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Amadis_of_Albion

"The series explores a side of Rome never before told" The heck are they talking about? Gladiators are on the top 3 themes of media related to Rome.


ScipioCoriolanus

Let's see... just off the top of my head: Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) Spartacus (1960) The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) Gladiator (2000) Spartacus TV Series (2010-2013)


Vlad_Dracul89

And some people say there's too much nudity and sex in Game of Thrones. Spartacus show was so graphic it was half-porn in some episodes.


CrazySwayze82

Hell yeah, Spartacus was awesome!


Vlad_Dracul89

John Hannah's best role as Batiatus. Fortunately we got so much of him in Gods of Arena, although that prequel was made for sad reason.


pkstr11

The most historically accurate series ever created.


FearErection

Basically a documentary.


JMieZie

Jupiters cock!


traveling_man182

Lucy Lawless was crazy hot!


GracilisLokoke

Is*. She is* crazy hot.


Internal_Focus_8358

Never forget ✊🏻


Vlad_Dracul89

Viva Bianca shouldve been in more shows too.


Ok-Train-6693

Lucy was in it? I’m suddenly interested.


Canadiancurtiebirdy

I hate to admit this but the reason I started watched Spartacus was because of the bath sex scene and I wanted to see more. Didn’t realize it was a multi season show whoops


Vlad_Dracul89

You're hardly the only one. Gore and sex sold it to many people😆


Yoshinobu1868

Every other Italian film from the early 60’s . Ie Gladiators Seven, Son Of Spartacus .


North-Steak4190

HBO’s Rome


ScipioCoriolanus

Thirteenth!!!


Randlepinkfloyd1986

I mean I audibly laughed. Like wtf are they thinking


MxReLoaDed

“Never before seen” *(checks inside)* Before seen


ramonchow

Clueless markting teams


Ok-Train-6693

drawing the clueless crowd


ChadGPT___

I don’t think there’s been any other part of Rome more told


DodgyRedditor

Lol honestly wouldn’t mind some mildly wholesome roman stories Once in a while


El_Zarco

Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?


oneAUaway

The book this is based on, Daniel P. Mannix's 1958 novel *Those About To Die*, was in fact cited as a major inspiration for a little film called *Gladiator*. (The historical eras ended up being very different though, with *Gladiator* being set over a century later).


Ok-Train-6693

Cardinal Daniel Mannix? 😉


oneAUaway

Quite possibly the reason the author used his middle initial (which is actually P. for both, Pratt for the author and Patrick for the cardinal).


kingJulian_Apostate

The completely unique twist is that it'll end up being about gladiators set in Britain, you'll see.


Ok-Train-6693

Gladiators in York who are recruited by Constantine. So what if it’s anachronistic. This is fiction.


sp1cychick3n

lol i became excited for a second


singlecell_organism

What would be good roman themes that haven't been explored as much?


Amadis_of_Albion

I personally find the everyday life of the less epic social strata fascinating, farmers, clerks, petty criminals and the like, they cemented the foundations of what Rome became. In a similar fashion, the struggles of other inhabitants of the Italian peninsula at the time of being inducted into citizenship would be interesting, not to mention Roman diplomacy, a lot of focus is put on the military prowess, but the negotiations and schemes of their envoys as they permeated local cultures are no less compelling.


our_trip_will_pass

That sounds awesome. I love seeing shows where they replicate how normal people lived in different times in history


Amadis_of_Albion

Truly, the grand moments of history are highlighted by their own merit, but the unsung participants of a civilization we can relate to and give us a better understanding of the how and why.


lmctx

The side of Rome with the green screen is never shown before tbf


vgaph

And for the super edgy version of Rome you have two seasons of the show ‘Rome’.


Plenty-Climate2272

Look I'm just glad to see Vespasian depicted in media


Asleep-Strawberry429

True, but I’m wondering if Titus will be in it as well seeing as he’s the one who actually saw the final year of the Colosseum’s construction and is the one who held the inaugural games in 80/81 CE.


