01x02 - How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic

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Three more gone this morning.

Outcasts and idiots.

They all get restless.

With the fighting done they want to
be home with money in their pockets

not sitting in this dismal cold
and wet.

None of the good men have run.
Nor will they.

Nor will they follow you to Rome.

Not yet.

Time is running out.

We cannot wait here forever.

This is a very precarious position.

What happens in January
when your term runs out

and we're still sitting here?

The business of motivating men
to fight is a tricky matter, Posca.

I would not expect a sl*ve
to understand the subtleties.

I trust an education
in these subtleties...

will begin shortly.

Five hundred thousand? What's this?

I put Mark Antony up for election
as people's tribune.

There were a lot of votes
needed buying.

Mark Antony for people's tribune?

But he is...

You may speak.

I had understood the tribune
to be a sacred office...

with the power of veto
over the Senate.

- So it is.
- An office of great dignity...

and seriousness.

Perhaps you're right.

We shall send Strabo along
to make sure Antony behaves himself.

How far now?

Three hours at pace.

Here I come, girls.

I'm going to drink all the wine,
smoke all the smoke...

and f*ck every wh*re in the city.

Show some dignity.
You're under the standard.

Talk to him.

He's not under the standard.

Three hours away from a wife
he hasn't seen in eight years.

- The man's terrified.
- Surely a reunion is a happy event.

- Talk of something else.
- Terrified.

What if she's lost her teeth?

What if she's gotten skinny?

What if she's been letting
other men get between her legs?

Silence!

Long live, you Mark Antony!
Mark Antony, our protector!

They love him.

No matter.

We are all men of substance.

Let them have the love of the plebs
and the proles.

This won't take long, will it?

We can hope, dominus.

- Vorenus, you may dismiss the men.
- Sir.

And then you may dismiss yourself
until I send for you.

Have some fun.

But first...

take the boy back to Atia.

Get your reward.

Boy, tell your lovely mother
I will see her later.

Let's get this over with.

- You, leave this house this moment.
- I will not.

- Octavia is my rightful wife.
- You defy Caesar?

A fig for Caesar!

By the five Furies,
if I were not a genteel woman

I would have you flayed and hung
from a bracket at the door!

- Castor?
- Domina?

Fetch the dogs!

Insolent wretch!

I tell you, my honey,
you are well rid of that one.

I hate you.

I hate you!
I hate you!

Silly girl.

I'm only trying to do my best
for her.

- Why can't she see that?
- She is young.

- Master Octavian!
- Baby boy!

My poor rabbit!

So thin.

Was it very horrible?

Of course it was,
I can't even imagine.

We shan't even talk about it.

We should just put it
totally out of our minds.

You're back safe at home now.

But who are those?

You are to be very good
to them, mother.

They are particular friends of mine.

Friends? In what particular?

These are the men
that took me from captivity.

First spear centurion Lucius Vorenus.

And legionary Titus Pullo.

So...

we embrace you.

Good fearsome specimens you are.

I wonder it took you so long
to subdue those odious Gauls.

There was a great many of them,
ma'am.

Great many. Very good.

We'll be away then, sir.

But you must be rewarded
before you go.

- Castor, bring me my purse.
- That won't be necessary.

- Will it not?
- I don't want to break...

- any regulations.
- They shall stay and eat, mother.

Of course! There shall be bread
and meat put out in the kitchen.

I mean, they shall eat with us.

Obliged, sir,
but I must go to my wife.

Your wife has waited eight years.

She can wait a little longer.

Caesar has given them
honorary horses

and they ride with the standard.

It's perfectly acceptable
to eat with them.

Splendid idea.

It's symbolic.

We shall all dine together as equals.

- What's that?
- It's just your sister.

- Is she all right?
- Women's troubles.

Nothing a good leeching won't cure.

Jupiter Fulgor, we ask you to guide
and protect this man

Marcus Antonius, newly elected
tribune of plebs

champion of the people.

How many dead altogether?

I don't know.

I lost count ages ago.

Lots though.

- And you, Lucius?
- 309 fighting men.

I don't keep count on civilians.

You're very exact.

The w*r temple requires
an exact number...

when you make an offering.

That's a lot of wine and goats.

The priests offer a discount
when you pass a hundred.

- Priests!
- Crooks, many of them!

I just talk direct to whatever god
I'm doing business with.

Bugger the priests!

Too few people can be bothered
to do things the proper

all-Roman way.

- I commend you, Lucius.
- Vorenus is a strict Catonian.

