus Pullo, sir. I cannot thank you enough.

Thank me? What are you thanking me for, boy?

For freeing her. We have been saving to buy our freedom,

but we never... to happen so soon.

I cannot tell you what a gift it is.

You've been saving? You and Eirene?

We thought to take the Vorenus name when we became freedmen

but Eirene says it must be under your name she becomes my wife.

Wife?

Legal wife, I mean. We are already married in our hearts.

Eirene? My Eirene?

Sir? Sir!

- Dead? - Looks like.

- What happened? - I killed him. I did it.

I can see that, but why? Why did you do this?

- It doesn't matter. - It does matter.

It matters to me. This boy was my property.

- He angered me. - He angered you?

He and Eirene, they were...

So what does that matter? Did you think she was a virgin?

She's still yours to use as you wish.

- I love her. - This is how you prove it?

This is no charnel house to kill people as you want.

This is my home. My home!

You do this violence before my children?

I'm sorry.

Silence!

I'll pay you back.

Pay me back with what, you damn fool?

You've got no money but what I've given you.

But please...

- Do not call me a fool. - I'll call you what I like. You're a damn fool.

I don't care about the money. It's... the disrespect.

Look at what you did! Look at him!

Maybe you're right. Probably am a fool.

Never was a clever one like you.

Never demoted, you, never flogged, never locked up.

Straight to the top.

And here you are, with your nice, clean, white toga.

Lovely cloth, that.

Stays clean no matter how much you wade in the filth.

- Speak your mind. - As you will.

Time was, you said Caesar was a rebel and a traitor.

And now he tosses you some coin and some farmland

and he's savior of the Republic and you're kissing his royal arse.

You stand up. Stand up! Stand up!

I'll not fight you.

Then go. Go and do not come back here.

Go! And do not come back here.

Eirene, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Stay away from her.

Right.

Sorry.

I had no idea.

I must go now.

You do believe me?

My dear friend, of course I believe you. You've never lied to me.

Why would you put your name to a thing and then deny it?

Well, exactly.

And anyone may forge my name to a thing to give it weight.

We shall just have to become used to it, no doubt.

I wonder who it was that wrote it.

I wish I knew.

Someone of talent. Anyhow, I've seldom seen a bad case so well put.

I shall have to write a reply.

As long as you and I know where we stand.

Where do we stand?

I hope we are the best of friends. Are we?

We are, we are.

Brutus, I have never doubted your friendship or fidelity.

Even when we were enemies.

Titus Pullo. You look tired, my friend.

- I'm drunk. - These are hard times for war veterans.

- You're right there. - Too many soldiers back in Rome.

Not enough work to go round. It's a sad situation.

But it's a crime to see a man of your ability unemployed.

I'm doing fine.

I have plenty of irons in the fire.

Well, if your prospects don't work out,

you can ask on any street in the Aventine for Erastes Fulmen.

I will always have a job for you.

I'm a soldier, not a murderer.

These days, Pullo, is there really any difference?

Have a drink on me. When you've sobered up, come and see me.

We'll talk a little business.