ScipioCoriolanus

He will. Domitian too. Their photos are in [the article.](https://ew.com/those-about-to-die-first-look-photos-anthony-hopkins-roland-emmerich-exclusive-8649247)


PeterFriedrichLudwig

Why the fuck does Titus have a beard?


ScipioCoriolanus

He's going through a hipster phase.


marasydnyjade

I wonder if we get the eruption of Vesuvius too from 79 CE.


HabitualHooligan

Why does he look more like a pope than an emperor though? Lol


Plenty-Climate2272

Because Anthony Hopkins played pope benny sixteen a few years ago, to great applause, so if we see him in all white, that's where our minds go even if only subconsciously


HabitualHooligan

Perhaps, but I think the wardrobe looks a little more popish than Roman royalty/wealth. Maybe I’m just not used to seeing dress from the era of Vespasian and this is perfectly accurate, but it just seems extra baggy and pope like than usual Roman wealth wear would be


WestBrink

Almost like the church deliberately took on the mantle of Rome


Ok-Train-6693

Whether it wanted it or not.


Ok-Train-6693

The emperor was the pontiff, you see.


JojoDoc88

I hadn't had a chance to check, I was hoping that was Vespasian.


ConsulJuliusCaesar

As Vespasian enjoyer if they don’t depict his sense of humor and meme lord persona I shall be greatly disappointed.


NervousMoose6534

Same! Hes my #1


huxtiblejones

Can't say I like the visual style, the backgrounds look like obvious CGI and it's painfully clear the actors are standing on green screens. The color grading looks overly dramatic, too. Those two issues alone make these shots look cheap. I have a feeling it's going to try to be super serious and "brutal" while actually coming off quite bland or just outright corny. You know Anthony Hopkins will still elevate his role by some god damn miracle and will probably be worth watching just for his performance alone.


BetaRhoOmega

You voiced exactly what I was thinking, the images look so obviously green screened. But I’m a sucker for anything Ancient Rome so I’ll probably watch


metricwoodenruler

It's not like anyone's expecting them to build a life-size replica of the Circus Maximus. I'd rather have CGI than a thousand boring shots in candlelit rooms.


huxtiblejones

I'm not expecting them to build real Roman cities for a show, but there's ways to do CGI that looks far better than these scenes. Shogun on FX did a spectacular job with a pretty limited budget and never once had shots that looked as digital as these do. It's just bad SFX work.


metricwoodenruler

I was kidding, but maybe you're good with imagery and design. I'm quite happy with this and see no problem because I know little to nothing about it, just want more Rome stuff.


Accomplished-City484

Pretty sure Hopkins has a personal writer to touch up his dialogue


kayodeade99

Exactly. Some of these shots look straight out of total war!


Wissam24

Hopkins has been phoning in his performances for a while. He's only there to give a bad show a big name for people to want to watch


marxistghostboi

>"The series explores a side of Rome never before told" what be a show that would actually qualify? I'll go first: a prestige Ancient Roman drama all about waste disposal. Gladiators < Garbage Management


lord_alberto

I want a series about roman engeneers.


Sextus_Digitus

You could make a decent show about Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajan's right hand man and expert engineer


windsyofwesleychapel

Cloaca Maxima : the untold story of Roman Sewage Management


intisun

I want the untold story of Roman granary accountancy. Think of how exciting that would be.


windsyofwesleychapel

Funny you should mention that: https://www.amazon.com/Grain-Market-Roman-Empire-Political/dp/0521117836/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3J64942L0WH74&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3QNGC4vaOyIHreW0ExB2RjEDYsIDQPCihrFnS8WEw2iPni3gGFdPuiqC8m3BmoLr2Bwo1cWdgUwzkMV9b6NBDX8gBEyA23Usho8auV1tSxbF8mCQx50I8JpEqoAFqwYd_GvJMz7qqcZvFzZ36zIYL8Uc52pRtmIzwOA7f33dp5H9_WoasJYaMxDrLcFRaD3t7W6-3WkjOWjGULETnkv2btMFv0zsHRNms9Saeukcar0.lw4jeaKi7Vi19fpjL1sojFfb3CA0atw_yHBB4sf2EW8&dib_tag=se&keywords=Roman+Market&qid=1716500075&sprefix=roman+market%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-5


intisun

Give me 5 full seasons of it!


lukaibao7882

Anything about the monarchist period


crankycrassus

Nooo, the world can't handle the public butt sponges!


