"Rome" An Owl in a Thornbush (2005)

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

John Milius (creator) and
William J. MacDonald (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Rome" (2005)

Original Air Date:

11 September 2005 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

With Caesar quickly advancing toward Rome, Pompey begins ordering a retreat and forces his citizens to pick sides. Timon does Atia's dirty work and Vorenus cannot understand why no one is resisting while on a scouting mission. |

Plot Keywords:

Animal In Title | Julius Caesar | Soldier | Controversy | Dictator

Cast

Kevin McKidd	...	Lucius Vorenus
Ray Stevenson	...	Titus Pullo
Polly Walker	...	Atia of the Julii
Kenneth Cranham	...	Pompey Magnus
Lindsay Duncan	...	Servilia of the Junii
Tobias Menzies	...	Marcus Junius Brutus
Kerry Condon	...	Octavia of the Julii
Karl Johnson	...	Porcius Cato
Indira Varma	...	Niobe
David Bamber	...	Marcus Tullius Cicero
Max Pirkis	...	Gaius Octavian
Lee Boardman	...	Timon
Suzanne Bertish	...	Eleni
Paul Jesson	...	Scipio
Enzo Cilenti	...	Evander Pulchio

Runtime:

44 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | USA:TV-MA | France:-12 (TV rating) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Insomnia Media Group

Trivia:

The Latin writings on Atia's door read "Atia loves everyone", "Atia sucks (unreadable name)" and "Atia the lustful".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Octavia is asked for some poetry, and quotes the lines starting "Easy it is to descend into hell ...", a famous passage from Vergil's Aeneid. At this point Julius Caesar is still alive (therefore 44 BC at the latest). In fact the Aeneid was written at the end of Vergil's life, 30 to 19 BC, when Augustus (Octavian) was emperor.

Quotes:

[Atia is considering commiting group suicide to avoid being raped and murdered by street thugs]
Atia of the Julii: Castor, be sure to cut Octavia's throat before you cut mine!
Octavia of the Julii: Please, Castor, let mother do it! I won't deny her one last pleasure. It would be undaughterly.

Caesar continues on to Rome while the citizens are forced to pick sides.

Pompey forces the Roman citizens to pick sides and orders a strategic retreat from the city.

Atia recruits Timon to do her dirty work for her, this demonstrates just what Atia will do to get what she wants.

My favourite parts of the episode were Lucius and Titus bonding while on a scouting mission. Their exchanges of dialogue were funny and their characterisation interesting.

Atia's home under siege by an angry mob was a highly entertaining scene. The family discuss who will each other if the mob makes it inside.

'An Owl in a Thornbush' is as good, if not better than 'How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic'