Utica (Rome)
| "Utica" | |
|---|---|
| Rome episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Jeremy Podeswa |
| Written by | Alexandra Cunningham |
| Original air date | October 30, 2005 (HBO) December 21, 2005 (BBC) |
| Setting | Rome, Thapsus, and Utica |
| Time frame | February 6, 46 BC (the date of Battle of Thapsus), possibly into the beginning of 45 BC |
"Utica" is the ninth episode of the first season of the television series Rome.
With Scipio and Cato defeated, Caesar returns home to a hero's welcome. Vorenus and Pullo's showdown with local thug Erastes gets an unexpected reprieve from Caesar. Servilia's plan to use Octavia to unearth a secret about Caesar backfires.
On the dusty plains of Africa, a defeated Cato and Scipio drag themselves to the nearest town, only a handful of soldiers and slaves in their wake. Despite gathering an army with the King of Numidia, they were overtaken by Caesar and his legions in a final battle at Thapsus, and now they must consider their fates.
Cato urges Scipio to consider making peace with Caesar. "You have a tolerant spirit," he tells him, before disappearing into another room to take his own life. Scipio soon follows his lead, instructing his aide Aquinas to cut his throat.
When word of the final battle makes it back to Rome, a newsreader pronounces that "the last standard of the bastard Pompeian scum is fallen, and Rome is at peace." Caesar, Mark Antony and their triumphant legions soon return to a hero's welcome.
After two years at war, Vorenus rushes back to Niobe and his children, Pullo in tow. His wife has found a lucrative new vocation in his absence, teaming with her sister Lyde to run Evander's butcher shop. She asks her husband to consider joining them. Pullo, at a loss as to where to go or what to do next, turns his attentions to his rescued slave, Eirene.
Octavian also has returned to Rome after two years at the academy, much to the glee of Atia, who throws a dinner to celebrate the homecoming, and more importantly, Caesar's triumphant return. Determined not to appear weak, Servilia insists on attending with Brutus, though she's still furious about her son's new loyalties. "Common sense demands I cannot ask mercy of Caesar, and accept rank and favor from him, then refuse his friendship," Brutus tells his mother. "I am not proud of myself...In lieu of a noble suicide, you shall have to be content with that."
For her part, Servilia insists her objections to Caesar are strictly political, denying she has any lingering sorrow or rage over his lost affections. Yet throughout the dinner, she steals glances at the man who spurned her, as he avoids meeting her eyes. Octavia watches Servilia intensely, oblivious to her own brother's attentions. The chain of longing is interrupted when Caesar asks Octavian how he would go about fixing the Republic, and upon hearing his thoughtful reply, appoints the young man to a seat at the pontiff's table - despite protests from the Chief Augur. Octavian begs off at first, insisting he would rather focus on his poetry but Caesar insists.
Servilia becomes preoccupied with uncovering the truth about Caesar's secret affliction—in the hopes of using it to destroy him. She enlists her young lover to get the truth from her brother, going so far as to suggest she seduce him. "A young man will tell his lover anything." This sends a disgusted Octavia to the door, as a desperate Servilia reveals her own secret: she witnessed one of Atia's men killing Octavia's husband.
...
Wikipedia