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The Caesars

474 statements
93 feature instances
12 referencing feature instances

The Caesars	type	TVTItem
The Caesars	label	The Caesars
The Caesars	page	TheCaesars
The Caesars	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })A British mini-series shot entirely on studio sets, with a cast largely comprising well-known character actors, focusing on the political intrigue surrounding the reigns of the Julio-Claudian Roman Emperors... sound familiar?Granada Television's take on the early years of The Roman Empire comprised six episodes written by Philip Mackie (who went on to write The Cleopatras for The BBC in 1983) and directed by Derek Bennett, first airing in autumn of 1968. Rather than encompassing the entire Julio-Claudian dynasty, the series focuses primarily on the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula, beginning with the last days of Augustus in 14 AD and concluding with the declaration of Claudius as Emperor in 41 AD.The six episodes broadly cover three major plot arcs. In "Augustus", the dying Augustus (Roland Culver) ponders the question of whether to name as his heir his exiled, wastrel grandson Agrippa Postumus or Tiberius (André Morell), his wife Livia's son by her first marriage. He settles on Tiberius, who will be succeeded by his nephew Germanicus (Eric Flynn), but in "Germanicus", the armies of the Rhine rise up against intolerable conditions and demand that Germanicus be made Emperor immediately; Tiberius successfully manipulates Germanicus into putting down the mutiny instead of using it to propel himself to the Imperial throne.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The next two episodes detail the Succession Crisis dominating Tiberius' reign and the rise and fall of Sejanus (Barrie Ingham), his right-hand man. In "Tiberius", Germanicus is apparently murdered by the governor of Syria, Piso, allegedly on the Emperor's orders. More prospective heirs are cut down in "Sejanus", including Tiberius' son Drusus and Germanicus' son Nero, as Sejanus tries to manipulate his way into ruling Rome as a regent for Tiberius' young grandson Gemellus (whose mother Livilla is Sejanus' lover); the Emperor eventually catches on and has Sejanus arrested and executed.The final two episodes cover the brief but chaotic rule of Tiberius' successor. When Tiberius dies in "Caligula", he names Germanicus' surviving son Gaius Caligula (Ralph Bates) as co-heir with his grandson Gemellus. Caligula presents himself as sole ruler and initially rules benevolently, but after recovering from a severe fever, he becomes violently, even homicidally, insane and declares himself a god while massacring anyone he sees as a threat, including Gemellus. His murderous reign continues into "Claudius", but his enemies are finally multiplying faster than he can eliminate them, and he is assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, who declare Germanicus' lame, stammering brother Claudius (Freddie Jones) the new Emperor.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })The series has been largely overshadowed by I, Claudius since the latter series aired in 1976, but it was a hit with critics and audiences during its original airing, with Freddie Jones' performance as Claudius being singled out for particular praise and being awarded the Monte Carlo Golden Nymph award in 1969. Among the differences in characterisation are a more sympathetic portrayal of Tiberius, a less sympathetic portrayal of Germanicus, Caligula's descent into madness beginning after his fever rather than at birth, and Claudius preferring that Rome be an empire rather than a republic.The series was released on DVD (Region 2 only) in 2006.
The Caesars	fetched	2021-07-07T19:54:43Z
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The Caesars	processingComment	Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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The Caesars / int_127d0031	type	Opinion Flip-Flop
The Caesars / int_127d0031	comment	Opinion Flip-Flop: Everyone behaves like this around Caligula as a survival mechanism, as he has a tendency to execute people who question his rule. However, Caligula himself lampshades the fact that he rules in such a way that there is no way to predict whether a given instance of blind agreement will please or anger him, and that he can twist any flattery into an insult and react accordingly.
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The Caesars / int_154aa477	type	Big, Screwed-Up Family
The Caesars / int_154aa477	comment	Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Julio-Claudian dynasty, a family tree full of backstabbing, extortion, incest, and murder.
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The Caesars / int_19e13868	type	Ancient Rome
The Caesars / int_19e13868	comment	Ancient Rome: The series is set here, during the early years of The Roman Empire.
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The Caesars / int_1b8c7503	type	The Exile
The Caesars / int_1b8c7503	comment	The Exile: At the time of "Augustus", the Emperor's grandson Agrippa Postumus has been banished from Rome to the island of Planasia as punishment for his drunken, hell-raising behaviour. In "Sejanus", Agrippina is exiled to the island of Pandataria as part of Sejanus' purge of his political opponents. As she has been a thorn in Tiberius' side since he became Emperor, he chooses not to end her exile even after Sejanus is executed for treason. After the title character in "Caligula" recovers from his fever and begins seeing enemies everywhere, he has two of his sisters, Julia Livilla and Agrippinilla, banished from Rome for supposedly plotting against him.
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The Caesars / int_1c263b9f	type	The Purge
The Caesars / int_1c263b9f	comment	The Purge: As Sejanus becomes more and more influential, he arranges for the elimination of Tiberius' heirs apparent, his son Drusus and Germanicus' son Nero, and he is contemplating wiping out Caligula and possibly Claudius when he is at the height of his power. At the end of "Sejanus", Tiberius gets wind of Sejanus' designs on the Imperial throne and conducts his own purge of Sejanus' family and supporters. After becoming Emperor, Caligula convicts vast numbers of influential Romans of treason on forged evidence and/or speculation, including his cousin and co-heir Gemellus, his brother-in-law Lepidus, and his sisters Julia Livilla and Agrippinilla. The alleged traitors are all either executed or exiled.
