The Stolen Eagle

During the Siege of Alesia in 52 BC, Centurion Lucius Vorenus of the 13th Legion commands his men as Gallic warriors fall on his line. In contrast to the Gauls' chaotic charge, the Romans fight using a tight and well-organized shield wall, until one drunk legionary, Titus Pullo, breaks ranks and charges into the crowd of Gauls. Vorenus rescues and angrily orders him back into formation, and Pullo strikes him. Later, the assembled soldiers watch as Pullo is flogged and condemned to death for his disorderly conduct. The day after, the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix is brought before Julius Caesar and made to surrender, ending the eight-year-long Gallic Wars. Caesar's niece, Atia of the Julii, orders her son Octavian to deliver a horse she has purchased straight to Caesar in Gaul to ensure that he remembers them above all other well-wishers. Caesar himself receives news that his daughter Julia, married to his friend Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus with whom he shares power in Rome, has died in childbirth along with her stillborn daughter. Fearing the loss of their friendship, Caesar and his general, Mark Antony, muse that they must find Pompey a new wife. In the Roman Senate, Cato the Younger moves that Caesar is stripped of his command and recalled to Rome to answer charges of abusing his office and illegal warmongering. Pompey, as sole Consul present, vetoes the motion and declares his faith in Caesar's leadership. At the theater that night, Metellus Scipio introduces his daughter Cornelia Metella to Pompey as a prospective wife, while Cato warns him that he must ally against Caesar before it is too late. Pompey again asserts that Caesar means no harm, although privately, he is troubled by Caesar's rising prestige and gives orders to one of his slaves who is leaving on a trip to Gaul. At night in the encampment of the 13th Legion, the Aquila is stolen by Gallic brigands. To avoid a potentially disastrous drop in morale, Antony orders Vorenus to retrieve it. As Vorenus feels the mission is doomed to failure, he has the condemned Pullo released from the stockade to assist him. In camp, Caesar welcomes Marcus Junius Brutus, his unofficial stepson whose mother is Caesar's lover, Servilia of the Junii. Later, at a party hosted by Servilia, Brutus confides to Pompey that the loss of the eagle has induced the 13th Legion to plot mutiny against Caesar. On the road to Caesar's camp in Gaul, Octavian is abducted by highwaymen. For Caesar's request, Atia instructs her daughter Octavia to marry Pompey by first divorcing her husband Glabius, despite Octavia's protests that they are deeply in love. Atia then presents Octavia to Pompey at a party and offers her for premarital relations, which Pompey takes advantage of. Vorenus and Pullo set off in search of the eagle, encountering and rescuing Octavian from his captors. Octavian thanks them and promises that they will be rewarded. Vorenus and Pullo discover Pompey's slave trying to escape with the eagle in a cart, realizing that Pompey arranged the theft to discredit Caesar. A politically astute Octavian notes that his uncle will be quick to exploit the situation: Civil war between Caesar and Pompey is inevitable, but Caesar needs Pompey to make the first move so as not to appear the aggressor; Pompey is likely to do that if he believes Caesar's soldiers are on the verge of desertion. The trio returns in triumph to camp, where a surprised yet grateful Caesar takes the eagle back as proof of Pompey's hostility. He sends Pompey the head of his slave and informs him of his next move, to winter the 13th Legion at Ravenna on the Italian border, while making it clear that he intends to press his right to the Consulship. Pompey breaks all ties with Caesar and takes Cornelia as his new wife. Octavia, humiliated at being used by Pompey and heartbroken over her pointless divorce, says she wants him dead. ==Production==

