Rome Season Two
Trial and Triumph
Edited by Monica S Cyrino
A collection of 17 cutting-edge essays on Rome Season TwoSet in the turbulent years after Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Season Two of the HBO-BBC series Rome lays bare a city shaken by the violent power struggle between Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son and heir, and Mark Antony, his most trusted general, bound in the seductive spell of Cleopatra.Rome Season Two: Trial & Triumph is the first academic volume to explore the second season of this critically acclaimed and commercially successful drama. It brings together seventeen pioneering and provocative essays written by an international cast of leading classical scholars and media critics. Focusing on the series’ historical framework, visual and narrative style, thematic overtones, and influence on modern popular culture, this book also engages with the authenticity of the production and considers its place in the tradition of epic films and television series set in ancient Rome. Both scholarly and entertaining, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars in Classics and Ancient History as well as Film and Media Studies.
Key Features
- The only academic volume focused exclusively on Season Two of Rome
- Showcases both established and up-and-coming international scholars
- Edited by a leading contemporary scholar in the field
- Original, cutting edge research in fields of history, politics, gender, film, fan culture
- Explores the theme of Rome on screen from multiple angles: history, Classics, film studies, reception studies, gender studies, viewer response theory
Illustrations
Contributors
Episode Guide
Introduction: The Trials and Triumphs of Rome Season Two, Monica S. Cyrino
Part I Power and Politics
1. A Touch Too Cerebral: Eulogizing Caesar in Rome, Angeline C. Chiu
2. Discharging Pullo and Vorenus: Veterans in Rome, Lee L. Brice
3. Gangsterism in Rome, Arthur J. Pomeroy
4. Class, Chaos, and Control in Rome, Margaret M. Toscano
5. Earning Immortality: Cicero’s Death Scene in Rome, Eran Almagor
6. The Triumvirate of the Ring in Rome, Barbara Weiden Boyd
7. Jews and Judaism in Rome, Lisa Maurice
Part II Sex and Status
8. Revenge and Rivalry in Rome, Stacie Raucci
9. Effigies of Atia and Servilia: Effacing the Female Body in Rome, Antony Augoustakis
10. Livia, Sadomasochism, and the Anti-Augustan Tradition in Rome, Anna McCullough
11. Windows and Mirrors: Illuminating the Invisible Women of Rome, Kirsten Day
12. Antony and Atia: Tragic Romance in Rome, Juliette Harrisson
13. Problematic Masculinity: Antony and the Political Sphere in Rome, Rachael Kelly
14. Rome, Shakespeare, and the Dynamics of the Cleopatra Reception, Gregory N. Daugherty
15. The Rattle of the Sistrum: “Othering” Cleopatra and Egypt in Rome, John J. Johnston
16. Gateways to Vice: Drugs and Sex in Rome, Alex McAuley
17. Slashing Rome: Season Two Rewritten in Online Fanfiction, Amanda Potter
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
Contributors
Episode Guide
Introduction: The Trials and Triumphs of Rome Season Two, Monica S. Cyrino
Part I Power and Politics
1. A Touch Too Cerebral: Eulogizing Caesar in Rome, Angeline C. Chiu
2. Discharging Pullo and Vorenus: Veterans in Rome, Lee L. Brice
3. Gangsterism in Rome, Arthur J. Pomeroy
4. Class, Chaos, and Control in Rome, Margaret M. Toscano
5. Earning Immortality: Cicero’s Death Scene in Rome, Eran Almagor
6. The Triumvirate of the Ring in Rome, Barbara Weiden Boyd
7. Jews and Judaism in Rome, Lisa Maurice
Part II Sex and Status
8. Revenge and Rivalry in Rome, Stacie Raucci
9. Effigies of Atia and Servilia: Effacing the Female Body in Rome, Antony Augoustakis
10. Livia, Sadomasochism, and the Anti-Augustan Tradition in Rome, Anna McCullough
11. Windows and Mirrors: Illuminating the Invisible Women of Rome, Kirsten Day
12. Antony and Atia: Tragic Romance in Rome, Juliette Harrisson
13. Problematic Masculinity: Antony and the Political Sphere in Rome, Rachael Kelly
14. Rome, Shakespeare, and the Dynamics of the Cleopatra Reception, Gregory N. Daugherty
15. The Rattle of the Sistrum: “Othering” Cleopatra and Egypt in Rome, John J. Johnston
16. Gateways to Vice: Drugs and Sex in Rome, Alex McAuley
17. Slashing Rome: Season Two Rewritten in Online Fanfiction, Amanda Potter
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
This book is a welcome addition to cinematic reception research and opens up one of the most complex productions which the newer antique film has to offer. The variety of presented approaches and topics is impressive and will certainly have a stimulating effect on further studies. Rome, Season Two: Trial and Triumph is a worthy opening of the new series of Screening Antiquity.
A stimulating volume which makes a worthwhile contribution to scholarship on the interface between gender issues, media and history.
This distinctive and accessible collection of essays exemplifies the enduring fascination that modern representations of Rome hold for both scholars and the wider public. With a detailed study of the second series of this acclaimed TV show as a springboard, the contributors take us on a rich and informative tour of the multitude of ways in which Rome continues to intrigue and entertain. From depictions of ancient sex and drugs to the representation of the iconic Cleopatra, from the complex politics of the Roman senate to the struggles of Roman streetlife, this book covers an impressive amount of ground, and is a valuable addition to our understanding of why ancient Rome continues to matter to the modern world.
Clearly aimed, in part, at university courses that deal with Greece and Rome in popular culture, the book’s introduction and seventeen chapters are all admirably clear and straightforward.
There is much more of value and interest to discover in this fascinating, multi-perpective book than be discussed here... A very worthwhile collection and an exemplary instance of doing classical receptions in what has now become know as the 'Golden Age of Television'.
