Not to be confused with “Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire” (by the History Channel).
“Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire” is neither a documentary nor a history. It uses too many re-enactments (and too little narration) to be considered a traditional documentary, and it is too sporadic and episodic to be considered a history. It does not observe the chronology well enough to be considered a true history of Ancient Rome. One episode in particular is out of chronological order, and even the others only cover brief episodes in Roman history. The gaps between them are measured in decades (and sometimes even centuries), so nothing like a comprehensive overview is even attempted. However, we should not conclude from these things that the BBC's efforts are without merit here. On the contrary, they have much to offer for the Roman Empire buff and the student of history. They even succeed in being entertaining, and bringing these events to life – which is not a small consideration, for a program on public television.
The first episode is about Julius Caesar …
To begin with, this program is just a dramatization of six key moments in the history of the Roman Empire. Each moment gets its own episode, and each of these episodes is about one hour long. The first of these episodes is about Julius Caesar, “the most famous Roman of them all” (in the words of the BBC). Other series have tried to cover Julius Caesar, I should acknowledge here, but this one may be the best dramatization. If you're after a more “documentary” approach to this topic, I instead recommend the History Channel's “Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire” (not to be confused with this series). Both series have an entire episode about Julius Caesar; but the BBC seems to have better re-enactments in its approach, so it definitely has something to add here. Their depiction of Julius Caesar is not very sympathetic, and one senses that he was somewhat dangerous. He had fairly tight control of his emotions, and was not given to explosive fits of rage – unlike Emperor Nero, whom I will cover later. But the words “coldly rational” would seem appropriate for Julius Caesar, as he was cunning and calculating as well as ruthless. If you stood in his way, he would not think twice about having you executed. His rise to power involved a fair amount of civil war, and the BBC gives good coverage of these events. But they do not cover his famous assassination, and leave this part to other media like the famous Shakespeare play. They mention it only in passing, in the closing of the episode. (And since I'm not much of a Shakespeare scholar, I will refrain here from commenting on the accuracy of the Shakespeare play, and will leave this issue to others who know more about it.)
Julius Caesar
The second episode is about Emperor Nero, and the third is about the Jewish Revolt
The second episode is about Emperor Nero, who was a true tyrant if ever there was one. Unlike Julius Caesar, he did not have great control of his emotions. On the contrary, he was given to temper tantrums that could be violent. More than one person died in these explosive attacks, even when their slights were more imagined than real. Among the victims were his wife Poppaea and his mother, the latter of whom is herself unsympathetic. Even Emperor Nero regretted some of the deaths that he had caused in these attacks, and he was so out-of-control that his reign ended in a bloody revolt. The man who plays Nero gives an appropriately chilling performance as the brutal tyrant, and one can scarcely imagine a worse dictator than the real Nero. The third episode covers the Jewish Revolt of the later first century, now known as the “First Jewish-Roman War.” This is a topic that has been covered elsewhere (by other media), and so I have described it in my reviews of these other media. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that it was the largest revolt in Roman imperial history, and that it was no small sideshow from things going on elsewhere.
Emperor Nero
The fourth episode is about Tiberius Gracchus (and is thus somewhat out of order … )
The fourth episode is the one that is somewhat out of order, because it is about Tiberius Gracchus. I don't know why the BBC wanted to make this the fourth episode of the series, because it should have been the first episode; but it is a great episode nonetheless. It backtracks to the time before the Empire was created, and before Rome's republican form of government had been lost. In their coverage here, they necessarily have to look at some redistributions of wealth, a topic that fascinates the modern left. I don't normally support redistributions of wealth, I should make clear, but this may have been a time where this was appropriate. Tiberius Gracchus was at the head of a revolution against the wealthy elite. This topic is somewhat economic, of course, which may explain why the BBC didn't want to use this topic to begin their series. They presumably wanted the more “sexy” topics of wars and battles to start off the series. This is their only violation of the chronology (albeit a big one); and one must note this in a review of this series. (I should note that not all of this episode is economic in nature, as there is also some military content as well. But the primary focus of this episode is economic; although this is itself fairly dramatic, so there are no complaints here.)
