"Roman Spain" is a great series for those who are tired of waiting for the new season of "Game of Thrones"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The series "Roman Spain, the legend" was released from 2010 to 2012, a total of 20 episodes were shown, divided into 3 seasons. If at home the series was a resounding success, then outside of Spain, few have heard of it and very much in vain. In terms of the scale of filming, this is certainly not a Game of Thrones, but a very good historical drama, for the shooting of which (at different stages) as many as eight directors were responsible! Including Jorge Sanchez-Cabesudo, in whose filmography the series "Grand Hotel".

Storyline

“Roman Spain” is, first of all, a historical drama based on many real facts. The storyline of the series is built on the events that took place in the 2nd century BC, when the inhabitants of Lusitania, a small ancient Roman province (now these lands belong to Portugal), are trying to resist the invaders from Rome. If Gaius Julius Caesar took only five years to conquer Gaul, then the conquest of Lusitania took the Romans almost two hundred.

At the center of the story is the Roman emperor Lucius Commodus, it was his impulsive, thoughtless decisions that had a great influence onthe decline and further collapse of the entire Roman Empire.

The first series begins with the death of Commodus' father, Marcus Aurelius. Despite the fact that the wars he started with the Germanic tribes are almost completed in favor of the empire, the death of Aurelius and the first weeks of the reign of Commodus change everything drastically. Having proclaimed himself the successor of the emperor, he begins to build a kingdom of debauchery, blood and excesses, thereby destroying the greatness of Rome.

Creation

All seasons of "Roman Spain" were filmed in the west of the country in the province of Caceres. Local landscapes, so similar to historical ones, helped to give naturalness to the shooting. Thanks to the huge budget, unlike other Spanish series, this one is thought out to the smallest detail: clothes, props, make-up artists. For some scenes, special sets were even erected.

Thanks to this, the series "Roman Spain" was received very well by the public. Approximately 4 million people watched each episode.

Errors and inaccuracies

The creators in their story could not avoid historical mistakes. For example, in those days, the mounted Roman army did not wear red uniforms and did not use stirrups. In response to these remarks, the producer of the series stated that this was done deliberately: the stirrups guaranteed additional safety for the actors during filming, and the red color in the clothes made the characters more recognizable.

Another thing that critics like to nitpick about is the characters. In "Roman Spain" the heroes are called Helena, although this is a Greek name, Darius is Persian, Sandro is medievalItalian. But the producer has an answer for this too. According to a study, real ancient Roman and ancient Spanish names, such as Tuto or Likino, are very poorly remembered by viewers.

And, of course, the most obvious mistake: in the series, some of the characters call themselves hispanos (Latino), although at that time they could not have known about such a territorial affiliation.

Actors

A lot of great actors starred in "Roman Spain", the first number on this list is undoubtedly Luis Omar as Praetor Galba, who played in the movie "Broken Embruces". Pleasing to the eye and the presence on the screen of the talented Natalie Posa ("Lex", "All Women") in the role of Galba's wife. On the "Spanish side" Roberto Henriquez, known from the film "The Essence of Power", and Juan José Ballesta from "El Bol"

Men will love the beautiful Ana de Armas, and for women, one of the most prominent male actors of the Spanish cinema world is Jesús Olmedo, whose filmography includes more than ten films, including Lola.

For those who are tired of Hollywood but miss Game of Thrones, Roman Spain will be to their liking. Though not so large-scale, but colorful and historically true in almost everything.