tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post5583952183377524115..comments2024-03-25T07:54:22.672+00:00Comments on Pop Classics: Rome: PhilippiJuliettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-12303574433182216282013-07-08T22:34:42.232+01:002013-07-08T22:34:42.232+01:00Appian 4.14.110 just says he was warned in a dream...Appian 4.14.110 just says he was warned in a dream rather than specifying it was someone else's dream, while all the others attribute the dream to Artorius or to 'a friend' (Suetonius, Augustus, 91.2; Valerius Maximus 1.7) - do you mean the bit about 'going to be ill' was inaccurate? I think I must have mis-typed that, as the sources generally suggest he was already ill - they vary in how brave they think he was in struggling out of his tent despite his illness. Or do you mean it's inaccurate because he wasn't in his tent, as he'd left it when they arrived to take the camp? I think I probably mis-spoke (mis-typed!) in an attempt to be brief - I suspect I meant he was in his tent claiming to be ill rather than fighting, before the 'dream' persuaded him out of it.Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-5426531285131067152013-07-08T20:30:38.065+01:002013-07-08T20:30:38.065+01:00Your statement about Octavian's dream is unfou...Your statement about Octavian's dream is unfounded. The texts indicate that he was ill during the first battle and that he was moved on account of his physician.<br /><br /> Velleius Paterculus, Roman History, Book 2, Chapter 70: "Caesar was performing his duties as commander although he was in the poorest of health, and had been urged not to remain in camp by Artorius his physician, who had been frightened by a warning which had appeared to him in his sleep."<br /><br />Plutarch, Life of Brutus, Chapter 41: "Octavius, as he himself tells us in his Commentaries, in consequence of a vision which visited one of his friends, Marcus Artorius, and ordered that Octavius should rise up from his bed and depart from the camp, barely succeeded in having himself carried forth, and was thought to have been slain."<br /><br /><br /><br />To be frank, Rome's depiction of Philippi is just fanfare. It's fine to fill in the gaps where nothing was explicitly said or to slightly deviate from the authors. However, there are too many deviations from the text and too many obvious Hollywood decisions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-56819909101007004182011-12-03T12:27:29.801+00:002011-12-03T12:27:29.801+00:00Ah, I knew there was some sort of relationship by ...Ah, I knew there was some sort of relationship by marriage. It turns out that Cato's wife Marcia (the one he basically sold to Hortensius) was Octavius' stepsister. His stepfather Philippus was also a friend of Cicero, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had a fair amount of exposure to both of them, even though Philippus was supposedly a supporter of Caesar.DemetriosXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-3525776386195331962011-12-02T20:49:26.994+00:002011-12-02T20:49:26.994+00:00Oh, and Cato wasn't Octavian's stepfather,...Oh, and Cato wasn't Octavian's stepfather, noJuliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-23269297739771287682011-12-02T20:46:26.691+00:002011-12-02T20:46:26.691+00:00@DmX Yeah I can't stand Cicero myself. He'...@DmX Yeah I can't stand Cicero myself. He's unaccountably popular though!<br /><br />@Cris I know! It's so frustrating. And the world was denied weeks of James Purefoy as Mark Antony when they had to rush through the last ten years of his life (Antony's, not Purefoy's!) in 4 episodes :( At least we have I, Claudius for the other emperors, though no one in that is quite so attractive!Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-68640643622340694302011-12-01T12:12:06.694+00:002011-12-01T12:12:06.694+00:00Another great recap Juliette! Can't believe it...Another great recap Juliette! Can't believe it's getting so close to the end... damn the money issues! I would have loved to see this series go through a few more emperors! ;o)CrazyCrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17512240982215608638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-37626105851904076342011-12-01T11:39:08.289+00:002011-12-01T11:39:08.289+00:00So it looks like they focused on Cicero's hand...So it looks like they focused on Cicero's hands instead of the bit where Antony's wife (?) mocks his decapitated head and jabs a stylus repeatedly into his tongue. I'm sure they could have shoved that onto one of the more prominent female characters, probably Atia. Cicero may have died well, but not running away in time was deserved karma. When they were all running off from Italy earlier, the swine fled with his good-for-nothing son but refused to pay for his brother and nephew to get away. One more black mark for Cicero in my book.<br /><br />Octavian did quite a bit of rehabilitation of Cicero once he was fully in charge. I think he even paid for the publication of some speeches or letters. It might have been at the urging of Atticus (who got along with absolutely everybody), but it was a useful publicity stunt for Augustus. He could be seen as a defender of republican values and Cicero was safely dead. He did the same thing for Cato, who was also very safely dead and had been his stepfather, I think. In fact, those two stalwarts of the Republic may owe a lot of their later reputation to propaganda put about by Augustus to make himself look good. Rather ironic.DemetriosXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730513615909994019.post-52665723026113180102011-12-01T01:57:39.522+00:002011-12-01T01:57:39.522+00:00I often wondered if Fulvia had a part in Cicero...I often wondered if Fulvia had a part in Cicero's death. Well, at least we know what she did after his death. And it's true, Cicero allegedly stuck his neck out of his litter for the officer to dispatch him after he was caught. No matter how he's played out on screen, one can't help but like him. Thanks for the fun post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com