The gold shipment from Herod is due to arrive in the port of Ostia and Octavian and Mark Antony have instructed Vorenus and Pullo to supervise its movement to Rome. Things go wrong tragically wrong before anything starts. Gaia has given Pullo's wife an abortifacient but it causes her death; Pullo is in no fit state to bring back the gold so Vorenus gives the job to Mascius. As they enter the city they are ambushed and the gold is taken. Vorenus is convinced that Memmio was behind the theft; he is also led to believe that somebody close to him must have told Memmio about the shipment
he has no suspicion just how close that person is though. Meanwhile Maecenas has informed Octavian about the true mature of Mark Antony's marriage to Octavia; something that leads to Octavia and Atia being confined to their home and Mark Antony being sent to Alexandria where he is reunited with Cleopatra.
This was a great episode; there is plenty of scheming; both for financial gain and political reasons. While the death of Eirene wasn't really a surprise it was distressing and saddening. The story of the theft of the gold was interesting and led to an inevitable confrontation between the Aventine and the other collegia; this was an impressively brutal fight. Pullo's actions were particularly brutal and it was great fun seeing Gaia entering the fight was as much ferocity as any of the men. The episode's opening scenes were classic 'Rome'; we see Octavian giving a speech about the upstanding nature of Roman women intercut with scenes of his mother and sister having sex with Mark Antony and Agrippa respectively. As expected the cast did a fine job; Ray Stevenson was particularly good as Pullo showing his caring side as his wife dies and his brutality as he confronts Memmio in a particularly shocking scene. Kevin McKidd is also on fine form as Vorenus as he confronts his daughter Vorena and it looks as if he might actually kill her. The ending, where Mark Antony is reunited with Cleopatra was short but just the way they looked at each other tells us that they will be getting close in the final couple of episodes. Overall a really great episode that sets things up nicely for the remaining episodes.
This was a great episode; there is plenty of scheming; both for financial gain and political reasons. While the death of Eirene wasn't really a surprise it was distressing and saddening. The story of the theft of the gold was interesting and led to an inevitable confrontation between the Aventine and the other collegia; this was an impressively brutal fight. Pullo's actions were particularly brutal and it was great fun seeing Gaia entering the fight was as much ferocity as any of the men. The episode's opening scenes were classic 'Rome'; we see Octavian giving a speech about the upstanding nature of Roman women intercut with scenes of his mother and sister having sex with Mark Antony and Agrippa respectively. As expected the cast did a fine job; Ray Stevenson was particularly good as Pullo showing his caring side as his wife dies and his brutality as he confronts Memmio in a particularly shocking scene. Kevin McKidd is also on fine form as Vorenus as he confronts his daughter Vorena and it looks as if he might actually kill her. The ending, where Mark Antony is reunited with Cleopatra was short but just the way they looked at each other tells us that they will be getting close in the final couple of episodes. Overall a really great episode that sets things up nicely for the remaining episodes.
