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[the_antichris]

You guys, I am not at all sure what I think about this. Sure, Rome was great, when they weren't fridging half the female cast, but I have a lot of FEELINGS about Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart With Hair and Jovially Creepy Augustus. Especially Derek Jacobi. :(

Also, having seen Game of Thrones, I don't want to know what HBO are going to do with

Comments

[mishloran]

I can understand why they're doing it - it's basically written for them (but I have a feeling there will be less talk more FORCED ACTION for today's perceived-as-stupid audiences) - and it has a track record as being Amazing. Unfortunately, I do know that 'old' puts a lot of potential viewers off, and there's no denying that I, Claudius certainly looks a little clunky now. And the younger viewers probably don't even play the game of Who Is Famous Now when watching ;)

But at the same time, yes to apprehension. There's so many other amazing and brilliant stories which could be told in episodic format - how about Germanicus' life, or concentrating on the life of Nero (yes yes, we have Quo Vadis? for that, I suppose, but it could be done with a less YEY CHRISTIANS message, perhaps, and there's enough depravity for HBO surely!)

What will happen is they'll do an apatation, the world will go on about how much better the British original was, but this will become the popular version and hopefully turn a lot of people on to ancient history whom might not have done so. You only have to look at the rise of Gladiator and the boon of historical adaptations from this era after that, to see how popular the ancient world can be!

...as long as it has some Roman soldiers in it, I'll be happy. No, wait. As long as it has ROMANS in it, I'll be happy. It doesn't take much. :)

[the_antichris]

Quo Vadis! That's due for a remake, because the original is actualfax terrible. Germanicus would be good, too, though I have cynical thoughts about the difficulty of finding writers who know anything about him. Or a ~gritty war drama~ about Varus' legions, with one guy surviving to provide the requisite not-entirely-hopeless ending.

Younger viewers probably haven't ever encountered the original I, C if they didn't do classics at school, so maybe it is due for a reboot. None of my dubiousness means I'm not going to watch it like a shot.

[mishloran]

That's the thing, I'm pretty sure it's only oldies (well, late-to-middle-aged-ies) who remember I, Claudius fondly (and who aren't Classicists!), so it's good there'll be a reboot in that respect!

Quo Vadis was sooo loooooong!

Who do you think is best on Germanicus?

I guess re: Varus, they think they've covered that with The Eagle?

I had high hopes that Troy would bring about an Aeneid but nuthin' so far. It is my opinion that this story needs to be told to kidlets; everyone knows of The Odyssey and the Trojan War (read: 'Iliad') but not of Aeneas' adventures! Maybe it is because, Dido and Book 6 aside, it is much the same... but still!

[the_antichris]

That's why Quo Vadis would make a good miniseries! Spread the longness out over a few nights.

IDK about Germanicus. I guess anyone reasonable could swot up on Tacitus.

Book 12 would be hard to do - turning up, starting a war and killing the princess's boyfriend isn't the sort of thing people like in their heroes. The best bet might be one of the Books In Which Stuff Happens - 2, 4 (romance! Except all the non-classicists would be so confused about why Aeneas leaves) or 6.

[mishloran]

Huh, you're right! But would it be interesting enough? I guess the thing to do would be to create a bit more drama with Petronius causing trouble or something!

HMM. You're right! ...I am pretty used to my heroes turning up and doing a bit of malicious killing. Classicists, eh!

I guess you'd have to make it clear from the start that Aeneas can't hang about in Carthage, and probably also put in some Other Lover that Dido spurns for Aeneas, and have Anna go on and on about how she needs to get her head down from the clouds and serve her people as monarch, instead of gallavanting off into the woods with the weird foreign guy with the skirt on. And Aeneas would have Achates nagging him that the men are restless and this country already has a Queen and isn't good enough wine country to settle down in... hmm!

Book Six would make an awesome episode of teevee.

[the_antichris]

You know what they'd do? They'd totally make the annoying dude who hangs around hitting on Dido (Iarbas, that's it) into her alternative love interest. Ack.

[mishloran]

Ha ha I'm just revising now and after I'd written my comment noted to myself: "ha! Iarbas!"

It'd be awesome to see on-screen a cutaway of Pygmalion killing Sychaeus (who was off-guard) impiously, with a sword, secretly before the altars (blinded by a love of gold and indifferent to the love of his sister). <-- you can tell I have been revising my Latin! Reckon it would be a hit!