Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Quarter 4 Reviews- 2/13



003 Historical Comedy – New 

I think I must have heard the second series of How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me, but having not heard the first series, I still enjoyed it.  Written by Hattie Naylor and directed by Kate McAll, this is another example of Naylor making the past accessible (Pepys’ diaries being the major example).  This is the story of Pliny the Younger, his mother Marcella, and his slaves Venta (who is from the Silures tribe, ergo Welsh) and Doris (who is Greek).  It’s very gentle, amusing comedy, despite the fact that it illustrates the life-and-death and sometimes brutal quality of life in the Roman empire (particularly in the last two episodes in which Venta is falsely accused of poisoning General Agricola, back from his victories in Britain, thrown into jail, and forced to fight to the death in the gladiatorial arena).  Pliny is by far the most clueless of the characters.  Marcella is in love with Venta, and Doris falls in love with a doomed dwarf named Calvin who is part of the gladiatorial games of the vain Emperor Domitian.  I don’t have any information on the actors.

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