-Are you insane? -[screams]
Smashing every household shrine!
Have you forgotten we're completely dependent
on his charity?
He's taken a risk sheltering us.
Do you understand that?
I've come back for my birth.
But for that, I need a new husband.
Someone with money and influence.
-[kissing] -Livia?
-You're all grown up. -So are you.
Get the chains off!
Years of war, Gaius, struggle, and luck.
...brought you here.
I'd be very sorry to see you throw it all away.
Do you think he's a better bet than me?
How long do you think he'll last
sharing power with Marcus Antonius?
-I'll never be your mistress. -Then state your terms.
-I want my inheritance back. -In return, what do I get?
You get to divorce Scribonia and marry Livia Drusilla
of the Claudii.
[laughing]
[Scribonia] Good and beautiful Proserpina,
queen of the dead and wife of Pluto,
lord of the underworld.
It's me, Scribonia,
daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo.
Today I ask you to make burning pains
in the womb of Livia Drusilla.
Let the baby of Gaius Julius
in the womb of Livia Drusilla die in writhing agony.
Let the baby of Livia Drusilla and Gaius Julius
slither out onto the floor,
stinking and dead like those before it.
Then let blood pour from the vagina of Livia Drusilla
until she dies in grief and despair.
Take mother and child into your underworld, kind Proserpina,
and let them rot there in darkness
for the rest of time.
Do this for me, generous Proserpina,
before the Ides of January,
and in return I will give you red wine, dates,
and a litter of pink piglets.
The Saturnalia is an ancient, religious festival,
not an excuse to get blind drunk.
A day of freedom is a privilege,
so this year anyone coming back after dark
or soiling the floor will be dealing with me.
The ladies Octavia and Scribonia are invited today,
so those responsible
will make sure the dinner is left out ready in the kitchen
and the table is set.
Thank you.
Hey.
Lord, forgive me, but...
you've got visitors.
It's a holiday.
Senators.
Corvinus and Crassus.
Murena, too.
The rest I don't know.
We knew someone would come sooner or later.
Didn't think Crassus would be one of them.
Your enemies are coming out in the open.
It's better that way.
They haven't come to kill you, not here.
Not now.
Those two are smarter than that.
That's what Caesar thought.
Crassus.
Murena. Corvinus.
[laughs] Welcome.
[indistinct greetings]
[Gaius] Welcome.
[Crassus] How's Livia? Will she be joining us?
[Gaius] You're referring to the malicious rumor
that my wife has opinions on politics.
And that I actually listen to them.
[laughing]
Forgive this intrusion on a public holiday,
but we wanted to talk unofficially
before the Senate reconvenes in the new year.
On behalf of the Senate as a whole,
we were hoping to get some sense of your views on the future.
-The future? -How you see things evolving.
Or not.
Huh.
We've all lived through turbulent times.
Since the killing of Caesar,
an entire generation has known nothing but civil war.
But now the wars are over and have been for a while.
Yes, how time flies.
Amazing to think it's been 15 years
since you, Marcus Antonius, and Lepidus were granted
complete and absolute powers over everything.
By the Senate itself.
For a certain fixed term which lapsed some time ago.
Well, special measures were necessary.
[Crassus] And now Marcus Antonius is dead,
and Lepidus may as well be.
So, suddenly... there's just you.
All of which the Senate has been wondering leaves us where?
Legally.
Constitutionally.
Practically.
Now that the peace has been restored
and your work is, well...
done.
You were right.
The Senate just told me to step down or else.
Caesar chose "or else," and look what happened to him.
I'm not fucking stepping anywhere.
All right.
But we can't make the same mistake.
♪♪
Father...
this is the cheese you like from our old farm in Caperna,
which did very well last year.
Gaius won't give back power.
Like Caesar, he's defying the Senate.
Anything could happen.
Gaius has been a good husband
and a father to Tiberius and Drusus.
You know I've come to love him.
I don't want him to die like Caesar.
Maybe there's still a way to restore the Republic.
[exhales sharply]
Help me find it.
[Drusus] You ready?
[Tiberius] Come on, Romulus. Come on.
[Drusus] Tiberius...