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The Caesars / int_1da46897	type	Lady Macbeth
The Caesars / int_1da46897	comment	Lady Macbeth: Livia may be Tiberius' mother rather than his wife, but she still fills this role in "Augustus", repeatedly urging Tiberius to arrange the execution of Augustus' grandson Agrippa Postumus, thereby removing the last obstacle between himself and the Imperial throne. (It turns out she needn't have bothered, as Augustus apparently planned to have Postumus executed anyway.) Agrippina plays this role in "Germanicus". As Tiberius observes, she is impatient to become Empress, and tries to urge her husband, Germanicus, to use the rebellious troops' support of him to march on Rome and declare himself Emperor rather than waiting for Tiberius to die. She also sees through Crispus' story that Tiberius is gravely ill, and is frustrated when Germanicus falls for the bait and suppresses the rebellion in his armies. Livilla plays Lady Macbeth to Sejanus' Macbeth during "Sejanus", as she encourages him to eliminate her son (and Tiberius' grandson) Gemellus' competition for the position of Tiberius' successor, so that they may rule Rome as regents when Tiberius dies and the young Gemellus becomes Emperor. (While we - and Tiberius - only have Apicata's word that Sejanus and Livilla poisoned Drusus, Sejanus unambiguously orders the arrest of Germanicus' son Nero on false treason charges, then has him starved to death while imprisoned.)
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The Caesars / int_20dc0291	type	Curtain Camouflage
The Caesars / int_20dc0291	comment	Curtain Camouflage: Claudius hides behind one after Caligula's assassination, terrified that he is also on the conspirators' hit list. As he gasps in panic and knocks over several metal trays when he scurries toward the curtain, the Praetorian Guard have no trouble knowing where to look for him.
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The Caesars / int_216dab44	type	Framing the Guilty Party
The Caesars / int_216dab44	comment	Framing the Guilty Party: In "Claudius", Capito tries to save his and Bassus' lives by claiming to be involved in a conspiracy against Caligula along with Mnester, Callistus, Vitellius, and Caesonia. The last name convinces Caligula that Capito is lying and he is tortured to death. However, Callistus and Vitellius ultimately do successfully conspire to have Caligula assassinated by the Praetorian Guard.
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The Caesars / int_21d41a5b	type	Praetorian Guard
The Caesars / int_21d41a5b	comment	Praetorian Guard: The original one is a constant presence around the various Emperors; while they mostly serve the same protective role they did in reality, they also carry out Caligula's assassination at the end of "Claudius".
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The Caesars / int_229c2ec8	type	Uriah Gambit
The Caesars / int_229c2ec8	comment	Uriah Gambit: Tiberius observes that, since the more popular Germanicus was considered his main rival for the Imperial throne after the deaths of Augustus and Postumus, he will be accused of having pulled one of these following Germanicus' death in Syria in "Tiberius". (Although he did send Germanicus to Syria to get him far away from Rome, he had no intention of sending him to his death.)
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The Caesars / int_239ba401	type	Doesn't Trust Those Guys
The Caesars / int_239ba401	comment	Doesn't Trust Those Guys: Caligula invokes "Trust no one" as a personal philosophy. Of course, his tyranny creates enough enemies even among his inner circle that he can be regarded as Properly Paranoid.
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The Caesars / int_267ce120	type	Dirty Old Man
The Caesars / int_267ce120	comment	Dirty Old Man: Tiberius admits to becoming one in his later years, although fewer details are given than in I, Claudius; Nero refers to him as a "fornicator" in "Sejanus", while Tiberius mentions his "nameless vices" to Gemellus and his "private debaucheries" to Nerva in "Caligula".
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The Caesars / int_2d768e2d	type	Succession Crisis
The Caesars / int_2d768e2d	comment	Succession Crisis: Augustus has to deal with one, with his preferred heirs, his grandsons Lucius and Gaius (Agrippa Postumus' older brothers), dead before the series begins. It's implied in the series and agreed by historical sources that Augustus didn't particularly like his stepson Tiberius but saw him as the only suitable heir. In the series, Tiberius himself bitterly remarks that he's been made into a placeholder until Augustus's grandnephew, Germanicus, is old enough to be emperor. Tiberius is confronted with one throughout his reign. Initially, he plans to make Germanicus his successor in accordance with Augustus' will. When Germanicus dies in Syria, he names his own son Drusus as his successor, to be followed by Germanicus' son Nero. When Drusus is poisoned and Nero is arrested on trumped up charges of treason by Sejanus and starved to death in captivity, Tiberius names Caligula and Gemellus co-heirs. Caligula accepts, but glosses over the "co-heir" idea and has Gemellus murdered after Tiberius' death.
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The Caesars / int_2fd7200b	type	Dead Guy Junior
The Caesars / int_2fd7200b	comment	Dead Guy Junior: Caligula insists that his and Caesonia's daughternote or, at least, the daughter Caesonia bears after marrying Caligula; he freely acknowledges that he may not be the father be named Drusilla, after his dead sister.
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The Caesars / int_30cdefe1	type	Reluctant Ruler
The Caesars / int_30cdefe1	comment	Reluctant Ruler: Tiberius remains this throughout his reign, only accepting the title of Emperor to stop the Senate from offering it to him on a daily basis, and mostly leaving the running of the Empire in the hands of Sejanus in his later years.