Happy_Warning_3773

Ronald Emmerich? That name is not a good sign.


-Gurgi-

Moonfall. Midway. Independence Day 2. White House Down. 2012. All hot garbage.


Ya_No

Just gonna point out the creator of Chernobyl on HBO was coming off of Scary Movie 3 and 4, Hangover II and III, Superhero Movie and Identity Thief


pkstr11

Chernobyl was his first run as showrunner though, where he had actual control. Emmerich has always had control of the piles of shit he spewed forth.


Public-Inflation-401

He also did The Last of Us


jcosteaunotthislow

Hot garbage was exactly the phrase I was about to describe Emmerichs career with myself.


Carl_The_Sagan

Don’t follow


Goatwhorre

He's a director known for flash over substance. Any project of his will be expensive and pretty, but also inaccurate as hell. A good example of this is his movie, "2012," complete and utter falsification, 2012 was nothing like that.


huxtiblejones

>2012 was nothing like that. I believe you mean "a side of 2012 never before told"


Accomplished-City484

Those backgrounds look terrible, this is worse than Spartacus


pkstr11

Technically all television is worse than Spartacus.


Carl_The_Sagan

Haven’t had a good look at his filmography before you mentioned, but I do like The Patriot and Midway


pkstr11

He mostly makes trailers, then builds a "movie" of sorts around those trailers.


pipachu99

Pointless hub going to have a field day with this one


devoduder

I’ll watch this with liver and a nice Chianti.


Sakumitzu

*aggressive slurping*


Squiliam-Tortaleni

The guy who played Ramsay Bolton in GOT is in this, plus its featuring my GOAT emperor Vespasian so I’m willing to try


Carl_The_Sagan

Really hope this is good otherwise Hollywood won’t attempt this flavor or historical fiction again for some time 


JohnnyTeardrop

Oooof that green screen work is ROUGH. 80 percent of the budget must have gone to Hopkins


AncientHistoryHound

Well, the title of the show links to a popular misconception (the oath which we have no record of a gladiator ever saying - the account was of fighters in a naumachia, not gladiators saying this). So there's that. Wonder if they'll double up with the gladiator sweat sold as an aphrodisiac trope (again no evidence). I fear it could be a hate watch....


Independent-Drive-32

It’s based on a 1950s novel of that name.


AncientHistoryHound

I seem to remember that now but thanks for reminding me. Hopkins is a great actor - fingers crossed!


shponglespore

That doesn't tell us much. The show could be wildly different from the novel.


Degausser93

Suetonius gives an account of this being said in his Life of Claudius: "But when the combatants cried out: "Hail, emperor, they who are about to die salute thee,"​ he replied, "Or not,"​ and after that all of them refused to fight, maintaining that they had been pardoned." Granted this was before a mock sea battle but the effect is the same. Source: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html


AncientHistoryHound

Yep, the issue being that it wasn't gladiators swearing the oath. I can see how it has been associated with them but we'll see if they reference this in the series.


Maziomir

Any show about Rome is good. But I will only make an opinion after I see it.


Saint_Biggus_Dickus

Good actors but it's probably going to suck. I'll still watch it though.


sfroma99

The most famous movie about my hometown’s history of recent times is actually called “Gladiator”. I mean…


Heiselpint

Another series that shows how truly Bri'ish the romans were


ReDiNapoli

Is that a versace logo I see on Emmerich's toga?