-you'll lose again. -[Tiberius] Come on.
[Drusus] Oh, yes. Let's keep going, Remus!
All the way, all the way, all the way.
[Tiberius] Romulus is catching up.
[Drusus] That's cheating!
[Tiberius] Hey, you put him ahead at the start.
[Maecenas] Tell me who else knows about this.
Maecenas.
Ah!
Agrippa.
I was just saying, we should tell Crassus to fuck off.
I know. I heard you from the garden.
And I was just saying they are forcing him to choose.
Either step down
and formally hand everything back to the Senate,
which is effectively restoring the Republic,
or... tell the Senate to go formally fuck themselves,
which would be admitting you're now a dictator.
Why can't we just ignore them?
Because they're right.
My position is illegal and unconstitutional.
So... fine.
You'd make a great dictator.
[Maecenas] That was never the idea.
Was it?
[Agrippa] Well, the minute we step down, we'll be vulnerable.
We've made a lot of enemies.
We'll make a lot more if you don't.
Caesar was stabbed 23 times outside the Senate.
Those mad-dog Republicans are all dead now.
Sorry, Livia, I, uh...
I meant no disrespect to your father.
It's all right, Agrippa.
He was a mad-dog Republican.
What I'm saying is, people are sick of war.
They'll take a dictator in return for peace.
For a while.
Until suddenly they won't.
[Agrippa] All right. You're right. Let's kill them.
Corvinus and Crassus and the rest of them.
-That's not what I was saying. -Well, it worked before.
That sounds just like "Go fuck yourselves" to me.
[Agrippa] So what? You just want to give it all away.
To an ambitious little fuck like Corvinus?
He doesn't care about the Republic.
He just wants to be you.
And Crassus.
He fought against us with Sextus and then with Antonius.
We've been at war all our lives.
We earned this the hard way.
Why should we hand it back?
It's yours, Gaius.
Take it. Take it now.
[Maecenas] You're better than that, Gaius.
It's time to show it.
They're both right. You have to choose.
One or the other.
And fast.
Where are you going?
I promised to take the boys to see their father...
while you make your mind up.
[Drusus, laughing] Oh, please don't stop there. Come on.
No, he's gonna catch up. Quick! Keep going. Keep going.
-Come on. -Tiberius, Drusus.
-Your mother's here. -[Drusus] Quick.
Are you gambling?
It's the Saturnalia, Antigone.
-We're allowed. -[Chuckling]
Yeah?
Come! Quick!
Come! Quiet.
-Wait. Okay, go, go. -Go, go, go!
Make sure it's Tiberius's terrapin.
-Stop ordering me around. -Go!
It's my plan!
-[chuckling] -Let me see this.
-Careful. Careful. -It's the right one.
Let's go. Let's go.
[chuckling]
Iullus, wait. I'm not allowed to leave the house alone.
You're with us. Come.
Greet your father.
Hello, Father. It's us.
Father, please accept this gift of wine
-from our estate at Privernum. -He can have the cakes.
They're stale.
He'll like them that way.
The wine's for your grandfather.
You're always mean about Father.
He betrayed the Republic.
We keep that to ourselves.
Marcellus said you poisoned him. Father.
He says everyone knows
that you invited him to dinner so you could poison him.
[Livia] Marcellus said that?
Listen to me.
Both of you.
I had nothing against your father.
But if I wanted to poison anyone,
the last place I'd do it is my own dinner party.
It was just some bad oysters.
And you know how your father loved oysters.
I told Marcellus he was a liar.
Then he stuck your head in the toilet.
No, he didn't!
Tiberius!
I got Marcellus back after.
A Roman fights his own battles.
I'd like to know where Marcellus heard that rumor.
Why? It's not true.
Exactly.
Look at his little terra-penis.
-No, it's a tail. -That is a terra-penis.
-[laughing] -[Woman] Whoo!
[scoffs]
Now what?
Well, now we just wait until Tiberius finds out it's gone.
Right, and then it's, "Sorry, we stole your stupid terrapin."
He's not coming out.
[Julia] No, Iullus, we'll just quietly put it back
after he's spent ages looking for it.