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The Caesars / int_35884ee7	type	Villainous Incest
The Caesars / int_35884ee7	comment	Villainous Incest: Caligula is implied to have slept with all three of his sisters as part of his descent into insane depravity following his fever.
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The Caesars / int_38d02d44	type	Batman Gambit
The Caesars / int_38d02d44	comment	Batman Gambit: Tiberius pulls one of these in "Germanicus" to put down the mutiny among the armies of the Rhine. Crispus is sent to Cologne to tell Germanicus that Tiberius is very ill, and simply wants to retire to his villa and die. Germanicus takes this as a sign that he doesn't need to march on Rome with the rebellious troops behind him to become Emperor, but simply needs to wait a short while for Tiberius to die, and so he orders the ringleaders of the mutiny executed and restores order - just as Tiberius wanted him to do.
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The Caesars / int_396e1c2a	type	Face Death with Dignity
The Caesars / int_396e1c2a	comment	Face Death with Dignity: When the Praetorian Guards who have murdered Caligula announce his death to his assembled guests, Caesonia, knowing that she is marked for death as well, decides not to put off the inevitable and says, "Kill me!" Two guards march toward her, swords drawn, but hesitate to deliver the killing blow, so she takes one of their swords and does it herself.
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The Caesars / int_3b4abb27	type	Double Meaning
The Caesars / int_3b4abb27	comment	Double Meaning: At the beginning of "Caligula", Tiberius invites the title character to accompany Macro to visit Agrippina on Pandataria. Caligula declines, and when Tiberius remarks that Agrippina is his mother, he replies that he has never cared much for blood relationships. In a different sense, he doesn't care for the blood relationship he has with his sisters, Julia Drusilla, Julia Livilla, and Agrippinilla, as he has incestuous relations with all three.
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The Caesars / int_3e8d9cd3	type	Historical Hero Upgrade
The Caesars / int_3e8d9cd3	comment	Historical Hero Upgrade: Though Tiberius is not portrayed as heroic as such, he is treated much more kindly than he is by Tacitus, Suetonius, or Robert Graves. His reluctance to accept the title of Emperor and his sad resignation to the hatred of the Roman people as he eliminates his political opponents are emphasised, while his sexual depravities are only hinted at in the odd throwaway line.
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The Caesars / int_3f7a958b	type	Secret Test of Character
The Caesars / int_3f7a958b	comment	Secret Test of Character: When Augustus visits his grandson Agrippa Postumus in "Augustus", he appears to be softening on the idea of keeping him exiled, and asks him what his first act would be if he were made Emperor. Postumus replies that he would personally execute the colonel of his guards in revenge for years of rudeness. Unbeknownst to Postumus, Augustus has asked this question to see if he would be a worthy successor in spite of his hell-raising past, and is so disappointed by his answer that he names Tiberius his successor and leaves deathbed orders that the colonel should personally execute Postumus.
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The Caesars / int_407d3e6d	type	Morton's Fork
The Caesars / int_407d3e6d	comment	Morton's Fork: In "Tiberius", when Germanicus is (seemingly) poisoned by Piso and Plancina, Tiberius notes that if he does not prosecute Piso for the crime, it will look as though Piso was acting on his orders, whereas if he does prosecute Piso, it will look as though he is trying to hide his involvement in Germanicus' murder by letting Piso take the fall. Either way, he knows the public will believe he ordered Germanicus' murder to remove a major obstacle to his continued reign as Emperor. In "Claudius", carrying on a tradition from the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, Caligula decrees that all wealthy Romans should include a bequest to the Emperor in their wills... and that the size of their bequests shall be taken as a sign of their loyalty. Those who bequeathe their entire estates to him will be deemed fully loyal, those who bequeathe only a small part of their estate will be deemed traitors - a crime punishable by death and seizure of their full estates. When the senator Anicius bitterly draws attention to the lose-lose nature of this law, he is executed on the spot.
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The Caesars / int_424c9a9b	type	Cold-Blooded Torture
The Caesars / int_424c9a9b	comment	Cold-Blooded Torture: Frequently employed by the powerful to get their enemies to confess to real and especially imaginary crimes. When Germanicus believes he is being poisoned in "Tiberius", he and Agrippina order the torture of their kitchen slaves until they confess to the poisoning. In "Sejanus", Tiberius orders that the doctor Endemus, whom Apicata alleges in her final letter before her suicide to have been part of Sejanus and Livilla's conspiracy to poison Drusus, be tortured until he confesses and then executed. Caligula has (falsely) accused traitors Capito and his son Bassus tortured to death as dinner entertainment in "Claudius".
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The Caesars / int_44a1dd10	type	King Incognito
The Caesars / int_44a1dd10	comment	King Incognito: In the opening scene of the series, Augustus is sitting on a public staircase, begging from passers-by. When Claudius stops by to donate (only to find he has gambled away his money), he observes that this is a tradition Augustus follows for one day each year, having been prompted to do so by a dream he had many years earlier.
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The Caesars / int_4b4f6a2f	type	Mood-Swinger
The Caesars / int_4b4f6a2f	comment	Mood-Swinger: In "Caligula", the title character lampshades his use of this, saying that the uncertainty it instills in people who must deal with him is an integral part of his ruling philosophy.
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The Caesars / int_4f84cdef	type	Smug Snake
The Caesars / int_4f84cdef	comment	Smug Snake: Germanicus is painted in a less flattering light than he is in I, Claudius, as quietly power-hungry, and a great deal less clever than he imagines. In "Germanicus", he falls hook, line, and sinker for Crispus' lie that Tiberius is gravely ill, and that his being named Caesar is therefore imminent enough that he can put down the rebellion in his army rather than using it to take the Imperial throne.
