Rome Season Two: Trial and Triumph

by Monica S Cyrino (Editor)

Overview

Antony and Cleopatra, sex, war, and politics: Rome, Season Two is explored in this exciting collection of original essays.
Set 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 and 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 interaction with contemporary popular culture, this collection 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.
This volume is both scholarly and entertaining and will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars in Classics and Ancient History as well as Film and Media Studies.

Monica S. Cyrino is Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico, USA.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474400275
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	05/18/2015
Series:	Screening Antiquity
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Monica S. Cyrino is Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico. Her scholarly research centers on the reception of the ancient world on screen. She has published numerous books and articles and often gives lectures around the world on the representation of classical antiquity on film and television. She has served as an academic consultant on several recent film and television productions.

Table of Contents

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

What People are Saying About This

Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Open Universi Dr Joanna Paul

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.

Editorial Reviews

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.

Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Open Universi Dr Joanna Paul

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.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History - Eric Adler

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.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review - Martin Lindner

A stimulating volume which makes a worthwhile contribution to scholarship on the interface between gender issues, media and history.

CJ-Online - Suzanne Sharland

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'.

Thersites - Christian Rollinger