-And is that... funny? -It's the Saturnalia, stupid.
People play jokes on pe...
-[Iullus groans] -[Julia] Marcellus!
What did you do that for?
Because it's Tiberius's.
[Octavia] Antonia!
Okay. Go, go, go.
[Octavia] Vinnius is here. We're late for dinner!
Where are Marcellus and Iullus?
Behind you, Mother.
Where have you... You have not been out alone?
We saw a dead body.
Well, Vinnius will get rid of it. What were you thinking?
We will talk about this later.
Julia, I shall tell your mother.
[Scribonia] Tell me what?
[indistinct chattering]
Marcella, where's your husband?
Agrippa's already here. Uncle Gaius called him over at dawn.
-So who will? -I'm not scared of Livia.
-Then you're stupid! -You're stupid.
Why don't you kill him, too?
[indistinct chattering]
-Welcome, everyone! -Ah!
Happy Saturnalia.
So good to see you. These are for you.
Thank you.
-How's the bump? -I felt a kick this morning.
-I've been praying for you. -Thank you.
Oh, Julia.
Don't worry.
We'll find him.
I heard a rumor today that I poisoned my first husband.
Yes, I heard that, too.
-I hope you did. -I wish I had.
Can we please eat, Gaius?
We ask great Saturn,
to whom these days of freedom are devoted,
to bring us health and prosperity.
May he remember this family
and keep us safe from our enemies.
We are all of us here bound together forever by blood.
And there is nothing greater than that.
Family.
-Family. -[All] Family.
[laughing]
Stop. Stop it.
What did I tell you earlier?
Marcellus!
I don't know what you were thinking.
Hello? Marcellus, Iullus, I'm talking to you.
Taking Julia out in the street... [continues]
Did you make up your mind yet?
-He always takes forever. -I know.
Wasting his time thinking about stuff.
[Agrippa] Huh! Exactly.
We need to find Romulus whilst they're at dinner.
I've already searched the house twice.
Ugh!
-[exhales] -Mm.
It's those kids again.
Come on. Let's look outside.
Mm.
-[sighs] -[Gaius] You all right?
[chuckles]
Yes.
Just pregnant.
I've made up my mind about the Senate.
[moans]
But I still want to know what you think I should do.
You won the war,
made your fortune and brought honor to your family.
You have nothing left to prove to me or anyone else.
We have everything we'll ever need.
Step back.
Live life.
And make history as the Roman who restored the Republic.
The Republic was corrupt and lazy...
and complacent.
We can achieve so much more.
So, a dictator, then?
No, Livia.
I don't want to be a dictator.
I want to be a God.
[chuckles]
All right.
Then that's what we'll do.
We found Romulus.
-What? -Tiberius's terrapin.
Down a sewer opening in an alley near the house.
They tried to hide the body there after they killed it.
Who knows about this?
-Only Tycho and me. -Keep it that way.
I've been telling you to step in and stop them bullying Tiberius.
He's nearly a man.
He needs to stand up for himself.
-It's gone too far. -This city will eat you alive.
You need to speak to Octavia.
I've spent the last ten years making friends with Octavia
and pretending to do the same with Scribonia.
I'm not blowing that over a fucking terrapin.
[Rooster crows]
We don't need to make an announcement.
There's no point provoking the Senate.
And we don't want to start another war, unless we have to.
We already gave control of the treasury back to the Senate.
We re-opened the law courts.
They want their legions back, Gaius.
That's what this is all about.
You control the army, you control everything.
You know that and so do they.
You give the army back, you're nothing.
-They know that, too. -I'm not giving the army back!
I'll buy Crassus off with a big campaign.
He can avenge his grandfather's defeat in Parthia,
get the lost army standards back.
You promised me that campaign.
I also need you to resign as consul for next year.
I have to give it to someone else.
Corvinus. Murena?
Piso.
Gaius, he was my father's closest friend.
He fought against Caesar.
He fought against you.
He's the leader of the old Republican faction,
such as it is now.
Having him as the other consul
will make everything feel very... reassuring.
He'll know that. He won't take it.
He will...
if you ask him.
Go to him privately.