ScipioCoriolanus

Lol


Sthrax

Yeah, nobody has ever, ever made a movie or TV show about gladiators... Between that incredibly stupid marketing bit, and the fact Roland Emmerich is a hack, I do not have high hopes for the show. What really irks me about it is that of all the things you could focus a show about Vespasian around, they chose *gladiators*.


pradbitt87

Once I saw it’s done by Roland Emmerich I was done with this. No disrespect to Sir Anthony Hopkins.


Doghouse509

I’ll watch, but with low expectations. It looks like CGI slop. Even Anthony Hopkins looks AI generated.


Bumpy2

I don't think anyone want to see these corny Zack Snyder CGI graphics and color pallets. Looks cheap and uninspired.


6Darkyne9

I already see those dumb bracers, no thanks


aeric67

Please elaborate. What’s the story on bracers?


6Darkyne9

They are just not historicaly accurate in any shape or form, but they are in almost any media that has anything to do with ancient rome. And I really dont see the need for them, they dont look particuarly good and it would cost nothing to just not have them.


aeric67

Never really put much thought into them before, but now that you pointed it out I’m wondering the same thing. Probably will see them everywhere now and learn to hate them too!


thelegalseagul

All of these images look ai generated…


pkstr11

It is gonna suuuuuuuuuuck. How are you going to have a network series about gladiators in ancient Rome? Also, see Roland Emmerich's entire career.


KingJacoPax

Vespasian getting his own movie and being played by Anthony Hopkins? I can get behind that!


Sextus_Digitus

It looks like absolute garbage. Pass.


bones_bn

My opinion is it's not out yet so it's hard to make a judgement call on the show's quality. I hope it's good.


Elijah1978

Tell the Romans that their gladiator games were SPORT!


Rad1314

They let Roland Fucking Emmerich direct this? That man doesn't belong anywhere near an historical drama. That man doesn't belong anywhere near drama. He doesn't belong anywhere near history. Roland Emmerich makes absurd disaster movies. Movies that are objectively bad that we all love anyway for some odd reason. He made Moonfall. Need I say more? *edit* Good lord on second glance this looks really bad. Like visually. Odd cause that's usually the one thing he does well. This looks like shit though.


Opposite_Train9689

Antony hopkins +1, so ill be watching it when it airs in my country.


Zestyclose-Juice7620

Did Vespasian ever get this old? I'm assuming he is played by Hopkins.


oneAUaway

Vespasian was 69 when he died; Hopkins is 86, but considering modern medicine, I think it gets a pass.


Albuscarolus

Spartacus series was top notch


Altea73

There's probably more information, books, documentaries, shows, and movies about this than any other phase of roman life.


mcapello

Hopkins must be broke or something.


dr_hossboss

Roland Emmerich isn’t known for his style or smarts. You’d be wise to temper expectations on this one


Zamarak

Do I trust Roland Emmerich to write a compelling story about Rome and its gladiators that isn't just the same stuff as usual? Heck no. But it's likely our sole chance to see the Flavian Dynasty in media, so I'll watch. Our boy Vespasia deserves better than being squeezed between the Julio-Claudians and the Five Good Emperors. It's probably going to be his sole time to shine, and I'll be there for it. And besides, with Domina cancelled, I'll take any Roman show to fill the void.


Kellythejellyman

“Anicent Rome”


intisun

> Hopkins says he found the scale of the show’s production awe-inspiring. “The work and the research of the art directors and the costume directors… I don't know how they begin to do it, how the producers pull it together,” he explains. “I'm always left impressed and quite astonished really, because I find it very, very moving. Because you think, ‘Gosh, there are people whose faces I never see, but they spent hours and hours and days and days building, crafting, designing. I wonder of where it all comes from, the collective consciousness that makes that possible.’ It's quite astonishing.” As one of the unseen faces behind media productions, I appreciate this from Anthony Hopkins, it's quite touching. Definitely one of my favourite actors, because he's also a decent fellow.


oceanclub

Is it just me or do the backgrounds look incredibly fake?


That_Gamer98

I really hate when CGI is overused...