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The Caesars / int_52aa0c4a	type	The Caligula
The Caesars / int_52aa0c4a	comment	The Caligula: The Trope Namer, in a genuinely unsettling performance by Ralph Bates. He flies into a violent or even murderous rage at the least provocation, raises funds by forcing the wealthy to leave their entire estates to him in their wills and then having them assassinated, executes or exiles countless people (including several members of his own family) for treason on flimsy or outright false evidence, and then there's the whole god complex.
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The Caesars / int_553d8a44	type	King on His Deathbed
The Caesars / int_553d8a44	comment	King on His Deathbed: Augustus and Tiberius both linger for a while on their deathbeds in "Augustus" and "Caligula" respectively, and during/after their final moments, various murders take place to resolve any potential succession crises (in the former case, Postumus is murdered to clear the way for Tiberius to succeed Augustus, while in the latter case, Tiberius himself is killed to allow Caligula to become Emperor).
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The Caesars / int_558245a7	type	Redshirt Army
The Caesars / int_558245a7	comment	Redshirt Army: In "Tiberius", Germanicus tries to pitch the idea of a fourth campaign in Germany to push the frontiers of the Empire from the Rhine to the Elbe, and asks Tiberius for four legions to achieve this. When Tiberius asks for an estimate of the casualties, Germanicus, scarcely batting an eyelid, guesses between 40% and 50%. This, combined with the fact that, the following winter, they would likely lose any gains made, allows Tiberius to justify sending Germanicus to Syria instead of back to Germany.
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The Caesars / int_5798bfbf	type	Reassigned to Antarctica
The Caesars / int_5798bfbf	comment	Reassigned to Antarctica: When Germanicus returns triumphant from his third campaign in Germany at the beginning of "Tiberius", he is sent to Syria to install the Rome-friendly Xeno on the throne of Armenia, mostly to get him as far away from Rome as possible.
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The Caesars / int_57dda60c	type	The Emperor
The Caesars / int_57dda60c	comment	The Emperor: Four of them, although the series mostly concentrates on the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. Claudius remains an important character throughout (he is the only character to appear in every episode), but only becomes Emperor in the final few minutes, while Augustus dies near the end of the first episode.
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The Caesars / int_5a371c8f	type	Opportunistic Bastard
The Caesars / int_5a371c8f	comment	Opportunistic Bastard: Sejanus eventually grows into this. In "Sejanus", Tiberius mostly retires to his villa in Capri and leaves the day-to-day running of the Empire in the hands of his right-hand man, who uses his authority to eliminate all of Tiberius' heirs except for his grandson Gemellus, so that he can marry the latter's mother Livilla and rule as regent with her when Gemellus succeeds Tiberius. He also has his political opponents arrested and executed on (mostly forged) treason charges. When Tiberius finds out what Sejanus is doing, he turns the tables on him and has him arrested and executed for treason.
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The Caesars / int_5d3e7c6	type	Kangaroo Court
The Caesars / int_5d3e7c6	comment	Kangaroo Court: Tiberius and Caligula's reigns are both marked with frequent trials for treason on weak to non-existent evidence simply because the "traitor" is a political opponent of someone in a position of power. After becoming Emperor, Caligula initially declares that treason will no longer be a crime in a bid to wipe the slate clean from Tiberius' reign, but after his fever he brings the show trials back with a vengeance.
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The Caesars / int_6a2c5d8d	type	Caligula's Horse
The Caesars / int_6a2c5d8d	comment	Caligula's Horse: The Trope Namer, Incitatus, is mentioned, though not actually seen.
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The Caesars / int_6afefa62	type	My Girl Is a Slut
The Caesars / int_6afefa62	comment	My Girl Is a Slut: Caligula happily admits that Caesonia had a reputation for promiscuity when he married her, as evidenced by the fact that their daughter Julia Drusilla was born only a month after their marriage.
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The Caesars / int_6d332aea	type	Driven to Suicide
The Caesars / int_6d332aea	comment	In "Sejanus", after the fall of the title character, his wife Apicata's final act before being Driven to Suicide by her children's execution is to write a letter to Tiberius implicating Sejanus and Livilla in the death of his son Drusus. Tiberius orders Macro to tell Livilla that she should kill herself as well.
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The Caesars / int_716cdf08	type	Vorpal Pillow
The Caesars / int_716cdf08	comment	Vorpal Pillow: A blanket rather than a pillow, but Macro uses this on Almost Dead Guy Tiberius in "Caligula".
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The Caesars / int_733e007a	type	Unwitting Pawn
The Caesars / int_733e007a	comment	Unwitting Pawn: "Germanicus" features an example in its title character, who is manipulated by Tiberius into putting down the rebellion among the armies of the Rhine after being led to believe that he only has a short wait to become Emperor at Tiberius' death, and so does not need to lead the mutinous troops in a march on Rome to be acclaimed Caesar.
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The Caesars / int_75c93c08	type	Embarrassing Password
The Caesars / int_75c93c08	comment	Embarrassing Password: Caligula delights in giving these to his guards. Requiring them to say "Cupid" or "Loveykins" to each other makes them sound as though they are flirting with each other, which the Ambiguously Bi Emperor finds highly amusing.
