open/close all folders
Season 1: Reign of Blood
Commodus
Played by: Aaron Jakubenko
- A God Am I: Even renaming Rome after himself.
- The Caligula: While the actual Caligula is the focus of a later season, Commodus also falls under this trope.
- The Emperor: He's the Emperor of Rome.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Commodus easily forgives his mother for her shady dealings in Egypt and mourns her death.
- The Evil Prince: Unlike in the movie Gladiator, where Commodus was portrayed as evil from the get-go, he is seen struggling with the death of his mother and the weight of responsibility that will come upon him once his father dies.
- Gladiator Games: Not only did Commodus organize them, but he was also actually fighting in them.
- Historical Domain Character: Commodus
- Royal Inbreeding: His parents Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger, are first cousins.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Averted most of the time by Commodus, who lets people like Cleander make the decisions while drinking and spending time with his mistress.
- War Is Hell: And thus Commodus breaks off his father's war against the Germans. This makes him popular with the people, with the troops and senate not so much.
Bruttia Crispina
Played by: Ella Becroft
- Historical Domain Character: Bruttia Crispina
- Hot Consort: She's Commodus's wife.
Cassius Dio
Marcia
Cleander
Played by: Jared Turner
- Evil Chancellor: Cleander uses Lucilla's plot to murder his friend. Once he becomes powerful, he messes with the grain supply, Roman citizens grow weak and fall victim to the plague. This is not necessarily all Truth in Television.
- Graffiti of the Resistance: It's what starts the downfall of Cleander. The narrator talks about how important this was to Roman politics.
- Historical Domain Character: Marcus Aurelius Cleander
- We Used to Be Friends: With Saoterus.
Marcus Aurelius
Played by: John Bach
- Barbarian Tribe: Marcus Aurelius spent years of his life at the border with Germania, leading the fight against them.
- Historical Domain Character: Marcus Aurelius
- Kissing Cousins: He's married to Faustina the Younger, his first cousin.
- Old Soldier: Just look at him!
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Marcus Aurelius spent years at the front instead of in Rome, while many Emperors stayed in Rome as their generals led the troops.
Lucilla
Played by: Tai Berdinner-Blades
- Historical Domain Character: Lucilla
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Her dress has a plunging neckline that ends on a slit that goes down to her stomach.
- Not So Stoic: Lucilla looks on stoically most of the time until she expresses her hatred of Commodus.
- Ojou Ringlets: Her hairstyle.
- Royal Inbreeding: Like her brother Commodus, her parents are first cousins.
Saoterus
Played by: Calum Gittins
- Historical Domain Character: Saoterus
- We Used to Be Friends: With Cleander.
Narcissus
Played by: Mike Edward
- Band of Brothers: With other Gladiators.
- The Big Guy
- Full-Frontal Assault: Downplayed. While not nude during fights, most smart people don't go topless into combat.
- Historical Domain Character: Narcissus (wrestler)
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Narcissus to Commodus in the end.
Season 2: Master of Rome
Julius Caesar
Played by: Ditch Davey, Taylor Hall (young)
- Antagonist in Mourning: When Pompey gets killed in Egypt.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Caesar used this trope to become head of the reformist faction and get the people behind him. Even though he was an aristocrat himself.
- Barbarian Tribe: Julius Caesar gained his fame and power by overpowering the Gauls.
- Decapitation Presentation: Caesar is not pleased to have this done with Pompey's head.
- Easily Forgiven: Caesar is known for this, but only for his fellow Romans.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Caesar wasn't entirely a nobody as he was from a patrician family, but they had little political influence before he came around. He turned into one of the biggest nightmares for the Gauls, republicans, and traditionalists.
- Historical Domain Character: Julius Caesar
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Many of Caesar's battles are not shown. This probably both due to budget and time constraints.
- Point of No Return: When Caesar crosses the Rubicon.
- Pretext for War: Caesar's wars in Gaul look very suspicious to the senate as they believe he doesn't have enough of this trope.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Caesar actually received the title of tyrant for ten years and then for life. This was a function belonging to the Roman Republic in times of crisis but was never meant to last as long. It is this that makes a lot of people nervous, including political rivals and those who genuinely fear for the Republic. It is one of the main reasons for the murder plot against Caesar.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Pompey and Brutus.