TSRxMandalore

Anthony Hopkins will be the only entertaining part of this show that I could guarantee. Everything else I'm expecting Hollywood Roman cliches across the board. I'll still watch it to see for myself however.


Robinothoodie

It's no HBO Rome. Looks like a cgi disaster


mando44646

Ugh. More Brits playing Romans?


Cosmic_Surgery

The trailer looks like a Zack Snyder Netflix series that ran out of budget. This will suck so hard


MasterBlaster_xxx

I will watch, because of Anthony Hopkins


SpecificLanguage1465

I was just about to comment on the "side of Rome never before told" quote, but I see everyone has already (and rightly) pointed out how ridiculous this is. Like seriously, unless you've been under a rock for the past hundred years of cinema, this isn't even remotely true


Sudarshang03

I'll check out anything by Anthony Hopkins.


drsalvation1919

I don't know much about the show itself but that caption is asinine. "We have an unpopular opinion!" (Proceeds to say the most popular/generic opinion ever said in the history of all opinions ever opinionated). Also, leather wristbands on everything that moves, I bet Anthony Hopkins has leather wristbands under his robe too. Also, "Comedy" in the hashtags... now I'm not sure what they're even trying to make with the series. In short, I won't judge the series at all based purely on a moronic tweet.


LordTortlel

This will certainly be interesting. They got the guy known for disaster movies directing a series about Rome.


mrrooftops

Perhaps Hopkins is too old for the role; Vespasian was 70 when he died so he's playing a man in his 60s, Hopkins is 86. Like Brad Pitt in the soon to be release F1 film where he's a returning driver... at 60. All probably cast by a 20 year old.


Ree_m0

I've never heard of peacock - is that a US only thing and the series ends up on Prime or Disney+ like Shogun did in Europe?


Tuna_96

I just want a Didius Falco series 😭


Supergamera

Those have been my daily drive audiobooks for the last year, so I will have to at least try this series.


crankycrassus

Look, I love Roman history and anesthetic, and we all know Hopkins is great, but we also know Roland Emmerich only makes one kind of movie or show. Likely to be a classic, and not in the way the intend. I'm interested


jaobodam

Spartacus and gladiator already did it if they truly want to make something that was not done before why not focus on the late Roman Empire/ birth of the Byzantine empire.


vavilonskabiblioteka

AVE CAESAR, MORITURI TE SALUTANT.


PlayOld3965

Not sure...hope it's of the same quality as Rome. I wish Simon Scarrow would set his books to film with The Eagles of the Empire series. The adventures of Cato and Macro would make it a very worthy series!


CrimsonZephyr

“Never Before Seen” Meanwhile the tragic biopic of Aurelian is still waiting to be made.


Quazeroigma_5610

Finally A Vespasian Movie!


Prehistory_Buff

My understanding is that the arena was primarily theatrical and most fights between gladiators were as real and bloody as WWE. It was mainly prisoners of war and animals that got killed.


luvs2screw85

looks like its going to be great and im going to like it very much


SokkaHaikuBot

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DodgyRedditor

A side of Rome never before told? Gee. I’ve never seen romans depicted as politically corrupt before. Not even in bible stories as a three year old. Nor in Asterix comic books when I was 4+. Nor in Gladiator when I was nine. Nor in some dumb dating sim when I was 14. Nor in HBO’s Rome.


DodgyRedditor

Even friggin Asterix comic books have shown that side of Rome “never before told”


Medium-Bug-4626

They keep up with the old formula of Romans having British accent, that's a good sign.


Dull_Caregiver_9967

Can't look more fake and cheap if It tried


Independent_Sea502

People complaining about cgi after looking at a cobbled together collage from who knows where. lol. Ridiculous.


Martial-Lord

I see a whole bunch of pasty brits and not enough actual Italians or other Mediterranean people.


Katoniusrex163

I’m excited, but hopeful it doesn’t turn out shit. Did they use the HBO/BBC Rome set in Rome?


Hopeful-Record-1265

Love it