a5c7b9f00b Rome. The greatest empire the world has ever known. This docudrama tells the story of Rome through the eyes of the empire's many adversaries who battled to see its destruction. As the Roman Empire expands, it encounters local populations that it considers 'barbarians', who fight back, effectively and savagely, dealing Rome one blow after another. Hannibal, Viriathus, Armenius, Spartacus and more strike back against Rome, some from without and some from within. See their struggles, their motivations, and the outcomesthese indigenous people's fight for survival, revenge and justice. I was very excited when I saw that this series was being aired. The idea of a well written and well acted look at the enemies of Rome, through their own eyes is a very attractive one. Yet. I have only been able to watch the first part of the first program which is about the great general Hannibal Barca. This is a man I know a lot about having read extensively about him. The program is not interested in realism but in selling a story. First they make Hannibal black. There is no mention in any of the extensive Roman histories describing Hannibalblack. Still, I imagine it conforms to a certain type of historical wishful thinking. Underlined by the fact that they have Jesse Jackson commenting on the program. What does Jesse Jackson know about it? So much for experts… They keep calling Hannibal's troops 'Barbarians', why? I doubt even the Romans would have called them barbarians. The Carthaginians were a sophisticated empire that competed with Rome in many ways not just militarily. Hannibal was one of the great, great generals of all time, yet the program skips over many of his greatest battles with barely a mention. I stopped watching. Please, do not call this history. This is just a epic-romantic fictional drama. The fight of good against evil. An idealistic quest for freedom… Nothing to do with real history. Not only they get all the facts mixed up, when not entirely wrong, the worst is the "analysis" by the "experts". They really sound like 7-year-olds talking about the last Disney cartoon. They do not understand the politics at all, how an empire is built. I gave it 6 for the effort and, becausea work of fiction, it deserves some recognition.
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