Believe in the divinity
of the republic.

If Cato believes the same, then...

I suppose I am a Catonian.

But Cato represents
the rights of the nobility.

Surely a plebian like yourself
would like to see some changes made.

It should remain as it was
at the founding of the republic.

Why should that change?

Because the Roman people
are suffering.

Because sl*ves have taken
all the work.

Because nobles have taken
all the land

and the streets are full of the
homeless and the starving.

I had no idea my son
was such a firebrand.

The nobles say that
Caesar is a w*r criminal.

They say that he wishes
to march on Rome...

- and make himself king.
- That is sacrilege...

No man of honor would follow him.

I'm no man of honor then

'cause I say that
Caesar should ride in here...

with elephants and squash Pompey
and Cato...

and anybody else that wants it.

Never mind the law.

- That's what I say.
- You say that...

because you govern your reason no
better than you govern your tongue.

Forgive me, it's my fault
for mixing politics and wine.

More tench?

- A dormouse perhaps?
- Thank you, I won't.

Don't mind my saying it, but...

you two make unlikely friends.

We are not friends.
I am his superior officer.

By virtue of rank, if nothing else.

That is enough from you!

Please forgive our vulgar ways,
madam.

- We are not fit for your presence.
- Not at all.

I've enjoyed your company immensely.

It's been most refreshing.

And with your permission, we shall...

leave you.

Do come and visit us again.

Octavian needs reliable friends.

He may depend on you, I trust.

As you say, madam.

- Say again?
- I did not speak.

I go this way.

My home is behind the street
of the cloth dyers, if you...

Go with Fortune, sir.

The cleaner brothels
are in the Suburra

next to the venereal temple.

Niobe.

You're alive.

What child is that?

Answer me.

What child is that?

- He's your grandson.
- Speak sense, wh*re.

Wait, now.

Your grandson.
The son of your daughter.

- My daughter is only...
- She's thirteen, near fourteen.

- A son by who?
- Crito, a drover's boy.

His name is Lucius.

Niobe, stop.

I order you to stop!

Your father's home.

Girls, this is your father.

Daughters, I'm very pleased
to find you healthy and good looking.

A benefice you favor your mother.

Now you see how ugly your father is.

Come here.

She's not simple, is she?

Greet your father properly
as you've been taught to do.

Your pay stopped coming a year ago.

The paymaster said you must be dead.

They said they don't make mistakes.

Damned fools! I'll have it seen to.

A bit of a surprise to see me then?

A bit surprised to be called "wh*re."

That was...

wrong.

I am sorry for it.

- A wh*re in front of everybody.
- I said sorry.

- Is it as you like it?
- Less salt next time.

So...

how did you manage for money?

My sister Lyde and her husband
helped us out.

You won't need their help anymore.

The big phallus is off a Suevi
I k*lled in the Rhinelands.

A very strong and...

fierce people.

Nice.

My official spoils
I've put into sl*ves.

They're at the market.

I should clear ten thousand denarii.

That's good news.

By grace of Roma,
for twelve moons hence

thou art tribune of plebs.

About time.

- I need a drink.
- Indeed, sir.

Perhaps after the meeting.

- Cicero.
- My dear Atia

a pleasure.

Forgive us for imposing
at such a ludicrous hour.

Not at all, I adore it.

The secrecy, the intrigue.
It's most thrilling.

Comprehend, woman

this meeting is invisible.

Be assured, Cato, I do not see you.

General Antony, we are...

God, your beauty is painful.

You are the crucifix of Venus.

Let me die in your arms.

'Sist, Antony.

- Good evening to you all.
- General Antony.

Tribune Antony, if you please.

You're inside the sacred precincts
of Rome

but yet you wear the bloody red cloak
of a soldier.

Quae bruta figura!

It completely fell from my mind.

I'm most extremely sorry.

Will you forgive me

friend Cato?

Atia, please, will you take this
and burn it?

That's not necessary.

Is it not?

Bene.

Then let's stop all this blathering
and get down to business.

Blathering, you say?

What a congerie of heroes!

Such vim!

I feel like Helen of Troy.

Would you adjourn to the courtyard?

Speak, young Marcus.

What have you to tell us?

I have been delegated by Caesar
to negotiate a compromise.

Caesar wishes to avoid bloodshed.

He wishes to be seen as a man
of reason and probity.

Therefore, when his present term
as governor of Gaul has ended

he is willing to accept command
of a single legion province.

Illyria, by preference.

I don't understand.

Command of a province...

So he will have legal immunity.

