The modern Iron Age family.
"When in Rome you do like the Romans do
You play like the Romans play together!
You're all invited, so right this way
You’re gonna, Meet the Roman Holidays!"
You play like the Romans play together!
You're all invited, so right this way
You’re gonna, Meet the Roman Holidays!"
This animated series from Hanna-Barbera is about a Dom Com family in "ancient" Rome. As on The Flintstones, Anachronism Stew is an essential part of this series—but the starting point is later. It aired only in the 1972-73 season on NBC.
The head of the family is Augustus "Gus" Holiday. He has a wife, Laurie; a daughter, Precocia, and a son, Happius, or "Happy"/"Hap" for short—much like The Jetsons (although unlike that show, this family features an older brother and younger sister). Their pet lion, Brutus, is a Big Eater.
Tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: Like its sibling shows, these Romans have a lot of things that did not exist in the real Roman era.
- Ancient Rome: This is the setting of the show, albeit with Roman-flavored 1970s technology.
- Bamboo Technology: As per typical, a cat is the bank's siren by pulling its tail, elephants help with construction, etc.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Four issues were published by Gold Key Comics (February–November 1973). The first three were drawn by Pete Alvarado; the final issue was drawn by Jack Manning. All four issues were adaptations of TV show episodes; "Double Date", "Star For A Day" (renamed "Friends, Romans, & Cassius" in the comic), "Switch Is Which", and "That's Show Biz" (renamed "The Man Tamer" in the comic).
- Dawson Casting: In-universe. Fortysomething Gus must try to pass as a teenager in one episode. It's as convincing as you'd expect.
- Fate Worse than Death: When Gus is looking for someone to take Evictus's daughter Snobbia to the prom, he tries to get a date for her by asking a teen that Gus had saved from drowning years ago. When Gus asked him for the favor, the teen asked Gus if he would throw him back in the lake instead.
- Feuding Families: A not-as-violent example comes in the rivalry between the Holidays and Groovia's family in "Hectic Holiday"
- Flintstone Theming: Names will follow on some kind of joke about Roman-era objects.
- Happily Married: Gus and Laurie are a pretty happy couple together.
- Male Gaze: Somewhat. Groovia and Laurie have more... detail... drawn into their bodies than typical women in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. It's not something kids would pick up on, but adults would.
- Mean Boss: Mr. Tycoonius has his moments and even more so his client in "Switch is Which?" manages to be this to Gus, Tycoonius and the landlord Evictus.
- Meaningful Name: Their landlord is named Evictus, and Gus' boss at the marble quarry (déjà vu?) is Tycoonius.
- Names to Run Away From: A landlord named Evictus, who has a daughter named Snobbia.
- Playing Cyrano: Hap tries to do this for his friend Tremulus and manages to bungle things up in epic fashion.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: While most of the episodes usually feature Gus as the main character, several episodes instead make the show more about Happius and Groovia. In Cyrano de Happius, a beta teen couple is also introduced and the show feels much closer to the similar The Flintstones teen shows.
- Prince and Pauper: In one episode, Happius switches places with a famous musician named David Cassius.
- Sandal Punk: Like The Flintstones and Jetsons before it, a sitcom version of the genre. With a side of Sword and Sandal.
- Shout-Out: The title is a pun on the film Roman Holiday.
- Single-Issue Landlord: Evictus is sometimes this. He sometimes comes in on a crusade to get the Holidays kicked out of the apartment for one specific reason.
- Twin Switch: Used more than once. In "The Lion's Share", the corrupt owners of the pound switch Brutus with another lion, that happens to be Brutus's father. Then in "Star for a Day", Hap finds he is an exact duplicate of Davey Cassius and ends up switching places with him.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: As per usual for Hanna-Barbera cartoons. While Gus certainly isn't ugly, he's fairly non-descript, whereas Laurie is drawn noticeably curvy and beautiful.
- Wacky Racing: The ending climax of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Chariot Wash" is a chariot race with plenty of shenanigans. It fits as Gus' voice actor, Dave Willock, was the narrator on Wacky Races.
