The Stolen Eagle

Template:Rome episode "The Stolen Eagle" is the pilot episode of the television series Rome.

As the wars in Gaul finally come to an end, Caesar is faced with both triumph and tribulation. On the heels of his victory comes news of his daughter's death. Awarded with the adulation of the people, he also gathers the enmity of powerful opponents and former friends. In Rome, Pompey the Great must balance honor and politics as he is urged to betray an ancient rival and recent friend. Atia of the Julii tries to steer her family on the dangerous path between the growing divisions of power, and in the Gallic countryside, two unlikely allies must reclaim that which Caesar has lost.

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Plot summary

"400 years after the last king was driven from the city, the Republic of Rome rules many nations, but cannot rule itself "

The episode opens with a brief exposition, explaining the political situation in Rome. It tells of the Roman "time of Kings", the expulsion of the Monarchs 400 years earlier, and of the growing class differences between the Patricians and the Plebians. It tells us that order is maintained by a sharing of power between two men, Gaius Julius Caesar, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Pompey was once acknowledged by all to be the greater man, but the eight years of Caesar's Gallic Wars have made Caesar increasingly rich and popular. Caesar's growing popular support causes the Patricians to grow more and more fearful. A Patrician with soldiers, money, and popular support, might make himself king.

The scene opens onto war. In the front lines of the 13th Legion (Legio XIII Gemina), Lucius Vorenus surveys the men under his command, and waits for the Nervii warriors to fall on his line. He does not have long to wait.

Howling their battle cries, the Nervii crash into the tight, precise lines of the Legion, which fights methodically and professionally - at least until one Legionary, Titus Pullo, breaks ranks, hacking his way into the crowds of Nervii. An angry Vorenus orders Pullo back into the lines, and then orders a small detachment to follow him in an attempt to rescue the surrounded Pullo. A drunken Pullo is not appreciative of the efforts of his comrades, and floors Vorenus with a right hook before being knocked to the ground by the other legionaries. An angry Vorenus orders the "rescue party" and Pullo back into the Roman lines. (this scene has some parallels with the story of L.Vorenus and T.Pullo in Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico)

In the encampment of the 13th Legion, the assembled soldiers watch the flogging of Titus Pullo. As the lash falls upon Pullo over and over, Lucius Vorenus lectures his men on the discipline of the Legion: Pullo has been condemned to death for his actions. As an amused (and eating) Mark Antony looks on, Pullo is cut down off the rack, commenting that he was just beginning to enjoy himself.

The scene changes to a different type of assembly. The 13th Legion is arrayed in all it's glory, and before the opulent commander's tent, seated upon a dais, Julius Caesar watches as a surrendering Vercingetorix, "King of all the Gauls", is brought before him, stripped, forced to kneel, and made to kiss the Aquila of the 13th Legion. Drawing his sword, Lucius Vorenus, shouts "Caesar!", and the legion erupts in cheers, applause, and the chanting of "Caesar ... Caesar ..". The eight years of the Gallic Wars are over.

It is discovered that the Aquila, a golden eagle and symbol of 13th legion, has been stolen. In order that the theft not be treated as a bad omen against Caesar, and demoralise his followers, Mark Antony orders Lucius Vorenus to retrieve it. Realising the futility of the task; the inevitable failure of which will result in the death of those involved, Vorenus recruits Titus Pullo from the stockade, as he is already marked for death.

After torturing prisoners for information, Vorenus and Pullo set off but after Pullo falls asleep while on watch, their horses are stolen from them during the night. Despite being without their horses, the pair manage to encounter the thieves and kill them all recovering both the golden eagle, and also Octavian whom the thieves had abducted on their journey.

Memorable quotes

Titus Pullo: I have simpler tastes. I like to kill my enemy, take their gold and enjoy their women. That's it. Why tie yourself to one? Where's the flavor? Where's the joy? Lucius Vorenus: Pullo, when was the last time you had a woman who wasn't crying or wanting payment?

Octavian: Caesar has taken the love of the common people from Pompey, and that was his most prized possession. A battle is inevitable.

Atia of the Julii: Andros… Bring him [ Octavian ] back safe or I will use the eyes of your children for beads.