So that none of you rascals

can go dragging him
through the courts.

We're here to discuss the terms...

of Caesar's resignation.

He could have avoided prosecution
by accepting a few years banishment.

Banishment for what?

For fomenting a tyranny

ill*gal warfare, theft,
m*rder, treason!

And what shall be your punishment,
Pompey, for betraying a friend

for deserting the cause
of your people

for allying yourself
with these so-called noblemen?

What punishment for you?

Impudent whelp!

The man's term of office ends
in two weeks.

We say six months.

Two weeks!

He sits alone in Ravenna

with one mutinous skeleton
of a legion...

and he dares to dictate terms to me?

Caesar has many more legions
than the thirteenth.

On the far side of the Alps.

Winter does not last forever.

Spring comes, snows melt.

- That's a threat!
- I assure you, it is no threat.

Snows always melt.

If he does not get a province?

Caesar will take
all measures required...

to protect both his interests
and those of the Republic.

I am grieved and surprised.

I had hoped
we would have a rational negotiation.

If that is his last word,
we shall go.

Then we have no more business.

Caesar is bluffing.

He wishes to appear
supremely confident.

Evidently he is desperately weak,
weaker than we'd thought.

This is a last ditch attempt...

to frighten us into
making concessions

while he still has the semblance
of an army.

He's weak, Cicero. Dying.

Is that not when all the proverbs
tell us to be wary?

Does not the dying serpent
bite deepest?

- Let's play.
- Where are you from, friend?

Thirteenth.

Better you keep that quiet.

This is deep Pompeian territory.

So, we're all Romans.

Come on, ladies, hear me now.

Furies and river gods for five.

You will be pleased to hear...

that general Antony was
as blithely arrogant...

and provocative as one
could hope for.

And Pompey and Cato
were deeply offended...

by your negotiating position.

Wise men and Graces on four!

Those Graces don't like you,
I think.

They piss on your face.

They piss on my face?

They piss on my face?

Calm, brother.

Man has an ill way with him.

He's lost a lot of money.

He means no offense.

- Do you?
- None at all.

Twin river gods over two.

Come on, you mumping cunnies!

Graces... over four.

How do you feel now, soldier?

Feel good?

- Who is this man?
- Run and get a doctor!

I don't want people dying
in my house!

Do as I say, woman!

There will be copious pus.

First putrid, then wholesome.

And mayhap fits of the spleen,
but that will be all to the good.

A purging of the malignancy
will follow.

This is brass.

Come.

When will he wake up?

Today, tomorrow, maybe never.

You might try an offering to Spes.

A white rabbit often works.

I'll send my boy tomorrow
to check the dressings.

What misery!

It's only blood. It'll wash.

Where are you going?

I have business.

Business? What business?

I understand that you are upset

but I will ask you,
do not question me in that tone.

Tone.

My father's c*ck!

How's that for tone?

Fifty, fifty.

Fifty-five.

Fifty-five, fifty-five.

Sixty!

Sixty, sixty. Sold!

This is bona stock,
but it's all skin and bone.

You want a good price.

Let us feed them up,
put some fat on them.

Couple weeks of easy living

and these puppies will sell
like duck hearts.

Is that expensive,
fodder and storage?

No! You'll recoup feed
and storage double.

Beautiful, neh? A real showman.

I am no judge of the sand

but sure, anyone can see
he is rare large and aggressive.

When the Senate meets tomorrow

Scipio will propose an ultimatum
be put to Caesar.

I ask you as a friend
to support the proposal...

and to enjoin your many friends
to do the same.

I have not so many friends
as all that.

The moderates follow you like sheep.

Your vote is critical.

The ultimatum is?

Caesar's term of office is over.

He must immediately disband his men,
resign his command

and return for trial.

Else be considered
an enemy of the Senate...

and people of Rome.

But he cannot accept that.

Not without dishonor.

Once declared hostile,
he has nothing to lose.

He will fight at any cost.

You are declaring w*r!

Caesar will not have to accept
or refuse the terms

because Mark Antony will
immediately use tribune's veto.

But then, what is your purpose?

If the Senate votes against him,
Caesar will finally understand...

that he is alone against all.

Of course, anything but
an overwhelming vote...

encourages Caesar to think
he still has friends and hope.

I am no friend to Caesar,
nor any tyrant

but I cannot vote for a proposal
I do not wish to see realized.

It would be highly irreligious.

I have made a vow to Jupiter.

