(triumphant music)
(choral music)
(exotic music)
(horse hooves clomping)
(horse whinnies)
(hooves clomping)
(man grunts)
(horse whinnies)
(man grunts)
[Man] Are you alright my lord?
I'm alright.
Set him free!
Honor his courage.
Spare yourself a broken back,
and me a broken heart.
(horse whinnies)
[Enobarbus] Agripinna, you know how
I admire beauty and spirit.
Once they're mine, I can never let them go.
(horse whinnies)
Please, stay away from that man killer.
Rome has a cruel master,
and you are trying to free her.
When Caligula has fallen, you can choose
to be a living emperor or a dead horse trainer.
(Horse whinnies)
Nero!
Nero, be careful, he's dangerous.
(child chuckles)
Come here.
(dramatic music)
♪ The magpie flies to steal the moon ♪
♪ The owl will steal good fortune ♪
♪ Free the cat, untie her sack
♪ She'll catch the birds
♪ And bring
♪ Luck
♪ Back
(laughs)
Sleep now.
Sleep my love.
(crashing)
Nero, quick!
Get under the bed, get under the bed!
Don't move!
(suspenseful music)
(screaming)
(grunts)
(tense music)
Agripinna.
Caligula.
That's a nasty bruise.
What a fall you've had.
(crowd murmurs)
You look famished.
Have some breakfast.
Can I tempt you to some fruit?
(inhales sharply)
Not hungry?
Strange.
Yesterday you could've swallowed
the whole empire and still had an appetite.
Some cold meat perhaps?
I know you've never been able to refuse
a good, thick slice of Enobarbus.
(screams)
(weeping)
(dark music)
Did you know what they were planning?
Of course not.
You would've warned me.
After all we've been to each other.
Brother and sister.
One blood.
One flesh.
Did you know?!
Uncle Claudius?
Your lovely wife Messalina.
Gaius Sillius?
Did you know?!
(screams)
Yes.
Spare his life.
I beg you!
Brother.
(whimpering)
(weeping)
Treason!
And many of you would be guilty of it
if you had her courage.
How shall she be punished?
Porridus.
Let's have the voice of the Senate.
My lord, I fear...
Sell her and the child into slavery
and cease the estate.
Hmm.
Noble Septimus?
Only you can know the depth of the injury
that you have received.
It is for you to judge.
But historical precedent...
Dictates that she should be sown
into a sack with a cock, a dog, a monkey,
and a viper, and then hurled into the Tibur hmm?
Imbecile.
(sword sheaths)
On your feet.
(breathing heavily)
I condemn you to perpetual exile.
You'll end your days on an island so remote,
that not a single living soul
will have to endure the stench of your bones,
as vultures pick them clean.
(breathing heavily)
Wait!
Hold her.
Nero, will stay with his aunt Domitia
who will raise him to respect Rome,
and her emperors.
No!
No! (Weeping)
No, no, no!
Nero, don't cry.
Be strong, for me, please.
Remember your father, remember me.
(sorrowful music)
(weeping)
It is time to go.
I'm sorry.
(footsteps, cows mooing)
[Man] You, go get the horses!
He cannot stay here.
I won't allow it.
The Emperor put the boy in my keeping.
Not yours.
Animals are kept, children must be cherished.
The last heir of Augustus is not livestock
to be tended by slaves.
The world must forget Lucius Nero.
It's safer for him.
And safer for us.
I'll take him back to Rome,
he can live with me.
No.
You might as well invite a murderer into your house.
If Caligula changes his mind,
where would killing end?
Besides, my daughter, Messalina,
your wife, carries your unborn son.
Son?
Yes, women always know.
I'm sorry for Nero.
But his mother chose his fate.
Nero,
it makes no difference if you grow to manhood
in a palace or a pig sty.
You are the son of a great and courageous man.
Claudia, take the boy to Apollonius please.
Nero, come with me.
(peaceful music)
(bricks falling)
[Apollonius] Ah, no, no stop.
I forbid you to disinter me.
This is the God's last laugh on Apollonius.
Father.
[Apollonius] Behold, the nymph who
emboldens me to dare the wroth of sportive Gods.