A coin depicting Tiberius Gracchus
The fifth episode is about Constantine
The fifth episode is about Constantine, better known as “Constantine the Great.” It is two centuries after the Jewish Revolt of the third episode, and even further after the coverage of the Gracchi of the fourth episode. Nonetheless, I won't complain too much on that score, because all of these episodes are interesting and generally satisfying. For those who don't know, Constantine was the first Roman emperor to become a Christian; and the emperor who converted the Roman Empire to Christianity. This is obviously important, and so the story does not lack for interest. It is also a military story, which adds to the interest for someone like me. Like most other programs, they end their coverage of Constantine the Great with some coverage of the Council of Nicaea, the most important church council of the fourth century. (This is the famous council that produced the Nicene Creed, which is a major statement of belief for most Christians today.) This is an interesting episode, and I much recommend it; but the best coverage of the Emperor Constantine may come from “Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine.” This latter documentary was more focused on the rise of early Christianity, and it gives the best coverage of the effects of Constantine. Nonetheless, both programs are great; and the BBC's re-enactments do add something to this coverage.
Constantine the Great
The sixth and final episode is about “The Fall of Rome” (or rather, the Sack of Rome)
The sixth and final episode is just called “The Fall of Rome.” Its title might suggest that it is about the fall of the Empire, but this is not really the case. Instead, it covers the sack of the city of Rome in the year 410. Thus, it is about the fall of a city, rather than the fall of an empire. On paper, the Western Empire did not fall until the year 476; which is more than six decades after the famous capital city was sacked. The History Channel (not the BBC) gives the best coverage of the fall of the Western Empire. Nonetheless, the BBC gives some superb coverage of the smaller story of the city being sacked. I should mention that the Eastern Empire actually lasted 1,000 years longer than the Western Empire did; and it is today called the “Byzantine Empire.” Neither the BBC nor the History Channel attempted to cover it in their programs, because this additional ground to cover would have been much larger (as these extra 1,000 years would indicate). As far as the Eastern Empire goes, I know of only one television program that has yet covered this, which is “Byzantium: The Lost Empire” by TLC. Unfortunately, this documentary is more about archaeology than it is about history, but it nonetheless has some good things to offer. I review the latter series here.
The Sack of Rome, in the year 410
All of these episodes are superb, and add much to our public discussion of the history
All of these programs add something to the history, and the true Roman Empire buff will probably want to consult all of them. The approaches of these other programs have definite advantages, of course; and in some ways, I prefer their approach to the one used here. (In my opinion, the documentary approach is much more “linear” and “to the point.”) But the docudrama format of the BBC definitely has its own advantages, and helps to bring it to life. The movie has near-literary quotes from the histories written by the Romans themselves, and the Shakespearean quality of the British acting is superb. The musical score is dramatic, and the battle scenes are exceptional; but it's the stories themselves that are the best part. Our classical heritage is too often forgotten today, and the general public tends to know very little about these stories (since the schools do not stress this topic as much as they used to). Nonetheless, we could use the stories of Ancient Rome today, I think, and the lessons of popular government that they teach us. Thus, the BBC's efforts to educate us on this subject are much appreciated; and help to bring this topic to a new generation of history buffs.
“In an age before Rome was ruled by emperors young Tiberius Gracchus had been brought up to respect his father’s principles of honour and justice, but in just 20 years he will die defending his father’s ideals, murdered by the aristocrats standing behind him, his crime; starting a revolution so powerful it changed Rome forever, setting [it] on the path to its greatest triumphs and worst excesses.”
– Opening narration for “Revolution,” the episode about Tiberius Gracchus
DVD at Amazon
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If you liked this program, you might also like:
Reflections on learning about history of Ancient Greece
A review of Bettany Hughes’ “The Spartans”
A review of Bettany Hughes’ “Athens: The Dawn of Democracy”
A review of “The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization” (PBS Empires)
A review of Michael Wood’s “In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great”
A review of “The Germanic Tribes” (German documentary)
A review of “Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire” (History Channel)
A review of “The Roman Empire in the First Century” (PBS Empires)
Reflections on learning about history of Ancient Rome
Part of a series about
European history
The Roman Empire (alternative version)
This list covers Europe through the Renaissance. For Europe since the Renaissance, click here.
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