Those About to Die - First Impressions
By Owain Williams
I have finally gotten around to watching Those About to Die – only a few months late! So far, I have only watched the first episode, but I thought I would share my initial thoughts – my thoughts on it as a TV series, what I enjoyed about the show, and some questions that the first episode raised.
Firstly, what is it about? Like many TV series and films set in ancient Rome, Those About to Die is about the entertainment available to the people of Rome. However, unlike most other examples, such as Gladiator or Spartacus, this series is not about gladiators. Rather, it is about the chariot races – arguably the more popular form of entertainment in ancient Rome – and the completion of the Flavian Amphitheatre (later known as the Colosseum). Besides Ben Hur, I cannot think of another modern production that has put chariot racing front and centre. For that, Those About to Die already gets some points from me.
More specifically, the series follows the stories of several different characters, all of whom are connected to the Circus Maximus in some way (except one group of characters, who do not seem to have any connection yet, but I’ll get into that later). The first principal character we are introduced to is Tenax, a man who runs a betting tavern inside the Circus Maximus. His introduction really sets the tone for the rest of the series – at least, it wants to, we’ll have to see how successful it is – as he callously has one of his henchmen murder a debtor and then provides an expository voiceover mentioning ‘bread and games’. Later in the episode, he makes a similar threat to another debtor. Tenax rubs shoulders with the charioteers of the Circus Factions, specifically Scorpus, who was a real charioteer, but active a decade or so later than the show. We are also introduced to the Circus Factions owners and the imperial family, who have some conflict over the construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre. Then there are the Spaniards – a trio of brothers – who have brought some horses to Rome to sell to the factions. Finally, there is a family of Numidians, several of whom end up in slavery, bound for Rome, at the end of the episode. How they will connect with the other characters is not clear yet, but it will likely be developed in the next episode. Initially, at the start of the episode, there were some quite frantic, almost breakneck cuts between different scenes to introduce the different characters. However, after ten minutes or so, the episode seemed to find its rhythm as the characters began to gather in the Circus Maximus and the cuts became less sudden. Yet I cannot help but think that there may be too many different plots – five main plots, with several minor plots – which might make the show feel wide but shallow. It is too early to tell how well these plots will intertwine, but one solution would have been to merge the Spaniard and Numidian storylines, especially as horses from Africa were highly prized in the early empire. Both of these stories have yet to hit their stride, though, so I could be wrong.
The star of the show, so far, however, is the Circus Maximus. It is awesome to see the scale of the arena, which was capable of seating over 100,000 spectators, as well as the actual chariot races. It is clear that a great deal of effort was done to make this part of the series feel grand and exciting. The charioteers’ harnesses, for example, look like what we see in depictions of charioteers. The reins are not tied around the charioteers’ waists, however, but I can easily see this as being a sacrifice for the actors’ and stuntpeople’s safety. After all, there were many deaths in chariot races due to the frequent crashes, known to the Romans as ‘shipwrecks’, which we see a lot of in Those About to Die. Similarly, Those About to Die has also done an admirable job of depicting the near-religious fervor that surrounded the races and the charioteers, which was something I discussed with Justin Pollard when he joined me in the Ancient History Podcast to talk about his work as a historical advisor on the series. We frequently see people dressed in and waving flags of their preferred faction’s colours (although
the factions now appear to have crests as well as colours, for some reason). Charioteers are also treated as celebrities, hounded through the streets of Rome when they are recognised. A similar attention to detail is given to the set design, with Roman objects, from mirrors to frescoes and fascina, appearing throughout, making the sets feel lived in, especially the Subura.
There were a few moments that caused me some puzzlement, however. Firstly, that Vespasian does not offer shares of the Flavian Amphitheatre to the faction owners is taken as sufficient motivation to start plotting against them. I am not sure of the validity of shares in this context, though it is certainly not inconceivable, but the plotting felt sudden and rushed, a general flaw of episode one. Secondly, there is the stereotypical issue of Roman legionnaires wearing leather armour, but there are one or two instances of mail armour. Thirdly, some of the languages in the show felt off to me. In North Africa, a trader uses the Arabic terms yallah (‘let’s go’) and shokran (‘thank you’ or ‘gratitutde’). Of course, the Arabian Peninsula was plugged into the Mediterranean trade networks, and I would not be surprised to find Arabs throughout the Roman Empire, but its use in North Africa felt like the show was using the primary language of North Africa to add a ‘foreign’-sounding flavour (the Numidian characters also speak in a different language, but I have seen it mentioned online that it is a constructed language). Perhaps we will see more Arabs in Rome? Another minor but bothersome moment was when, quite early on in the episode, we are taken to the ‘School of Beasts’ near the Circus Maximus, or as the show calls it Ludus Beastius. I am not very familiar with Latin, but I am pretty sure that ‘beast’ in Latin was bestia (pl. bestias), as in damnatio ad bestias (‘damnation by beasts’) or the scholae bestiarum (‘school of beasts’) mentioned by Tertullian (Apology 35.6).
Overall, I enjoyed watching the first episode of Those About to Die. I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere it created and how Rome was brought to life. There were moments where I was left bemused or confused, but these were not very significant for the overall series, just minor elements, and I was watching with an eye for such things. I would give the first episode a 6/10, which would have been a 7/10 if not for the pacing issues at the start of the episode. I am excited to watch the rest of the series.
I am thinking of doing a history behind the series, discussing several different elements of Flavian Rome depicted in the show, such as chariot racing and the circus factions, rather than critiquing each and every element of the show. Keep your eyes peeled for more.
3 comments
I’ve seen the entire series. The reviews were mediocre. However I liked it a lot and found it interesting. I hope there is a 2nd season.
Hi Joe,
The more I watch it, that is the overall impression I am getting. I am looking forward to seeing where the series goes!
I have watched the entire first season. I have read a great deal of Roman history, and though there were some things that I saw that I thought were not quite right, those issues were minor. I thought that overall, it was a very good first season, and I look forward to seeing the second season.