-For me. -[scoffs]
-He loves you like a daughter. -He did till I married you.
-He owes you his life. -He doesn't know that.
If anyone can get him to be consul with me,
it's you.
[Horse neighing]
Should you be riding?
You did promise Agrippa that campaign.
[Drusus] What do you want, Marcellus?
Can we help you?
We, um... we heard you were looking for your terrapin.
We're very good at finding terrapins.
You're not good at anything, Marcellus.
[Marcellus] What did you say?
I said, "Fuck you."
[Grunting]
[Marcellus] Let go of me!
-[Tycho] All right. -[Antigone] Enough!
[Drusus] I don't need your help.
Leave my boys alone and get out!
My father was a Roman consul.
You were a slave and a whore.
[Angry scream]
-[Grunts] -Don't!
[Antigone] Drusus.
Let's go.
[loud moaning, squealing]
Crassus! You...
You can come now.
-[Julia] Mother! -Who's that?
-Your wife. -[Julia] Mother!
-What? -[chuckling] Wait here.
[panting]
[grunts]
You'll never guess what Antigone just did.
You fought together nobly. Like Romans.
-It isn't over yet. -Yes, it is.
No.
It isn't.
Ha!
Livia Drusilla.
Who taught you to ride a horse?
-He did. -[laughs]
What?
[chuckling]
Livia Drusilla?
Piso. How are you?
The boys?
Alive.
You?
Pregnant... again.
Huh!
Can I speak to you?
In the new year,
Marcus Agrippa will resign as the second consul.
It is my husband's wish that you take Agrippa's place
and serve Rome alongside him.
Oh, he sent you.
Well, he believes Rome would be lucky
to have a man of your experience.
[scoffs]
Hunted through the sewers with a price on my head.
Condemned to death without trial,
which is the right of every Roman citizen.
You were pardoned.
Anyone would be lucky to have my experience.
You know the system of two consuls
was devised to provide a balance.
My husband knows your political views, and he respects them.
The offer's genuine.
But his mandate from the Senate ran out years ago.
What, is he going to give back that power?
Hand over control of the army?
-He... -Oh, don't bother.
-Piso. -You married a thief, Livia.
And I won't stand next to him to make fools believe he isn't.
Nobody can hold on to power legitimately
unless the Senate of Rome chooses to grant it!
Think of your sons, Piso.
How it would help their prospects.
Is that a bribe or a threat?
I embraced your father after Philippi.
With his last words he asked me to look after you.
But you betrayed him and everything he stood for.
You married the man who destroyed him
and everything he believed in.
For the first time, truly...
I'm glad my friend is dead.
I betrayed him.
You let him die.
Did you take your life with his?
No. You came crawling back to hide out here.
I begged my husband for your life!
On my fucking knees!
And you took that pardon and you saved yourself.
He should've come home.
He put his honor before me.
He left me on my own.
[Sheep bleating]
Thank you for your support.
[panting]
[panting intensifies]
What's wrong?
Nothing. Just... Just get rid of her.
Domina.
You're not normally so timid with her.
I hate it when you watch.
I wasn't watching.
Why did you kill the terrapin?
I don't know. I just did it.
-I suppose Julia blabbed. -Listen to me.
You are Marcus Claudius Marcellus.
Your uncle is the most powerful man in Rome,
and you are his favorite. You can't just do things.
I'll try to make this go away, but...
if it comes to it, you'll have to stand up straight,
speak the truth and tell everyone it was Iullus.
Iullus? But that's not the truth.
Iullus is not our blood.
He's the son of Marcus Antonius,
and if Octavia hadn't adopted him, he'd be dead.
He's expendable. You are not.
Do you understand?
You have a brilliant future, Marcellus.
Don't mess it all up. Not for Tiberius or anyone else.
Iullus will understand.
Mm?
Okay?
The Lady Octavia is here.
I'm sorry to have to bring this to you.
This morning, my son Marcellus,
he offered to help Tiberius look for his missing terrapin.
Both your sons assaulted him.
Your freedwoman Antigone, she then stuck him,
without provocation, on the face,
and she scratched his eye.
I'll... I'll talk to her, of course.