Unless I get the full backing
of the Senate tomorrow

I and all my legions will sail
for Spain...

and leave you gentlemen
to your own defenses.

This is he? Crito?

He's a good boy from a good family.

Good enough to seed a child
of the Vorenii

who fought at Magnesia and Zama?

I don't rightly know, sir.

You don't rightly know?

Do you know that this girl
is my property?

That you should have
asked my permission...

- before you coupled with her?
- I'm sorry, sir.

I am within my rights
to k*ll you here and now.

- Papa, please.
- Don't you start sniffling.

You should have thought of this
before you spread your legs.

They meant you no disrespect.

What they did was only natural.

They're young
and they love each other.

That's no excuse.

His mother's family are well-found
in Ostia for many generations

and his father
is a successful drover.

They have a house
in the Southern crossroads.

A house built from cattle dung
no doubt.

It's very hygienic, sir.
There's no smell.

There's money in droving, at least.

Good money, sir.

I'm on the Capua run mostly.

That's five thousand head a week
sometimes, sir.

He cannot be but what he is.
When are you a man?

- Next month, sir.
- Next month.

Very well, you may marry my daughter.

Assure your good people
that the dowry will be appropriate.

He really is a good boy.

You should be pleased.

My daughter's virginity
has been taken...

and my first grandson,
spawned by an ill-favored prole.

How can I be pleased?

- He makes her happy.
- She's an idiot then.

What a brute you are!

The Senate will hear Metullus Scipio.

Speak!

Speak!

Conscript fathers...

I propose a formal motion.

Unless Gaius Julius Caesar
immediately lays down his command

disbands his legions
and returns to Rome for trial

this sacred assembly will declare him
a public enemy...

of the Senate and people of Rome!

After which time it will be the duty
and the obligation of every Roman...

to do him harm
or to k*ll him if they are able!

A motion is proposed.

Those in favor, make it known.

The motion is carried
by clear numbers.

Antony!

Veto the motion!

Stand up!

Veto the motion!

I demand the floor!

I demand the floor!

Give him the floor!

I veto the motion!

Tribune vetoes the motion!

Scipio's motion against Caesar.

It doesn't stand, does it?

Stands.

Entered in the annals.

Despite that tribune raised his veto?

Not heard, not fully admitted.

No weight.

The motion stands.

Let me be clear with you.

I do not wish...

that a motion as important as this...

should stand on a mere trick
of procedure.

Trick, you say?

This is a religious matter.

There are no tricks in religion.

Session was not formally ended,
correct?

- Correct.
- So, when we reconvene...

it will formally be the same session.

Then tribune Antony may use veto
on the motion.

That is so.

Juno Inferna!

Senile old fool,
only say so to begin with?

Mark Antony must not be harmed
or hindered in any way.

- But...
- In any way!

It is vitally important
that he be allowed...

to veto the motion.

If he does not,
Caesar is declared a traitor.

Then he has no choice
but to oppose me openly

which means civil w*r.

Antony must not be harmed!

Dominus!

Good news!

The Senate will reconvene tomorrow.

Formally, it is the same session

so you may yet exercise your veto
on the motion.

Unless Pompey tries to stop me.

True, he may very well try.

Rally the men together.

Vorenus.

All of them.

Run and hide.

Run and hide.

The thirteenth are coming
and your men are all dead!

I put extra nutmeg in,
as you like it.

Marry me, goddess.

What? A porcine object like you?

Besides, I am already wed,
thanks be to evil spirits.

You are wrong, friend-wife.

He is a good man, your man.

A good man you say?

For years and years,
I'd lie awake at night...

and beg all the gods
to send him home.

I'd hear of this battle
or that battle and...

I'd see him, clear as a glass

lying dead and bloody
in the mud somewhere.

I was lonely. I was so lonely.

For eight years I wept.

Every day, the girls asking.

"When is papa coming home?"

"Is it today? When?"

And now he's home,
and I wish he was in Gaul.

He's a cold, mean brute.

Not one loving word
to me or his daughters

- not once since he has been home...
- He has no skilled hand...

with the women.

But in all these years
I fought with him

he never took a woman.

"Pullo", he'd say to me,
"Pullo, my old friend

I have a wife back home,
Niobe is her name...

and she's worth more to me
than all the women of Gaul."

I thank you for your kind words,
but I know you lie.

He's no friend of yours.
He told me so.

Why? He has a... an ill-temper, him.

He'd say anything.

Antony needs every man.

If you can walk,
we rendezvous at the house of Atia.

This is all I have left.

There will be more
when I sell the sl*ves.