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The Caesars / int_771f6307	type	Brother–Sister Incest
The Caesars / int_771f6307	comment	Brother–Sister Incest: Caligula and his sisters, at least until he accidentally kills Drusilla by strangling her and banishes Julia Livilla and Agrippinilla for allegedly conspiring against him.
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The Caesars / int_7b4cb802	type	Bodyguard Betrayal
The Caesars / int_7b4cb802	comment	Bodyguard Betrayal: In "Claudius", Callistus and Vitellius persuade Cassius Chaerea to lead the Praetorian Guard in assassinating Caligula.
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The Caesars / int_7d89315b	type	"The Reason You Suck" Speech
The Caesars / int_7d89315b	comment	Agrippina's suicide in the first act of "Caligula" drives Tiberius' friend Nerva past the point of no return. After years of watching Tiberius turn into the ruthless Emperor he was initially only pretending to be, Nerva finally loses all hope for both his friend and the Empire he governs, and after delivering a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Tiberius, he shuts himself up in his room and commits suicide.
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The Caesars / int_7e851477	type	Balancing Death's Books
The Caesars / int_7e851477	comment	Balancing Death's Books: When Caligula is ill with the fever that leads him to believe he was a god, several Senators vow that they will give their own lives if the gods will spare Caligula. When Caligula recovers, he decrees that the Senators in question make good on their vows.
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The Caesars / int_80621707	type	Arranged Marriage
The Caesars / int_80621707	comment	Arranged Marriage: As happened in reality, most of the marriages in the series were arranged; one of Augustus' last requests is for Drusus to marry Livilla, while Caligula orders Claudius to marry Messalina to set an example for the Roman people. Although both marriages ended badly, we only see the outcome of the first. Tiberius also mentions his disastrous arranged marriage to Augustus' daughter Julia when confronting Livia in "Tiberius".
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The Caesars / int_8288929a	type	Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves
The Caesars / int_8288929a	comment	At the end of "Caligula", the title character orders Macro and his wife Ennia to kill themselves, saying that if Macro helped to kill Tiberius despite ostensibly being in his service, there's nothing to stop him doing the same to Caligula.
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The Caesars / int_8ff8d545	type	Kissing Cousins
The Caesars / int_8ff8d545	comment	Kissing Cousins: As in real life, several of the marriages in the series are between blood relatives. For example, at the end of "Augustus", the dying Augustus commands the marriage of Tiberius' son Drusus to Livilla, whose father (also called Drusus) was Tiberius' younger brother. Meanwhile, Agrippina, whose maternal grandfather is Augustus, is married to Germanicus, whose maternal grandmother was Augustus' sister Octavia.
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The Caesars / int_941896b	type	Shaming the Mob
The Caesars / int_941896b	comment	Shaming the Mob: In "Germanicus", the title character engages in this approach in a bid to quell the mutiny among the troops on the Rhine who want to have him declared Emperor instead of Tiberius, reminding them that the discipline of the Roman legions is what has made the Empire great. Back in Rome, however, the consuls suspect that this is a bluff, that Germanicus is actually testing the legions to see if he would have their long-term support as Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_957e5fc2	type	Villainous Breakdown
The Caesars / int_957e5fc2	comment	Villainous Breakdown: Sejanus suffers one when Tiberius' letter denouncing him and ordering his arrest is read before the Senate, shouting in angry disbelief as the senators abandon him and he is surrounded by the Praetorian Guard he once commanded.
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The Caesars / int_966da803	type	Defiant to the End
The Caesars / int_966da803	comment	Defiant to the End: While Germanicus' son Nero is being starved to death in prison in "Sejanus", he shouts curses against Tiberius until he no longer has the strength to do so. Sejanus reports this to Tiberius, but implies that Nero voluntarily refused his food. In "Caligula", Agrippina forcibly starves herself to death as a final gesture of defiance against Tiberius to ensure that her blood remains on his hands, as does the blood of many of her other relatives. When Caligula is murdered by the Praetorian Guard in the final act of "Claudius", his last words as he is being stabbed are "Strike again, I'm still alive!"
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The Caesars / int_98591d23	type	Speech Impediment
The Caesars / int_98591d23	comment	Speech Impediment: As he did in reality, Claudius has a severe stammer, especially when he is drunk (which he is at least once an episode). Caligula taps his foot impatiently when Claudius stammers in front of him, which only makes things worse.
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The Caesars / int_98d3f973	type	Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe
The Caesars / int_98d3f973	comment	Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: In "Claudius", Caesonia gives birth to a daughter, Drusilla, just one month after marrying Caligula. She claims that Caligula is the father, but as she had a reputation for promiscuity before marrying Caligula, there is some doubt over the baby's paternity.
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The Caesars / int_99298c71	type	Better to Die than Be Killed
The Caesars / int_99298c71	comment	In "Tiberius", Piso is told by the Emperor that while he will dismiss many of the charges against him, he will not dismiss or defend him against the charge of treason for his armed re-entry into Syria. When his wife Plancina then tells him that Livia has intervened on her behalf but not on Piso's, he decides that it is Better to Die than Be Killed and stabs himself.
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The Caesars / int_9c4a7090	type	Springtime for Hitler
The Caesars / int_9c4a7090	comment	Springtime for Hitler: In "Caligula", the patricians who declare publicly that they will offer their lives if the gods spare Caligula's in an attempt to curry favour with him are forced to carry out their promises when Caligula recovers.
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The Caesars / int_9fe35833	type	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
The Caesars / int_9fe35833	comment	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: As happened in real life, one of Caligula's first acts as Emperor is to personally carry his mother Agrippina's remains from Pandataria to Rome to be interred in Augustus' Mausoleum, and he orders that funeral games be held in her honour.