Historical/Cultural background

Caesar's eight-years-long Gallic Wars end as the series starts. While it is not named, the battle shown near the beginning of the episode leads to the surrender/capture of Vercingetorix. This would make it one of the last engagements of the Siege of Alesia, setting the episode in late 52 BCE. It is unlikely that the battle depicted is an earlier battle in the Gallic Wars. The Aquila is definitely stolen after the surrender of Vercingetorix. Titus Pullo is still in the stockade to be "volunteered" to retrieve it. If it had been any earlier major battle depicted, it would mean Titus Pullo would be awaiting his execution for months in the stockade - very unlike the Roman legions. Even if the depicted battle were a minor skirmish, it still could not have been that much before or after the Siege of Alesia, as it had to occur before the surrender of Vercingetorix, but not so much before that it would be likely that Pullo would be executed before the Aquila would be stolen.
The brief view of Legio XIII Gemina engaging the Gauls is illustrative of the reason that Roman armies were so effective at conquering other nations. The organized, disciplined, almost mechanically precise battlefield organization and method of fighting of the Legion is shown in sharp contrast to hordes of "Gallic Tribesmen". It can be argued there are good reasons for each approach: Gallic warriors of the time were more concerned with personal honor, bravery, and "face" in battle, while the Roman soldier was subsumed into the Legion, and only really cared about killing the enemy.
The polythestic nature of Roman religious beliefs is brought home in this episode: Atia of the Julii sacrifices to Magna Mater to ensure Octavian's safety in Gaul; Titus Pullo is seen entreating Forculus, Roman god of the door, to allow him out of his jail cell, and later Pullo also offers up the men slain in battle to Mars, Roman God of War.
The battle scene depicts authentic Roman infantry fighting techniques including the tightly-packed wall of shields, gladius thrusting techniques above and below the "shield wall", and the rotation of troops on the front lines every 30-45 seconds.

Inaccuracies and errors

Brutus was described as being "pox-scarred", with his face covered with acne. However, in the series, his face is unusually devoid of such features.
Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are depicted as belonging to the famous "13th Legion", Legio XIII Gemina, Vorenus as a centurion and Pullo as a legionary. According to Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, they were both centurions of Legio XI.
Julia (Caesar's daughter, and Pompey's wife) died in childbirth in 54 BCE, years before the events of this episode. It seems unlikely it would take the letter two years to reach Caesar.
Octavian is depicted as an adolescent 13 or 14 years of age (though seeming older due to his powerful intellect). He was actually 11 at the time Caesar won his Gallic wars (Octavian is born September 23, 63 BCE. Vercingetorix surrenders after the siege of Alesia in September of 52 BCE). The historical Atia was over-protective and unlikely to allow her young son Octavian to journey into a region of the world in which war had been ongoing for 8 years, even if accompanied by a trusted slave. But his harrowing capture and subsequent welcome by Caesar do, however, resonate with the historical episode in which he was shipwrecked and made his way to Caesar through hostile territory in Spain at age 17.
Lucius Vorenus says that he married "by special dispensation". However, while legionaries were forbidden to marry in Imperial times (this rule seems to have been instituted under Claudius), it seems that in republican times, either soldiers were allowed to marry, or it was as "law observed more in the breach than the observance.". See Commentarii de Bello Civili, Book 3, Chapter 110: "The forces under Achillas did not seem despicable, either for number, spirit, or military experience; for he had twenty thousand men under arms. They consisted partly of Gabinius's soldiers, who were now become habituated to the licentious mode of living at Alexandria, and had forgotten the name and discipline of the Roman people, and had married wives there, by whom the greatest part of them had children."
Metellus Scipio and Pompey were joint consuls of Rome at this time, not - as it is implied, if not stated outright - Pompey and Caesar. (See: List of Republican Roman Consuls, 52 BCE).
The scene of Vercingetorix's surrender is wrong on several levels. He is shown being stripped naked by soldiers, then made to kneel and forced to kiss the Aquila. While this is a good way to humiliate a common captive, it is not the way of receiving submission from the losing chief, and not the way Romans did it.
- During the surrender ceremony, the losing commander would not have been handled by soldiers, as a common prisoner, but expected to be under his own power. He would be expected to divest himself of his military paraphernalia, as sign of submission to the victor, and of cessation of hostilities.
- Stripping naked might have been used on prisoners after the submission was done, and as they were carted off to slavery, but during the act of submission proper, they would have kept basic clothing.
- Kneeling is not the Roman way, they would not expect a man bend the knee, but the neck, this was usually done by making losers pass under the yoke.
- Kissing was, and still is an intensely personal gesture, one a barbarian taking Roman service might have performed, but not a vanquished enemy.
- Kissing the Legion's Aquila might be interpreted as submitting to the legion itself and to its commanding officer personally, but not to Rome as a state. The Eagle might have stood beside the yoke, but bending the neck while passing under the yoke itself would have been the principal gesture.
Given the swift, and often brutal discipline of the Roman Legion, it seems unlikely that Titus Pullo would be flogged, sentenced to death, and then locked up in the stockade for a time. Given the nature of his crime, it seems likely that he would have been sentenced to fustuarium, and instead of being flogged in front of his Cohort, they would be beating him to death with fustis.
Sleeping on guard duty is another crime that was punished with fustuarium. Vorenus seems to be very forgiving of Pullo, even though it lost them their horses.
Octavia of the Julii, who is based on the personage of Octavia Thurina Minor, divorces her husband at Atia's demand - and will remain unmarried throughout the first season (at least). Historically, Octavia Minor married Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor in 54 BCE (two years before the first season begins), having three children by him in the years from 44 BCE (the year of Caesar's assassination!) to 42 BCE. They would remain married until his death in 40 BCE (four years after the first season ends).
The name Octavian is incorrect, and should be Gaius Octavius instead. In Latin the suffix '-ianus' indicates the original family name after an adoption, as a result of which the adoptive son received the full name of the adoptive father. Accordingly, C. Octavius changed his name to C. Iulius Caesar Octavianus after being adopted and made sole heir in his grand uncle's will (44 BC). As a matter of fact, the future emperor did not like and never himself used the epithet Octavianus pointing at his not being born a patrician.
Julius Caesar, at this point in history, was known to be partially bald, whereas in the series he sports a full head of hair.