Mark Antony
Played by: Tim Carlsen
- Driven to Suicide: It is mentioned this happens.
- Historical Domain Character: Mark Antony
Servilia
Played by: Natalie Medlock
- Historical Domain Character: Servilia (mother of Brutus)
- Historical Villain Upgrade: It is quite possible that Servilia pushed Brutus to kill Caesar, but there is not enough known about that.
Brutus
Played by: Ben Black
- Historical Domain Character: Marcus Junius Brutus
- We Used to Be Friends: With Julius Caesar.
Pompey
Played by: Stephen Lovatt
- Historical Domain Character: Pompey
- Poor Communication Kills: Poor Pompey met his fate since Julius Caesar wanted to pardon him and not kill him.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Julius Caesar.
Crassus
Played by: Wesley Dowdell
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Crassus ended Spartacus' rebellion, only for Pompey to have stolen the credit for it. This left Crassus and Pompey at each other's throat until Caesar offers an alliance between the three of them.
- Historical Domain Character: Marcus Licinius Crassus
Cato
Cleopatra
Played by: Jessica Green
- Driven to Suicide: It is mentioned this happens.
- Historical Domain Character: Cleopatra
- Odd Couple: Roman generals are not supposed to take up with foreign queens and then have them hang around in Rome. In this series, Cleopatra bringing her son to Rome is also what turns Servilia against Caesar, as she sees the boy as a threat to Brutus.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: A point is made of how Cleopatra was very learned and devoted to Egypt.
Vercingetorix
Julia
Season 3: The Mad Emperor
Caligula
Played by: Ido Drent
- A God Am I: Even though emperors were often deified after their deaths, Caligula takes this further.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Is it? Did Caligula really sleep with all or one of his sisters? There is no conclusive evidence, though it is enacted in this series as if he did.
- The Caligula: It is about the Trope Namer after all.
- The Emperor: He's the Emperor of Rome after all.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Caligula had coins made to honor his mother, once he became emperor.
- Graffiti of the Resistance: Used against Caligula once the populace turns on him because of his incestuous relationships.
- Gladiator Games: Caligula stages them at the start of the reign. Since they hadn't happened for a long time, this makes him very popular.
- Historical Domain Character: Caligula
- Meaningful Name: "Caligula" means "little boots" in Latin.
- Royal Inbreeding: His parents, Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, are second cousins.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Caligula at the beginning of his reign. This changes once he sleeps with his sisters.
Tiberius
Played by: Craig Walsh-Wrightson
- Dirty Old Man: Ew.
- Historical Domain Character: Tiberius
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Averted hard with Tiberius, who spent years in Capri living a debauched lifestyle.
Claudius
Played by: Kelson Henderson
- Historical Domain Character: Claudius
- The Starscream: There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that Claudius orchestrated Caligula's assassination, in order to seize power for himself, but the show implies that's what he did in order to prevent the Empire from being turned back into a Republic by the Senate.
Cassius
Played by: Colin Moy
Germanicus
Played by: Matthew Chamberlain
- Happily Married: With Agrippina the Elder.
- Kissing Cousins: His wife Agrippina the Elder is his second cousin.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Even now he is known as the greatest emperor that never was. This extended to his family as well, who was very popular as well.
Agrippina
Played by: Teressa Liane
- Brother–Sister Incest: See Truth in Television.
- Historical Domain Character: Agrippina the Younger
- Truth in Television: Is it? Did Caligula really sleep with all or one of his sisters? There is no conclusive evidence, though it is enacted in this series as if he did.
Tiberius Gemellus
Naevius Sutorius Macro
Livilla
Played by: Molly Leishman
- Brother–Sister Incest: See Truth in Television.
- Historical Domain Character: Julia Livilla
- Truth in Television: Is it? Did Caligula really sleep with all or one of his sisters? There is no conclusive evidence, though it is enacted in this series as if he did.
Drusilla
Played by: Elizabeth Dowden
- Brother–Sister Incest: See Truth in Television.
- Historical Domain Character: Julia Drusilla
- Truth in Television: Is it? Did Caligula really sleep with all or one of his sisters? There is no conclusive evidence, though it is enacted in this series as if he did.
