Rome (TV Series) How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic (2005) User Reviews

The show gets real interesting...

[christian94 · 8/10 · 26 November 2007]

The pilot put a few things in motions, but without being overly interesting or original. This second episode however makes me want to see more of the series for a few different reasons (I had rented the first DVD to see what this was about and might have been ambivalent about continuing to watch Rome if not for the detailed and cohesive treatment this second part received) From the political maneuvering in and out of the senate, to the fitting title and daring approximation of what day-to-day roman life might have been like, this show starts to paint Rome with assured brush strokes easily meshing the landscape with the various portraits from nobility to lower classes (plebes), delving into or mentioning briefly Medellin, marriage, religion, duty, family, fun, warfare, sex, slave trade, treason and personal aspirations.

Besides the heavy weight on crucial complex political games, the story is at its strongest following the life of ordinary men, soldiers Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who short of becoming friends show a subdued mutual respect. Vorenus has a whole other twist to his 'glorious' return to Rome as he must meet his wife he had not seen for eight years which is the crux of the show's momentum and gives rise to interesting situations and good acting performances. Now, I will have to watch to see what's next...

Titus and Lucius: Homecoming

[Xerces88 · 8/10 · 22 January 2008]

After eight years at war and the recent recovery of the eagle standard and Octavian, Titus and Lucius probably thought they would have received a hero's homecoming.

Lucius' wife and children are emotionally distant from their long awaited husband and father. His daughter has a baby and wants to marry the father who is not yet a man.

Titus' care-free existence is put on an early hold when he gets into a bar fight with scam artists and is nearly killed.

Atia continues her soap-inspired scheming and plotting.

Caesar begins his angry return trip to Rome.

There was more activity in this episode than 'The Stolen Eagle'. Excepting a few flat acting performances it was good. The episode kept me in anticipation of Caesar's return to Rome and I look forward to seeing 'An Owl in a Thornbush'.

Crossing the Rubicon

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 27 January 2016]

In this episode Caesar sends Mark Antony back to Rome to take up the position the People's Consul; a position that has the power to veto edicts of the senate. He is accompanied by Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo who are returning Octavius to his mother. In Rome Pompey is planning a vote declaring Caesar an enemy of the state in the knowledge that Mark Antony will veto it; a way of sending a message to Caesar about the will of the senate without pushing Caesar into a position where he will feel obliged to march on Rome with his forces.

The return home doesn't go as expected for Vorenus; he finds his wife holding a baby, which she claims is his grandchild. She had heard that he had died and had got used to running her house without him. Pullo has even more problems when a backstreet brawl leads to him requiring cranial surgery; a dangerous and painful procedure.

When time comes for the vote on Caesar's position a brawl breaks out in the senate which prevents Mark Antony from exercising his veto; if he can't get to the senate the next day Caesar will be declared an enemy of the state and war will be inevitable.

This, and the previous episode, nicely bring us to the point where Caesar marches on Rome. This is done an engrossing way; one has to laugh about how once again Titus Pullo finds himself in at the centre of a key event; in fact it is an attack on him that leads to the skirmish that prevents Mark Antony from vetoing the vote against Caesar. The episode starts well with Caesar acknowledging that the post he has sent Mark Antony to fulfil is a sacred duty… then we see Mark Antony having his way with a peasant girl while his men wait for him to finish! James Purefoy does a great job in the role as his character constantly shows his boredom with formality and is frequently quite vulgar. The scenes between Vorenus and his wife are enjoyable as we see his formal attitude; a total contrast to Pullo who headed to a brothel. As in the previous episode there is some sex and violence but I suspect anybody likely to be offended would have dropped the series after the first episode. Overall a fine episode that leads nicely to the inevitable conflict now that Caesar has taken his forces into Italy.

Titus Pullo brings down the Republic but elevates "Rome"!

[dmyriounis · 10/10 · 15 May 2012]

"Rome" continues its path to television's Hall of Fame with "How Titus Pullo brought down the Republic" which is as different from "The Stolen Eagle" as an episode can be. The episode seems to continue the trend of tackling two story lines, one on the patrician level and one on the plebeian level, but it is fairly evident here that it is really only one storyline, whose threads tie up in the end.

The show's writers once again stick to the broad historical facts, tinkering with the circumstances around the major historical events and figures. The political storyline picks up even more steam as Caesar and Pompey pit wits with Mark Antony as their unwitting pawn. David Bamber once again shined as a Cicero eager to protect his own skin and make sure that the balance of power remains unchanged.

But the tour-de-force performance of the episode definitely was Ray Stevenson's as the self-destructive, sex-crazed gambler Titus Pullo. His storyline is a comment on a soldier's life, a life that is full of short excitement, danger and victory but can turn easily boring and void of meaning when war is over and there's no home behind to wait him. This was clearly put to comparison with the life awaiting Vorenus and the set of challenges that entails, as well as the bitter betrayal Vorenus is attacked with. The show also introduced the lovely Indira Varma as Vorenus's outspoken wife, Niobe, as well as his entire household, an environment that is sure to prove taxing to the psyche of the loyal, rigid centurion.

Michael Apted lends his steady hand to the episode and provides for some shocking violence scenes which are immensely energized and suspenseful.

Cicero

[georgioskarpouzas · 7/10 · 30 April 2007]

I found this episode important because of the presence of Cicero in the Senate and out of it and the day to day machinations of the Roman aristocracy as well as the political acumen of the young Octavianus who is precocious and rather irritating I must say but I suspect he could not have been otherwise since he had the calibre of a universal despot or rather princeps. The young actor who plays him is brilliant as a choice for the character he seeks to portray. Good introduction to the life-style of the Roman chattering classes. It is interesting surely but after some time their incessant hunger for power makes someone bored.