YMMV / Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

• Narm: Or should I say "NAAAAAAAAAAAAAARM!!!!"
  • "IIII INTEND TO SING TO THEM!!!"
• Values Dissonance: The episode focusing on Tiberius Gracchus is generally considered the weakest of the six in terms of drama, partly due to the fact that it is hardest to empathise with Tiberius, whose life centres around the ideals of living up to one's family name by becoming famous in the complicated morass of Roman politics. The episode's attempts to explain this in the space of an hour rather understandably fall flat.
  • Values Resonance: Which is unfortunate, because the story of the Gracchi, both presented here and in real life, has quite a few themes that modern societies still grapple with: rich vs. poor, democracy vs. oligarchy, the effects of war profiteering, and whether one should change society gradually or quickly.
• The Woobie:
  • All Alaric wanted was a home for his people...
  • Gracchus gets so much hate and meets a violent end simply for espousing some perfectly reasonable, though idealistic, ideals.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Nero. He did awful, awful things, but powerful expressions of grief from Michael Sheen in this role tends to make viewers forget the slaughter of thousands...
  • Likewise, Honorius. He ends the series with tears in his eyes, clutching a pillow like a teddy bear.

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