No, no, no, Livia. I don't want you to talk to her.
This behavior cannot be borne from a freewoman with her...
past.
She must be sent away.
Well, this account as presented to me is clearly false.
I'm sorry. Are you saying that my son is lying?
You always look for the best in others,
and Marcellus has nothing of your intelligence or character.
You spoil him, but you don't seem to know him at all.
Well, maybe if you hadn't neglected your son,
he would've turned out normal
and not an embarrassment to our family!
A family such as yours is surely beneath embarrassment.
Oh, you, you.
You who seduced another woman's husband while you were pregnant.
You're no better than an actress for all your heirs and graces.
There is much in what you say, Octavia.
But... while I live...
Antigone will never be sent away from this house.
Good night.
You were right.
I should've stopped them bullying Tiberius.
Octavia won't help us now.
No.
One of our friends left the signal tonight.
The German.
Let me know what she has for us.
And... what about Tiberius?
Get Tycho to put some ash from the ovens in a box.
[Livia] Tiberius?
Little Bear, Romulus is dead.
Tycho found him in the kitchen.
He must've eaten something bad.
We didn't want to upset you.
I'm so sorry.
Here.
We cremated him like a Roman.
[Gaius] Go to your lessons.
Sorry.
-You offended my sister. -She offended me.
And Piso?
-You're losing your touch. -What?
I told you to fix this with the Senate two years ago!
-I would've looked weak! -How do you look now?
We need to do something. Something they're not expecting.
Like what?
How would I know? I've lost my touch.
I'm not in the mood for this, Livia.
Ask me nicely.
[exhales, scoffs]
What?
Very nicely.
[Gaius] Piso's sheep have given Livia an idea.
Piso refused...
as I said he would.
He also said nobody could ever hold power legally.
Unless the Senate chose to grant it.
-So? -So...
let's get them to do that.
Let's get them to give it to you.
Legally.
And why would the Senate do that exactly?
Because enough of them are sheep.
How are you, Fortunata?
I'm a slave, Lady.
How are you?
At your age,
I was sold into a whorehouse.
We look after all our friends.
[Agrippa] I can't believe you're even considering this.
It's a totally insane risk!
So is defying the Senate.
This at least has the appearance of legitimacy...
If it works.
...which makes him different from Caesar...
If it fucking works!
...Who was stabbed to death outside the Senate.
You want to gamble everything on a hunch about Piso's sheep?
[wheezing laugh]
It's just too... clever!
Why are we even listening to...
[Livia] A woman?
[Agrippa scoffs]
The day before the battle at Actium,
we found out he was planning
to make a run for it with Cleopatra.
I said, let them go,
then their fleet will surrender,
and we'll win without fighting.
But you said...
Bollocks to that.
Let's end this now. Once and for all.
One throw of the dice. All or nothing.
You really want to gamble everything on this?
We're loading the dice.
I mean, why would Livia say such things?
And Antigone. I mean, what's got into her? Of all people.
Oh, Livia's just ambitious for her sons.
What Roman mother isn't?
I know for a fact she wants Julia to marry Tiberius
-when the time comes. -I should talk to her.
Not Marcellus or anyone else.
I said some...
I said some terrible things, Scribonia.
If I were you, I wouldn't mention any of this again.
Or maybe... maybe a small gesture
to show you're bigger than she is.
A new terrapin. A present...
from Marcellus to his dear cousin Tiberius.
We can expect about 500 to attend the session.
The usual suspects.
This list is the men that we can rely on.
Either they owe you or they don't care about the Republic.
They just want stability and some room at the trough.
-A hundred plus. -Mm-hm.
These are the men we cannot rely on,
uh, for all sorts of reasons.
Plus men who owe some allegiance
to the families of Crassus and Corvinus.
Just under a hundred.
These men probably will oppose you
because they want the Republic back in some form or another.
Maybe 20.
The rest of these men can go either way.
Our sheep.
Cheer up, Agrippa.
If it doesn't work, you can always kill everyone.
[Gaius] Do we have any kind of leverage on anyone?
What about him?
I mean, I know Taurus has gambling debts. We can get him.
You asked to see me?