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The Caesars / int_a00c13e0	type	Awesome Moment of Crowning
The Caesars / int_a00c13e0	comment	Awesome Moment of Crowning: Subverted; following the murders of Caligula and Caesonia, Claudius hears the Praetorian Guard approaching and scurries across the room to hide behind a curtain. The guards pull him out of hiding, and he grovels in front of them, sobbing and begging to be spared... and is stunned when they declare "Hail Caesar!" and salute him. The final scene of the series has Claudius, still reeling a bit, telling a delegation from the Senate that he is Emperor now.
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The Caesars / int_a2e96d18	type	Just the First Citizen
The Caesars / int_a2e96d18	comment	Just the First Citizen: In "Germanicus", Tiberius resists taking on new titles (including that of Emperor) for as long as possible following Augustus' death, partly because he feels he is too old to be Emperor and partly because he sees himself as a temporary ruler rather than the lifelong ruler Augustus ultimately became.
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The Caesars / int_a7aef9ff	type	Obfuscating Stupidity
The Caesars / int_a7aef9ff	comment	Obfuscating Stupidity: Augustus remarks to Livilla when she visits him on his deathbed that he believes Claudius isn't as foolish as he seems to be, and Claudius himself admits several times throughout the series that it is largely an act. Meanwhile, Tiberius does think Claudius is as foolish as he appears to be and so avoids giving him any serious responsibilities during his reign (much to Claudius' dismay), and it is only his apparent stupidity that keeps him alive after Caligula becomes Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_a90fff3	type	Based on a True Story
The Caesars / int_a90fff3	comment	Based on a True Story: Although, for the most part, the series avoids the more salacious rumours spread by contemporary historians, the primary sources are still such classical accounts as those by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio. Some details remain exaggerated (for example, most modern historians believe that if Caligula committed incest with any of his sisters, it was likely limited to Drusilla).
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The Caesars / int_aa07ca54	type	Obfuscating Disability
The Caesars / int_aa07ca54	comment	Obfuscating Disability: Claudius admits that he exaggerates his disabilities so as to be written off as harmless while Caligula is Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_aaff69d0	type	Unexpected Successor
The Caesars / int_aaff69d0	comment	Unexpected Successor: No-one thinks Claudius will ever become Emperor, least of all Claudius himself, even though he is technically in the line of succession when both Augustus and Tiberius die. However, following Caligula's murder at the end of "Claudius", he is one of the few remaining male members of the Imperial family, and when the Praetorian Guard find him hiding behind a curtain, they declare him the new Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_ab5eea65	type	Dramatic Irony
The Caesars / int_ab5eea65	comment	Dramatic Irony: Caligula's first scene in the series occurs near the end of "Sejanus", when he is getting drunk with Tiberius and Claudius. Caligula laughs off the planned construction of golden statues proclaiming Sejanus as a god as madness, adding, "With all due respects to my great-grandfather, the divine Augustus, men are not gods." As any student of Roman history knows, and as we see in "Caligula", he changed his mind very quickly on that subject after becoming Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_abe4d7b	type	Blue Blood
The Caesars / int_abe4d7b	comment	Blue Blood: Livia takes great pride in being a member of the Claudians, one of Rome's oldest and most influential families (many of her descendants, including Tiberius and Claudius, seem more indifferent to being blue bloods). In "Tiberius", she refuses to talk in the presence of Sejanus, as he was born a commoner.
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The Caesars / int_ac69035c	type	Master Poisoner
The Caesars / int_ac69035c	comment	Master Poisoner: When Tiberius accuses Livia of ordering Germanicus' poisoning by Piso and Plancina in "Tiberius", she happily admits that she has "had a good many people put to death one way or another in the past sixty years". However, in contrast to I, Claudius, we never actually see her poison anyone. Likewise subverted with Piso and his wife, who are likely innocent of the charges of poison against them, and quite possibly with Sejanus and Livilla as well—in all cases, we never are actually shown the poisoning, leaving it ambiguous whether the "victim" was murdered or not.
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The Caesars / int_b1dde8fd	type	Loophole Abuse
The Caesars / int_b1dde8fd	comment	Loophole Abuse: At the end of "Sejanus", when the title character is arrested and executed, Macro reports to Tiberius that the Senate ordered his children executed as well. His daughter was a virgin, and Nerva points out that Roman law forbids the killing of a virgin. Macro explains that, before her execution, she was violated by the public executioner to make it legal.
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The Caesars / int_b4a7b5ef	type	The Queen's Latin
The Caesars / int_b4a7b5ef	comment	The Queen's Latin: As a British mini-series set in Ancient Rome with a cast of veteran stage actors, The Caesars could hardly not feature this trope.
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The Caesars / int_b58c51d8	type	My Beloved Smother
The Caesars / int_b58c51d8	comment	My Beloved Smother: In "Augustus", Livia exerts considerable influence over Tiberius, telling him in their first scene together that she has always ordered him to come when she sends for him, and emphasising the importance of his succeeding Augustus as ruler of Rome. However, by the time of "Tiberius", he regards her as largely irrelevant, and her death between the events of "Tiberius" and "Sejanus" goes unmentioned.
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The Caesars / int_b8f395f	type	Royally Screwed Up
The Caesars / int_b8f395f	comment	Royally Screwed Up: The Julio-Claudians, a family rife with backstabbing, adultery, incest, and murder.