Conception and writing , the "eagle" of The Stolen Eagle "The Stolen Eagle" was written by executive producer and co-creator Bruno Heller and directed by Michael Apted, who also directed the following two episodes. The episode title is a reference to the standard of the Roman legion, a symbol that represents the legion's unity. While the storyline detailing its theft was based on fiction, Heller believed that it showed how Caesar could turn "misfortune into opportunity. He was always one step ahead of his enemies." Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan, who was cast as Servilia, believed that she and other UK actors "can do old, can do classic, and you believe it." She also said that because of long distances, American actors or those of other nationalities were avoided: "Transporting actors from [Los Angeles] to Rome on a regular basis does not look good for the budget. We're quite cheap." Heller had believed that Hinds would make "a great Caesar" for a long time, and considered the series "extremely lucky" for being able to cast him. Heller described his character as "very much a Roman of the Old School, a stoic man devoted to duty and religion and the legion." Filming The series was given a budget of $100 million (£58 million), the largest both HBO and the BBC had ever devoted to a series. The season was filmed between March 2004 and July 2005, at locations in or around Rome, Production designer Joseph Bennett built a set that emphasized authenticity and realism rather than grandiosity. He said, People think of Rome as white and cold and beautiful, powerful but distant. But based on the research, I don't think it was like that at all. If you go to Pompeii, you're struck by how garish it is, even now. The temples and sculptures were all brightly painted. Rome was like Pompeii, but much bigger. And Rome was so noisy it was impossible to sleep. It was like hell. Think of it as a combination of New York and Calcutta, with insane wealth and insane poverty. It was pretty extreme. VFX artist Kirk Balden said of the production, "On many projects, you start off with storyboards, and everyone has a good idea of what it's going to look like when it's completed. This project was very experimental right to the very end. The tone of it is pretty much unlike anything we've done and most of what any of us here have seen. There's a lot there that creatively sets the stage for the series." Artisans reportedly handmade four thousand costumes using authentic period materials such as cotton, linen, wool, and silk, all of which were hand-dyed on set. ==Marketing==

HBO said its marketing plan for the series was, "its largest, most aggressive push for a new series". The channel broadcast the first three episodes seven days a week at various times during the day. Non-subscribers could preview the first two episodes during the first week of September 2005. Media outlets estimated that the entire marketing campaign cost HBO $10 million, the most the network had spent on marketing a series to that point. Writing for the same publication, Tom Shales said that HBO "has made such a fuss over Rome, and the network itself has put such painful pressure on the show (and its producers) to make a hefty impact, that it'll be scorned like a leper if it fails to make a truly gigantic splash." ==Reception==

Ratings "The Stolen Eagle" was the first broadcast on August 28, 2005, in the United States on HBO and in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central. An estimated 3.8 million viewers watched the episode, less than the series premieres of Carnivale and Deadwood but consistent with the series finale of Six Feet Under. In the UK and Ireland, the premiere was broadcast on BBC 2 on November 2, 2005. According to The Independent, more than 6.6 million viewers watched the episode. Critical reception "The Stolen Eagle" received generally mixed reviews from television critics, many of whom criticized its slow pace. Mark A. Perigard of The Boston Herald wrote, "Less perverse than I, Claudius, more entertaining than American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) toga twister Empire, "Rome" gets off to an uneven start." Terry Morrow of the Dayton Daily News criticized the premiere, writing that "the opener, like most pilots, is so bogged down with introducing faces and setting up the story that it turns into a long and tedious journey." The Scotsmans Robert McNeil thought that the premiere was "shocking, but also rather slow, as characters are established. Maybe it'll get better. In the meantime, to paraphrase Roger McGough, I came, I saw, I concurred with those who say: Rome wasn't built in an hour." Similarly opinionated was The Cincinnati Posts Rick Bird, who said that like other HBO series, Rome "takes a while to get going. After the first episode you will mostly be confused with a dizzying array of characters, intrigue and subplots. Hang in there. By the second episode things take shape and one should be hooked by episode three with this steamy romp through antiquity and its lusty intrigue." Bird found some positive elements; the episode, he said, was "enhanced by marvelous filmmaking including elaborate sets and costumes. Small-screen film art has rarely painted such a realistic picture of ancient Rome." Writing for the Los Angeles Daily News, David Kronke failed to find the series very remarkable, writing that "notwithstanding some lurid sex and gruesome violence, [it is] as conventional as anything the network has ever done. Sword-and-sandals epics have become familiar Hollywood staples ... and those expecting something that takes up where the legendarily decadent BBC/PBS series I, Claudius left off may be in for something of a disappointment." Television Without Pity graded the episode with a B. Some viewers criticized the graphic nudity seen in the pilot, especially in the US. Heller commented, "Romans didn't have our body shame and fear of sexuality. I think that is part of the modern fascination with that world. There was a lack of shame about those things, that we had to portray with a lack of shame in order to make it work." Accolades == References ==