Rome “Triumph”

You know what you do when the Senate names you Emperor for a period of ten years, and the nomination and seconding come from former opponents like Cicero and Brutus?  You hold a five day block party all over Rome, that’s what.

That’s the Caesar way.

Yes, Caesar is in charge of, like, everything now.  Will he step down?  Um, well, I’ve read my Shakespeare, so I know the answer to that.

But it’s time for a massive celebration of all things Caesar, with his old Legion marching out into the Colosseum, and the public execution of the Gaulic chieftain who’s been locked up since, I’m guessing, episode one.  Then the body can just be tossed into a refuge heap for his own people to give him a respectful funeral because that’s the Roman way.  Except for that last part, because I don’t think the Romans cared much if the guy had a proper funeral one way or the other.

And the movers and shakers continue to move and shake.  Octavian goes to get Octavia from a temple she’s been staying at, but she’s a cutter now.  That…won’t do.  Atia will make a show of being glad both her kids are home anyway, and might even offer a hypocritical olive branch to Servilia.  Servilia, for her part, is having the homeless Quintus Pompey stay at her house, and letting Cassius write anti-Caesar missives in her son Brutus’ name.  Man, it sucks to be Brutus, but Servilia did pray for vengeance against, oh, Caesar’s entire family.

Also of interest, Marc Antony finds Caesar’s promotion amusing, even if Caesar is taking the whole thing very seriously.

But on the lower end of things, Vorenus’ campaign for magistrate hits a depressing note when not only do we see hecklers are dragged away and dealt with, but also that he didn’t know he was basically running unopposed.

Pullo, meanwhile, is no longer the luckiest son of a  bitch in Rome.  First he’s denied a chance to march with the Legion for the parade of glory since he resigned his commission.  He can come along if he re-ups.  He doesn’t want to do that.  What he wants, and Vorenus initially opts to help him with, is to free Eirene, marry her, and then set up a farm outside Rome.  But then Pullo learns Eirene had a slave boyfriend, so Pullo reacts as Pullo will by quickly killing the guy, getting into a fight with Vorenus that ends with Pullo down and out, basically getting an offer from Erastes the loan shark for a job.

See, no longer lucky.