The History Channel Presents Julius Caesar's Rome: 2-Volume DVD Set Review.

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Title: The History Channel Presents Julius Caesar’s Rome: 2-Volume DVD Set

Region: One

Genre: Documentaries

Volume I: “Biography®: Julius Caesar: Master Of The Roman World”, “Antony And Cleopatra”

Volume II: “The Republic Of Rome”, “The Age Of Emperors”, “Building An Empire”, “The Enduring Legacy”

Narrators and Hosts: Jack Perkins, Kim Cattrall, and Joe Mantegna

Feature length: 5 hours and 22 minutes

Extras: Timeline of Roman Emperors

Languages: English Stereo Sound

Subtitles: N/A

Packaging: Two Amaray Keep Cases Within A Cardboard Slipcase

Chapter Stops: 42

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of DVD Release: 2005

Home Video Distributor: The History Channel & A&E Home Video Through New Video

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Ever since the success of “Gladiator” back in 2000, the sword & sandal period epic has been recharged much the way the combined successes of 1990’s “Dances With Wolves” and 1992’s “Unforgiven” revitalized the western on both the big and small screens. Regardless of critical and commercial response, we have already seen the USA Network’s miniseries “Helen Of Troy” as well as last summer’s big screen feature film “Troy” and last fall’s “Alexander” has recently been released on DVD in both the original theatrical version and a new Director’s cut. Even “Gladiator” has just been re-released on DVD in a new extended version. One could even consider Mel Gibson’s “The Passion Of The Christ” as a part of this wave of films since the film does feature historic Roman figures and Christianity ultimately had a big role in the later days of the empire. There was a limited series that aired earlier this summer on broadcast network television related to Rome as well and now HBO will air a new co-production with the BBC entitled appropriately enough “Rome.” All of these dramatizations are not the only source for broadcast specials related to the Roman Empire. On Monday, September 5, 2005 at 9pm (ET/PT) and 8pm (CT), The History Channel will air one of the best documentaries related to the achievements of the Roman Empire that I have seen entitled “ROME: Engineering An Empire.” Now in addition to this brand new documentary, The History Channel & A&E Home Video through New Video has released a 2-disc compilation of documentaries on DVD under the title “Julius Caesar’s Rome.”

“Julius Caesar’s Rome” is one of the most popular documentary DVDs available from the A&E Home Video catalogue. As a reviewer I actually had to wait for nearly a month because the fulfillment houses simply could not keep the title in stock and from a consumer point of view this is no surprise. The packaging is quite stunning in it’s simplicity. There is nothing particularly different about it when you compare it to other DVD releases, but it’s the simplicity of the artwork and the style of the font used on the spine of the two keep cases housed within the DVD set that makes this release fit beautifully in a library next to all of the recently released and available dramatizations available on DVD that I have detailed above.

Now these documentaries are essentially two specials and one miniseries that focus on various aspects of Rome. All of the information is quite interesting with perspectives and facts that frankly I have never even heard of before. While I love Robert Graves’ “I Claudius” it is easy to forget that the acclaimed BBC and PBS miniseries is drama and not entirely fact. Perhaps nothing presented is entirely based on fact. We can never truly know everything even if we were to go back in time and try to witness events ourselves. What we have here are perspectives that reflect the cultural duality that makes Rome such an interesting subject to study.

For instance homosexuality was acceptable as long as the Roman citizen was not in the submissive end of the act. In fact it was not even considered gay unless the citizen was on the receiving end for lack of a better expression. Slavery was common and acceptable as a practice and yet conquered nations often had the opportunity to become a part of the Roman Empire by incorporating itself into the political and religious machinations of the government. Thus armies were refreshed often by the “volunteered” sons of conquered nations and under a Roman governor there could be two regional representatives that were of the native people that were now a part of the Roman Empire and serve as a gradual envelopment between the cultures. So while the Romans would butcher and conquer new regions, those regions would later benefit in an ironic way in a free exchange of ideas and improvement of living conditions as well as the chance to earn citizenship within the empire.

Granted the Romans were not angels, but what went on thousands of years ago still goes on today with the only differences being we have greater technology than the Romans had and the names and faces have changed. In two thousand years how will historians look upon the United States of America? Rome was the first world superpower or at least among the first. On disc one is the Biography® special “Julius Caesar: Master Of The Roman World” (44:32) narrated by Jack Perkins. This is followed by “Antony And Cleopatra” (90:96), narrated by Kim Cattrall. This is arguably the more interesting of the two documentaries on disc one because it features some interesting videotaped dramatizations, examines the legacy left behind by Ptolemy and Alexander The Great as well as the pivotal importance that would effect western history forever after. What would have happened had Marc Antony and Cleopatra been successful in defeating the man who would become Augustus Caesar, the first Emperor of the Roman Empire? It is as interesting a question in my opinion as what would have happened had the Spanish armada not been severely defeated by what some would say was an act of God if not at least the forces of nature? Would we all be speaking Spanish today had the Spanish armada not been destroyed?

The second DVD contains all four episodes of the series “The Great Empire: ROME,” hosted and narrated by Joe Mantegna. The series episodes covers a wide range of topics with a large scope focused on the history and worldwide heritage left behind by the Roman Empire under the titles “The Republic Of Rome” (45:43), “The Age Of Emperors” (45:28), “Building An Empire” (45:27), and “The Enduring Legacy” (45:00). All of the programs are presented in their original videotaped (1.33:1) television broadcast aspect ratios with English Stereo Sound. The programs can be viewed individually or through a “Play All” feature too. An onscreen listing of all of the emperors of Rome from 31 BC through 476 AD including the split between Eastern and Western empires is provided on disc one. The menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate too. “The History Channel Presents Julius Caesar’s Rome: 2-Volume DVD Set” is a great home video companion to anyone sword & sandal DVD collection as well as a neat DVD reference tool.

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