[clears throat]
Um, we're really sorry, Aunt Livia.
It... It was Iullus that killed the terrapin,
and we got Tiberius another one, just the same.
It wasn't Iullus. It was me.
And I'm not sorry at all.
Well, can I go now?
Poor Tiberius.
You should've left him to die on that mountainside.
I'm really sorry.
Apartment block on fire. Look.
Not one of mine.
Did it occur to you, Agrippa, if this goes wrong tomorrow,
we'll have the fucking Republic back by dinner?
I sometimes wonder how much that would bother Livia.
Well, it's a bit late to question her loyalty.
I'd never forgive her.
[Horse neighing]
[mumbling indistinctly]
...ungrateful fucks!
Never before has Rome...
Cheer up, Gaius. If it doesn't work, you can always divorce me.
[Agrippa] Do you remember that time
we stood outside the fucking tent...
thinking we were going to get killed inside?
Of course, I might be wrong about this.
The augur pronounces the flight of the birds
favorable to the business of this house.
Senate is now in session.
[Gaius] Conscript Fathers.
-Here we go. -[Gaius] I call on the gods...
I can't wait to see how he gets out of this.
[Maecenas] The dice are rolling.
If it works, you may have just saved Rome from herself.
I'll settle for saving Gaius.
I have done what had to be done.
I have avenged my father, Julius Caesar,
and acted to save the state in time of war.
Now Rome is at peace!
The law courts are open.
The treasury is full.
Our seas are clear of pirates!
Temples have been rebuilt.
Roads and aqueducts repaired.
Our borders are secure.
-Our enemies are crushed! -[Men] Hear! Hear!
Never before has Rome enjoyed such honor
or faced so great a future.
[murmurs of agreement]
And that is why...
I am resigning all powers...
and returning absolute control
of the city, the provinces...
and the army to the Senate.
And the people of Rome!
What the fuck's he doing?
[Agrippa] Crassus.
On behalf of the Senate and the people of Rome,
we thank you for all your victories and achievements.
[murmurs of agreement]
And we thank you also for this...
magnanimous and generous gesture.
[Agrippa] Libo.
[Libo] For 20 years,
the terrible civil wars that tore us apart are finally over.
Trade is returning slowly, but confidence it's...
It's fragile.
And so too is this hard-won peace,
and we should not likely throw that away.
Rome needs stability.
-Rome needs... -[Man] It's true.
Rome needs certainty.
Now, there will be a time
when it is right for you to step down,
but that time has not yet come.
On behalf of the Senate and the people of Rome,
I beg you to reconsider. I beg you to stay.
[Agrippa] Asprenas.
I don't think I have ever knowingly agreed
with my fellow senator...
[laughter]
...but for once I think he may be right.
Our troops are still fighting
in Gaul, Spain, Germany, and Macedonia.
The Senate must consider what our enemies in the provinces
and the tribes massing on our frontiers will think
when they see the man who has led Rome for so long
suddenly giving up.
What they will see is weariness and weakness.
[Agrippa] Sabrinus.
Then let the Senate act and show their power.
Let the Senate vote to give back to the consul
command of those provinces where danger still threatens Rome!
Where all the legions are stationed.
-Oh, he's fucking us! -If the Senate is to consider
that proposition, it must have a strict time limit
to be renewed or not as the Senate sees fit.
[chanting] Stay, stay, stay, stay,
stay, stay, stay...
[chanting continues]
Stay, Stay, stay...
[chanting continues]
[Maecenas] You did it, Livia.
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay,
stay, stay, stay, stay...
[Livia] Agrippa's right.
He'll make a great dictator.
Stay, stay, stay...
[Agrippa] I call for a vote.
[chanting continues]
So I found a way.
Gaius has to become a god.
But the god will have a son.
And I will teach him what needs to be done.
Oh, we have time. We can wait.
But to restore the Republic, we first have to destroy it.
I need you to understand.
And forgive me.
[breathing heavily]
[Water flowing]
[breathing heavily]
Great and powerful Proserpina,
with these humble gifts,
I gratefully fulfill our contract.
Hey.
We won.
It was a boy.
We'll have other boys.
♪♪