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The Caesars / int_bd0230fb	type	Ambiguously Bi
The Caesars / int_bd0230fb	comment	Ambiguously Bi: Caligula flirts openly with members of the Praetorian Guard and even plants a kiss on Drusilla's husband Lepidus in "Caligula".
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The Caesars / int_bec0417c	type	Happily Married
The Caesars / int_bec0417c	comment	Happily Married: Augustus and Livia are said to be this in "Augustus", having been married for fifty years at Augustus' death. Tiberius was also happily married to Marcus Agrippa's daughter Vipsania before being made to divorce her in favour of Augustus' daughter Julia; after Vipsania's (off-screen) death during the events of "Tiberius", he bitterly describes her to Livia as his "only real wife".
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The Caesars / int_bf74d357	type	Ugly Guy, Hot Wife
The Caesars / int_bf74d357	comment	Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Claudius and Messalina; each lampshades the other's contribution to this when Caligula orders them to marry in "Claudius".
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The Caesars / int_c2afffe	type	Take Me Instead
The Caesars / int_c2afffe	comment	Take Me Instead: Several members of the Senate are revealed to have said this when Caligula falls ill in "Caligula". When he recovers, Caligula forces them to follow through on this.
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The Caesars / int_c2c92862	type	Unwanted Spouse
The Caesars / int_c2c92862	comment	Unwanted Spouse: Messalina is disgusted at the idea of being forcibly married to Claudius.
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The Caesars / int_c335b9ec	type	Irony
The Caesars / int_c335b9ec	comment	Irony: When Drusus is taken ill in "Sejanus", Tiberius remarks that medicine is not an exact science, in contrast to astrology. While this was the common belief in Ancient Rome, when medicine was little understood and the stars were truly believed to govern people's lives, the opposite belief is much the more common today, as it was when The Caesars was filmed.
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The Caesars / int_c40c8b74	type	And Starring
The Caesars / int_c40c8b74	comment	And Starring: Freddie Jones (Claudius) gets this treatment in the opening credits of every episode except the last, the cast list always ending with "And Freddie Jones". In "Claudius", it is Ralph Bates (Caligula) who gets the "And" credit, while Jones gets top billing.
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The Caesars / int_c5f0119c	type	Insane Troll Logic
The Caesars / int_c5f0119c	comment	Insane Troll Logic: Applied by Caligula in some of his accusations of treason. For example, when he recovers from his fever, he declares that since his death would have meant the installation of his cousin and nominal co-heir Gemellus as Emperor, Gemellus must have been rejoicing at the prospect of Caligula's death and made plans accordingly, and should therefore be executed forthwith.
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The Caesars / int_c78d3e08	type	Seppuku
The Caesars / int_c78d3e08	comment	Seppuku: Many characters are obliged to commit this over the course of the series, mostly off screen. Piso chooses this method of death in "Tiberius" when the Emperor makes it clear that he will not defend him against the charge of treason for leaving Syria after Germanicus' death and then re-entering it with an army. In "Sejanus", after the fall of the title character, his wife Apicata's final act before being Driven to Suicide by her children's execution is to write a letter to Tiberius implicating Sejanus and Livilla in the death of his son Drusus. Tiberius orders Macro to tell Livilla that she should kill herself as well. At the end of "Caligula", the title character orders Macro and his wife Ennia to kill themselves, saying that if Macro helped to kill Tiberius despite ostensibly being in his service, there's nothing to stop him doing the same to Caligula. When Caligula is assassinated in "Claudius", Caesonia correctly surmises that the conspirators have her on their hit list as well, and orders them to kill her. When they hesitate, she takes a sword and plunges it into herself.
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The Caesars / int_c871cf6d	type	Playing Gertrude
The Caesars / int_c871cf6d	comment	Playing Gertrude: Sonia Dresdel (Livia) was only three months older than André Morell, who played her son Tiberius.
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The Caesars / int_c9790040	type	Decadent Court
The Caesars / int_c9790040	comment	Decadent Court: The Julio-Claudian family and their social circle form a tangled web of debauchery and intrigue. There's Livia admitting to having arranged "a good many" deaths, Livilla and Sejanus seemingly poisoning her husband Drusus so that they can rule as regents when her son Gemellus succeeds Tiberius, Caligula having incestuous relations with his three sisters until he accidentally kills one and banishes the other two for (imagined) conspiracies against him... and much more besides.
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The Caesars / int_caa28b82	type	Cloudcuckoolander
The Caesars / int_caa28b82	comment	Cloudcuckoolander: Claudius, although he admits to his closer confidantes that it is largely an act, especially during the reign of Caligula.
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The Caesars / int_caf8c66c	type	The Chains of Commanding
The Caesars / int_caf8c66c	comment	The Chains of Commanding: Tiberius never wanted to become Emperor, and resists accepting the title following Augustus' death until it becomes politically necessary.
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The Caesars / int_d397657d	type	Hoist by His Own Petard
The Caesars / int_d397657d	comment	Hoist by His Own Petard: In "Germanicus", the title character puts down the rebellion among the Rhine armies by letting them round up and execute the ringleaders themselves, so that such rabble-rousers as Calusidius are killed by the very rabble they were previously rousing.
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The Caesars / int_d39e327f	type	What the Hell, Hero?
