ROME

After looking at the two different types of media of Caesar, Antony, and Brutus I found that I enjoyed the HBO show Rome better.  The book was difficult to read because of the small print and the distractions that were around me.  I liked the HBO show because I was able to see each character’s actions and emotions while learning the story.  In Rome I was also able to figure out the class of most of the people from what they were wearing and the area they lived in.  Brutus and Caesar had high power so they wore bright red and white and lived in buildings with detailed work that were very colorful. The common people were wearing dull colors and not as nice clothing and lived in small grey buildings.  This shows that those that where of higher power wanted to be seen as powerful.

By being able to watch history it makes it easier for me to remember and understand what is going on.  There is a flaw to this though; when you watch a movie or TV version of history you tend to have things embellished.  In Rome when Caesar was shown to the people the first time as a dictator his great nephew Octavian had put blood on his face.  I am not sure why they did this, maybe Caesar wanted to start a tradition for every dictator after him.  I personally thought that it was very weird and I don’t know why you would want your people to see you with dried blood all over your face. 

In this HBO series of Rome they also changed around the way that Caesar was killed, I almost thought that Brutus was not going to stab him and I think if someone had not read Plutarch’s Lives that would give them a different perspective of Brutus.  Also, in Rome the women had larger roles then in Plutarch’s Lives, such as Servilia and Atia.  Servilia is the one who planted the seed in Brutus’s ear to kill Caesar, I find this interesting because she had an affair with Caesar and Caesar saved her son, she should be grateful to him.  Then there is Atia who is the niece of Caesar who tries to get everyone on her side, but it doesn’t really work out.  This makes me wonder even though women did not seem to have much power maybe they were controlling more than we think.