Character notes

Mark Antony comments to Vorenus that the Tribunes have noted him for his intelligence. Given the positions of the Tribunes (in this case probably the Tribuni Angusticlavii) within the legion, this meant that Vorenus had not only caught the attention of his commanding officer, but of 'mid-level' senior officers (Tribuni Angusticlavii being roughly the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Military). Vorenus must be a superlative officer.
Lucius Vorenus' "plan" to capture and crucify member of all the Gallic tribes until someone "talks" about the theft of the Aquila seems quite horrific to many people with modern sensibilities. This callous attitude may be a comment on Vorenus, or it may be a comment on the "cheapness" of life in the "Roman World" - or perhaps simply the "cheapness" of non-Roman life.

Plot notes

The title of the episode comes from the theft of the battle standard, or Aquila of the 13th Legion (Legio XIII Gemina). It was considered a great shame for a Legion's standard to be lost in battle, and it doesn't seem that losing one to thieves in a fortified camp would be much better.
Brutus makes the tongue-in-cheek statement that the Senate would be more interesting if they settled political disputes with swords and daggers in the style of the German custom of settling political disputes in single combat to the death. This is ironic foreshadowing, as he is one of the conspirators who will stab Caesar to death in the Senate.

Episode characters

possibly incomplete
See also: Character appearances in Rome

Main cast

Atia of the Julii	Cato the Younger	Gaius Julius Caesar
Gaius Octavian	Lucius Vorenus	Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Marcus Junius Brutus	Marcus Tullius Cicero	Mark Antony
Octavia of the Julii	Posca	Servilia of the Junii
Scipio	Timon	Titus Pullo

Guest stars

Andros played by Alan Stocks	Antony's Tribune played by Bart Ruspoli	Castor played by Manfredi Aliquo
Curial Magistrate played by John Boswell	Cornelia (daughter of Scipio) played by Anna Patrick	Crucified Man played by Russell Mabey
Durio played by Matt Patresi	Glabius played by Robert Purvis	Head Priest played by Allan Caister-Pearce
Julia played by Lydia Leonard	Lyco played by Gerard Monaco	Merula played by Lydia Biondi
Newsreader played by Ian McNeice	Prisoner played by Steven Matthew	Rubio played by Alessio Di Cesare
Sextus played by Fabio Carfora	Slave Trader played by Bob Mercer	Strabo (probably a nickname, not the historian) played by Ted Rusoff
Vercingetorix played by Giovanni Calcagno

External links