The Caesars / int_d39e327f	comment	What the Hell, Hero?: In "Germanicus", the title character's chief of staff, Ennius, tells him that he has two options to deal with the rebellion: either stamp it out in a display of strength or use their support to make a case that he should be Emperor instead of Tiberius. When he instead has the rebellious troops round up and execute their own ringleaders and asks Ennius to confirm that he was right to do so, Ennius bitterly tells Germanicus that he has done neither of the things he suggested, and only Tiberius has come out ahead from the whole affair.
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The Caesars / int_d62dd556	type	The Chessmaster
The Caesars / int_d62dd556	comment	The Chessmaster: Tiberius has an episode of this in "Germanicus". With the legions rebelling against his being named Augustus' successor ahead of Germanicus in both Pannonianote Now part of eastern Austria, western Hungary and Slovakia, and northern Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia. and Germany, and concerned that if he goes to quell one mutiny personally the other might flare up while his back is turned, Tiberius manages to squash both of them without leaving Rome. He sends Drusus and Sejanus to put down the Pannonian rebellion, while he manipulates Germanicus into putting down the German rebellion by sending Crispus to tell him that Tiberius is gravely ill, thus making him decide that instead of marching on Rome with his rebel followers, he should whip them back into shape to better serve him when he becomes Emperor.
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The Caesars / int_dc1761bd	type	A God Am I
The Caesars / int_dc1761bd	comment	A God Am I: Caligula declares this following his fever, and the more sycophantic of his followers commission temples in his honour in Rome.
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The Caesars / int_dda99fa8	type	Despair Event Horizon
The Caesars / int_dda99fa8	comment	Agrippina commits suicide by voluntary starvation in "Caligula" when it becomes apparent that Tiberius has no plans to end the exile to Pandataria with which Sejanus had her sentenced. When Tiberius' friend Nerva hears the news, it pushes him to commit suicide as well, distraught at what Rome and Tiberius have become.
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The Caesars / int_deea2fb5	type	Idle Rich
The Caesars / int_deea2fb5	comment	Idle Rich: This is essentially Claudius' role during the reign of Tiberius. Though he desperately wants a job, and begs Tiberius to give him some sort of responsibility as a member of the Imperial family, the Emperor thinks him too much of a buffoon to trust him with any authority, and any titles he is given are purely honorary. When Caligula becomes Emperor, whether or not Claudius fits the "idle" or "rich" part of this description changes frequently, as Caligula confiscates and/or restores his fortune, or decides he would like someone he can push around easily in one place of responsibility or another - at least until he changes his mind for whatever reason (or no reason at all) and gives Claudius the sack.
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The Caesars / int_e529d5c3	type	Torches and Pitchforks
The Caesars / int_e529d5c3	comment	Torches and Pitchforks: In "Germanicus", the Powder Keg Crowd is transformed into this when Germanicus decides to have the rebellious legions round up and execute their own leaders for treason rather than doing so himself. They prove rather more overzealous than Germanicus expects; as he surveys the aftermath, he is told the troops took the chance to settle a few old scores with bloodshed in addition to killing the rebel leaders.
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The Caesars / int_e57c714d	type	Insane Equals Violent
The Caesars / int_e57c714d	comment	Insane Equals Violent: Caligula plays this straight following his fever, and is all the more terrifying because there is no way of knowing what might cause his violent outbursts.
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The Caesars / int_eda30d58	type	0% Approval Rating
The Caesars / int_eda30d58	comment	0% Approval Rating: In "Tiberius", after Piso commits suicide rather than face certain conviction for treason while Plancina is absolved of all responsibility for Germanicus' murder, Tiberius sombrely observes to Sejanus that he will now be universally detested by the Roman people. Caligula is not shy about antagonising his subjects with insane decrees after becoming Emperor, but is determined that they will fear him too much to act against him. The Praetorian Guard don't fall in line with this.
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The Caesars / int_f373d5e	type	Powder Keg Crowd
The Caesars / int_f373d5e	comment	Powder Keg Crowd: At the beginning of "Germanicus", following Augustus' death, the Roman legions on the German frontier have degenerated into an angry mob who have been pushed to breaking point by conditions in the army (twenty years' service instead of sixteen, unpaid wages, harsh punishments, etc.). Company commanders are stripped and flogged in retaliation for years of handing out floggings, and the armies demand that Germanicus, not Tiberius, be made Caesar as they believe he will be sympathetic to their plight. As Agrippina points out, all Germanicus needs to do is command them to march on Rome, and they'll do it.
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The Caesars / int_f6b2bfb7	type	Gold Digger
The Caesars / int_f6b2bfb7	comment	Gold Digger: In "Augustus", Tiberius accuses first Livia, then Augustus of being gold diggers in different ways. He points out that Livia divorced his father, Tiberius Nero, to marry Augustus at a time when the latter was clearly destined to become ruler of the Roman Empire (Livia does not help her case in Tiberius' eyes by insisting that she did love his father... until she met Augustus), and notes to Augustus that in marrying Livia, he married into one of Rome's oldest and most influential families (the Claudians).
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The Caesars / int_ffad4e9f	type	Shown Their Work
The Caesars / int_ffad4e9f	comment	Shown Their Work: Philip Mackie's scripts were adapted from such classical sources as Tacitus' Annals, Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars, and Cassius Dio's Roman History, in some cases quoting (translations of) the dialogue (for example, Suetonius claims that Augustus said "Have I played my part well in the comedy of life? Then applaud!" on his deathbed, and this scene is recreated in "Augustus"). However, in contrast to I, Claudius, some of the really juicy bits were omitted, perhaps in deference to the censors of 1968.
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