Wow! This episode – Heroes of the Republic – was absolutely thrilling! I definitely fell for Simon Woods playing young Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (and not Octavian Caesar, as he’s been called in this episode, oops!). I totally agree that his chilly blue eyes are one of the best theatrical renderings of the historical character’s famous self-control and festina tarde way of being.

In a previous post, I expressed my hopes that in this episode we would see/hear awesome dialogs between Antony and Octavian, moving towards their reconciliation and later on to Philippi. Not so. Nevertheless, HBO screenplay writers were “masterly”. Almost no words, but gestures speaking more than… pictures! :D Great show!

Highlights of episode 17:

1. As Topiltzin pointed out, Agrippa to Atia: "If you ever talk to her [Octavia] that way again, I will [long pause] be very angry!". The most hilarious scene!

2. The bearded Mark Antony sharing his hunted meat with his fellow soldiers. That was probably what he did, and things like that won him the loyalty of many troops. Actually, ancient sources do report that many soldiers left Octavian’s side for Mark Antony’s, and vice-versa, depending on how much each one did to win their loyalties. And it is probably due those comings and goings that their reconciliation became a real possibility. Just for the record, I do prefer James Purefoy (actor playing Mark Antony) shaved.

3. Cicero finding out that he had been “outmaneuvered by a child”. Totally historically accurate.

4. And, certainly, the scene of reconciliation between Antony and Octavian. Although not historically accurate, it was a highly emotional moment.

The actual meeting between Antony and Octavian, as history goes, was a theatrically conducted “grand show”. Unfortunately, Atia was not there, as this is when she died. And this is also when the Second Triumvirate (Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus) was officially born. Let’s hope that people will not get the wrong idea, and spread the news that Atia was the “hidden woman behind” this major historical fact.