The Caesars (2019 TV Series)

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Martin Scorsese and Michael Hirst are collaborating together on a TV series about the power and political structure of ancient Rome titled The Caesars. Hirst is no stranger to such small screen historical fare himself, having previously created The History Channel’s Vikings and Showtime’s King Henry VIII drama The Tudors, as well as Starz’ short-lived “grounded” take on the King Arthur mythology Camelot. Scorsese was similarly a creative force behind the scenes on HBO’s Prohibition era crime drama Boardwalk Empire and the 1970s music industry drama Vinyl (which ran for just a single season).

Hirst has already written the pilot episode script for The Caesars, which begins with the young Julius Caesar’s rise to power. Filming on the series (which is being envisioned as a TV drama that will run for multiple seasons) is tentatively slated to get underway in 2019, with production taking place on location in Italy. Although Scorsese called the shots on the pilots for both Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl, it’s not clear yet whether he intends to do the same for The Caesars or if he will be serving as an executive producer on the series only.

Whereas Scorsese is renowned for the realism and authenticity of his period dramas, Hirst is known for taking more creative liberties in order to make the subject matter of his historical TV series enticing to modern audiences (see how The Tudors in particular cast Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the gluttonous King Henry VIII through all stages of his life). Hirst emphasizes that Scorsese is “very hot on authenticity” during his interview with The Guardian, but also suggests that The Caesars will ultimately be in the vein of his own previous small screen ventures:

The political maneuvering and machinations of young Julius Caesar ought to make for good historical melodrama storytelling in Hirst’s hands, and Scorsese’s involvement further suggests that The Caesars will make for a compelling meditation on the power dynamics of ancient Rome. It’s plausible that The Caesars will eventually land at The History Channel, given their established relationship with Hirst and the benefits that they continue to reap from the success of Vikings. While it’s not impossible that the show will find its way to Scorsese’s old stomping grounds at HBO instead, the network only aired its own ancient Rome TV series Rome ten years ago and might be all the less inclined to jump on another Scorsese historical drama, following the costly under-performance of Vinyl.

https://screenrant.com/martin-scorsese-rome-tv-series/

I've never actually seen the show Vikings, but everyone tells me it's good. Of course Martin Scorsese is brilliant, so this look pretty intriguing.
 
Martin Scorsese and Michael Hirst are collaborating together on a TV series about the power and political structure of ancient Rome titled The Caesars. Hirst is no stranger to such small screen historical fare himself, having previously created The History Channel’s Vikings and Showtime’s King Henry VIII drama The Tudors, as well as Starz’ short-lived “grounded” take on the King Arthur mythology Camelot. Scorsese was similarly a creative force behind the scenes on HBO’s Prohibition era crime drama Boardwalk Empire and the 1970s music industry drama Vinyl (which ran for just a single season).

Hirst has already written the pilot episode script for The Caesars, which begins with the young Julius Caesar’s rise to power. Filming on the series (which is being envisioned as a TV drama that will run for multiple seasons) is tentatively slated to get underway in 2019, with production taking place on location in Italy. Although Scorsese called the shots on the pilots for both Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl, it’s not clear yet whether he intends to do the same for The Caesars or if he will be serving as an executive producer on the series only.

Whereas Scorsese is renowned for the realism and authenticity of his period dramas, Hirst is known for taking more creative liberties in order to make the subject matter of his historical TV series enticing to modern audiences (see how The Tudors in particular cast Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the gluttonous King Henry VIII through all stages of his life). Hirst emphasizes that Scorsese is “very hot on authenticity” during his interview with The Guardian, but also suggests that The Caesars will ultimately be in the vein of his own previous small screen ventures:

The political maneuvering and machinations of young Julius Caesar ought to make for good historical melodrama storytelling in Hirst’s hands, and Scorsese’s involvement further suggests that The Caesars will make for a compelling meditation on the power dynamics of ancient Rome. It’s plausible that The Caesars will eventually land at The History Channel, given their established relationship with Hirst and the benefits that they continue to reap from the success of Vikings. While it’s not impossible that the show will find its way to Scorsese’s old stomping grounds at HBO instead, the network only aired its own ancient Rome TV series Rome ten years ago and might be all the less inclined to jump on another Scorsese historical drama, following the costly under-performance of Vinyl.

https://screenrant.com/martin-scorsese-rome-tv-series/

I've never actually seen the show Vikings, but everyone tells me it's good. Of course Martin Scorsese is brilliant, so this look pretty intriguing.

I very much enjoyed "The Tudors", but it was in the "bodice ripper" mode to use a publishing term. You didn't get much of the political and religious context, although there were some references to it.

Much the same ground, i.e. the life of Giulio Cesare, was covered in the miniseries "Rome", which was pretty sensationalized, although I enjoyed that one too. The problem is that to really understand Giulio Cesare you have to understand the preceding two hundred or so years of Roman history. The other problem is that much of what was written contemporaneously or shortly thereafter was often just repeating scurrilous gossip, so it's difficult to tell what these historical figures were really like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(TV_series)

Still, bottom line, as I said on another thread, if it arouses some interest in the actual history of certain periods, that's a big plus, and if not, it can still be good entertainment.

I'll keep an eye out for this, and no doubt watch it when it comes out. Thanks.
 

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