Get the girls indoors
and stay indoors...

until you know it's safe.

It saddens me that you are unhappy.

Because I have a deep affection
for you.

When I return, we will talk.

This is a merry do.

Octavia, my honey,
look alive at least.

Poor Antony must think himself dead
and swimming in Lethe water.

Talk to the poor man,
ask him questions.

One would think
she'd been raised by Germans.

General Antony

does my mother's screaming
irritate you?

Excuse me?

When you and my mother are in coitus,
there is a deal of screaming.

I find it extremely irritating.

I wondered whether you did also.

Or perhaps you like it?

A testament to your skills.

So spiteful, and for what?

You shame only yourself.

She has you exact.

We show our strength.

We show them who owns the forum,
but we do not touch them.

Antony must not be touched!

- k*ll them all, I say.
- None of that!

Pompey's strict orders.

Him who starts trouble
will be on a cross at nightfall.

So no blood!

Make a lane there!

Make a lane there, I said!

Come on, you b*stards!

Rally to me.

Rally to me.

Rally to me!

No blood!

You have what you wanted, Cato.

Caesar has no choice now.

Come the spring

he will cross the Alps
with his legions...

and march on Rome.

Five dead. Three from
flux, two from fighting.

Ten under medics.

Eight absent, believed fled.

- Sir.
- Fighting strength: 236 head.

Seventh cohort.

Twelve dead: six of flux,
six of fighting.

Three on the medics.

Three absent, believed fled.

Fighting strength: 242.

Soldier, how far behind you
is Mark Antony?

No more than an hour, sir.

- Sound assembly!
- Sir!

By order of the Senate

Gaius Julius Caesar
is declared an enemy of Rome.

All good citizens are bound
to do him harm if they are able.

I've got him.

After all these years,
Pompey surprises me.

I had hoped to provoke
some kind of aggression, sure

but to try and k*ll a tribune?

In the forum?

The man's found some hard black iron
in his soul.

I'm sure it was yonder
demented little worm Cato...

who put him up to it.

It's excellent, this.

So, what next?

Let's see what the men have to say.

Don't do that!

You look just right as you are.

Like Leonidas at Thermopylae.

Attention!

Any of your people I can mention?

Titus Pullo.

Took the head off the first man
that came at me.

Soldiers

Pompey and the Senate...

have formally declared...

that Gaius Julius Caesar
is an enemy of Rome.

No!

They have declared
that I am a criminal.

They have declared, in effect,
that all of you also are criminals!

No!

The tribune's veto was not exercised.

Peoples tribune Mark Antony
and fifty men of the thirteenth...

were assaulted by a thousand head
of Pompeian scum.

No!

A tribune of the plebs...

assaulted on the steps...

of the Senate house!

Can you imagine
a more terrible sacrilege?

Our beloved Republic
is in the hands of madmen.

This is a dark day...

and I stand at a fork on a road.

I could abide the laws,
surrender my arms to the Senate...

and watch the Republic fall
to tyranny and chaos!

Or, I can go home
with my sword in my hand...

and run those maniacs
to the Tarpeian rock!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Legionary Titus Pullo, step forward!

Titus Pullo!

When fifty brave men
of the thirteenth...

fought Pompey's thousand in the forum
and saved the tribune

it was legionary Titus Pullo
who drew first blood!

Here is five hundred denarii!

Very grateful, sir.

Are you with me, Titus Pullo?

Will you come with me to Rome?

Yes.
Yes, sir!

Certainly!

Titus Pullo is with me!

And you? Are you with me?

Yeah!

Yeah!

You're awake.

Water?

We're moving.

The whole legion, sounds like.

Where to?

It's a river.

What river?

- This is the Rubicon.
- Stay calm.

This is rebellion and treason,
and I am no traitor!

It's too late now.
We're across. We're in Italy.

You're a rebel
whether you like it or not.

Caesar.

Caesar, what have you done?

He had no choice, had he?

Pompey did try to k*ll Mark Antony
after all.

You of all men should not dare
make that argument.

- How's that?
- You know who was being attacked.

I don't know what you mean.

It doesn't matter now.
We are all dead men anyway.

We'll be hanging from crosses
in the Appian Way...

before the week's out.

We'll be all right.

- Have some more water.
- Better to die of thirst.

Don't be foolish.

Drink.

Caesar is in Italy!

- What?
- It cannot be!

Caesar is in Italy!

Have you heard?

I heard.

What's going to happen?

w*r is going to happen.

Who's my greedy little piglet?