Ancient Rome
– The Rise And Fall Of An Empire
BBC ONE
"A television series on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire – hasn't that been done already?" It's a question that was often asked of the team working on BBC One's drama-documentary series Ancient Rome – The Rise And Fall Of An Empire. And their reply was emphatic: nothing could be further from the truth. Program Information discovers how the BBC brought 500 years of Roman history back to life.
"The rise and fall of the greatest civilization of the Ancient World should be one of the most exciting tales imaginable," says series producer Mark Hedgecoe. "It's a story that countless feature films, costume dramas and mini-series have tried to tell. Yet few have done it justice." The reason being, according to Hegecoe, that all other previous productions have tended to ignore the real history and, instead, chosen to fictionalize the story of Ancient Rome. "Which is a shame," he states, "because the case is that the truth is better than fiction!"
The real stories of Ancient Rome contain more potential drama than a trilogy of Gladiators. The history books ooze with stories of greed, lust and ambition. Consider just a few of the characters who feature in this series: Tiberius Gracchus was an aristocratic Roman and military hero who became disillusioned with his city and led a revolt after witnessing what he believed was a perversion of its ancient values. Emperor Nero embodied extraordinary contradictions; he was capable of rebuilding Rome after a great fire, but was also able to kick his wife to death and turn a slave boy into a woman by castrating him. Josephus was a leader of the Jewish revolt against the Romans who was forced – agonizingly – to swap sides and join the oppressors of his people. In short: you don't have to make this stuff up.
That's why, rather than using a presenter or talking heads to bring this extraordinary history alive, the series tells the stories using drama-documentary.
"Rome is a subject ideally suited to this genre," says executive producer Matthew Barrett. "The accounts by Roman historians and writers are so strong and rich in detail, they can be brought vividly to life with dialogue-driven drama. The record is full of compelling characters whose conflicts and motivations a modern-day viewer can identify with; men and women of action, speaking as we do, making the kinds of dramatic decisions that lead to real-life triumph and tragedy."
It's a historical subject which has attracted some of the big acting names in the business. The great icons of Ancient Rome such as Nero, Caesar and Constantine are being played by actors of the weight of Michael Sheen, Sean Pertwee and David Threlfall. The powerful women of Rome are played by British actresses including Catherine McCormack and Geraldine James.
However, it's also drama which has been underwritten by the scholarship of some of the most respected experts in the field. Professor Mary Beard, Head of Classics at Cambridge University, has advised on three of the films, and specialist academics have advised on the scripts of all the others.
And that prompts the next obvious question: which stories to tell? At first glance, the question of how to compress over 500 years of history into six gripping programs seems formidable enough to make Edward Gibbon himself quake in his 18th-century boots. But, as is implied by the title of the series, Rome's history had turning points. By focusing each episode on the characters and dilemmas at the heart of one of these "moments in history", the series tells a story as vast as that of Ancient Rome in six self-contained films.
So what will the series look like? Again, says Mark Hedgecoe, the emphasis has always been on the authentic and accurate. "Once again, our intention is to portray Rome as it really was – gritty, sometimes sordid, occasionally magnificent – depicted in a way that chimes with its description in the history books."
To achieve this, the series was shot in Bulgaria, Morocco and Tunisia. All these countries have impressive, purpose-built sets which were used for the grand locations in the series, whether 1st-century AD Jerusalem, Gaulish battlefields or for changing depictions of Rome through the ages.
Crucially, they also have a wide range of real sites – medieval forts, adobe back streets and even actual Roman ruins – which were used to recreate the more everyday scenes. In the Nero film, the team actually used the Tunisian Roman site of Dougga to recreate a theatre, and the amphitheatre of Oudna to recreate the Coliseum. Again, wherever the films were shot, the emphasis was always on the authentic. The cobbles have horse dung, the stonework is crumbling and the battlefields are mud-churned.
The same can be said of costume. So often in depictions of Ancient Rome, the clothes people wear look pristine and spotless. But modern-day clothing doesn't always look like that, so why should Roman? All the clothes in the series need to look worn – even if it means they are grubby. In particular, the battle clothing – the tunics, chain-mail and segmented armor of the Roman army – would have been dull and tarnished, not burnished and shiny.
The series uses computer-generated imagery throughout the films. "It's difficult to achieve a real sense of scale without it," says Barrett, "but we feel we apply it selectively rather than gratuitously, to help suspend disbelief and recreate a world that is believable and convincing rather than one that consists of a series of vast fantasy-vistas.
"And CGI is so effective at giving a sense of spectacle. Our battles needed to feel like they involved the clash of real armies; our sieges as though ancient cities really were being surrounded; and, when we do see Rome in all her glory, she needed to feel like a huge city of a million souls."
"It's an exciting project to be involved in," says Hedgecoe. "But what makes it all the more satisfying to work on is to know that, unlike so many other productions, this story of Rome is true."
Production fast facts
Locations
§ To give the accurate feel of the locations for the six stories, the series was shot in three countries – Bulgaria, Morocco and Tunisia
§ The series filmed on two different Roman sets: one recreating old Rome in Boyana, Bulgaria; and the other, later Rome at Hammamet in Tunisia
§ The series also filmed on Ridley Scott's Kingdom Of Heaven set in Morocco. It was used to recreate ancient Jerusalem
Props
The series used:
§ 110 metal Roman swords, made by craftsmen in Mumbai, India
§ 150 rubber swords for stunts and fighting (100 of which were destroyed during filming)
§ 205 shields
§ 20 metal daggers
§ 6 fake daggers for stunts and stabbing (of both the retractable-blade and rubber variety)
§ 16 rubber clubs and sticks for beatings
Make-up and costume
§ On the first day of the Nero shoot 11 murders had to be scheduled and shot, so it's of little surprise that 20 liters of fake blood were used – of various degrees of thickness and color – and 50kg of silicone were used to make the prosthetic moulds for the fake body parts
§ The series got through 25 bottles of sun-tan lotion just in Tunisia alone
§ Beards didn't come into fashion until late on in the history of the Empire (after Hadrian). Before then, slaves sometimes wore beards but were laughed at by wealthier Romans as they thought they couldn't afford to shave
§ 1,115m of un-dyed fabric were used in the making of the costumes for the film on Caesar alone
§ 26kg of dye were used for the costumes for the series
§ Over 400 pairs of shoes were worn out
§ Caesar's breastplate was used by five other characters in the series. His mantle was cut up and turned into scarves for soldiers
§ During the series, Carthaginian costumes were cut up and turned into those of Germanic warriors
§ Jewish priests' tunics were decorated and turned into the robes of Christian women
§ Jewish prayer shawls became togas for Roman pagan priests
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk38/feature_rome.shtml