Agh, Acte, the roles who bind me to this wilderness.
[Acte] Shut up and help.
Ah, Claudia.
Go to your mistress and ask her
why she uses me this way.
Actor, poet, lyrist, blessed by the muses!
(giggles)
Who is this?
A pupil.
A pupil?
How are you called?
Your name?
He's from the Imperial fmaily.
Enobarbus' son.
Enobarbus?
Mm hmm.
Homer.
(giggles)
Lucius Enobarbus Nero.
[Apollonius] I will call you Lucius.
Welcome Lucius, bringer of light.
(leaves rustling)
♪ A magpie flies
♪ To steal the moon
♪ The owl will steal good fortune ♪
♪ Free the cat
♪ Untie her sack ♪ Untie her sack
♪ She shall catch the birds ♪ She shall catch the birds
♪ And bring back luck ♪ And bring back luck
(sorrowful music)
(weeping)
(bed creaks)
(pastoral music)
[Apollonius] Onwards courageous friend.
The God's punish those who slacken in their labors.
Lucius Nero.
(laughs)
(farm animals vocalizing)
It wasn't our fault.
Look at that pothole!
And you didn't see it?
Perhaps you need a little help old man.
If you strike me Nero, I'll kill you.
(whip cracks)
[Nero] Rufus.
Give it back.
A free man who lives with the slaves.
Who works like a slave, is a slave.
Then I'm a slave.
More fortunate than emperors and kings.
I have friends I respect and trust.
What do you have?
Hey!
(peaceful music)
Porridus,
You look like bad omen.
I'm in no mood for depressing news.
Hmm, are your legs turning into Venato marble?
Is it spreading upwards?
When the transformation is complete
can we erect you in the Forum?
(laughs)
She's only a slave.
If a man wishes to survive public life
he must tide his imperfections.
Well?
I just heard the news from Britannia.
The tribes are gathering for war.
They say that if the Romans do not dare
to spill the blood of an insane emperor,
then either we are cowards
or as mad as he is.
Or both.
We must do something.
If your suggesting what I think you're suggesting
for goodness sake, don't suggest it here!
(folk music)
(laughing)
(sweeping music)
[Nero] Come with me.
(giggling)
(laughing)
(folk music)
(applause)
(laughing)
[Man] When are they do be married?
Next month.
Etius!
(laughing)
Etius?
Apollolnius!
(gleefully yelling)
Ah Etius!
How are you, how are you?
Fine!
Ah!
Lucius, Lucius!
Come over here!
This is Etius an old friend.
He can confirm my tales of theatrical triumph!
Come!
How are things in Rome?
For us, we whisper.
But the word of our Lord is heard.
Which lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
You're a Christian.
Yes I am.
Apollonius, you as well?
Yeah, why not.
The Christians preach that all men are created equal.
All men must be treated with respect
but we are not all equal.
Some are weak, some strong,
some are cruel, some kind,
some are born humble, others destined for greatness.
Ah you see the world through mortal eyes.
Is there any other way?
(women screaming)
Reciting Homer is good for all occasions.
Maybe he's right.
What is the point of living if you are not free.
(wind blowing)
(eerie music)
I have been waiting for you.
Who are you?
Am I dreaming?
I know your dreams.
I know what you desire.
I know your fate.
Will I die on this island?
You will know the world again.
And your son will rule it.
Nero will become emperor.
You will sit at his side and exalt in his glory.
But there is a price.
Anything.
(eerie music)
My life.
Is that all.
Who will strike the blow?
(wind blowing)
(peaceful music)
(giggling)
(gasps)
(laughing)
I'm sorry.
(laughing)
Will you marry me?
You would?
Acte.
I always hoped you would fall in love
with one of the others.
You know that even a freed slave
can never be the wife of a patrician.
Only his concubine, and you deserve better than that.
(weeping)
Shh.
(murmuring)
He kills to supply his extravagance.
Confiscates fortunes.
Threatens to prostitute our wives
to fill his coffers.
He drinks and drugs himself half way to Hades.
A journey he will soon complete.
Cardis has many routes.
Fear of pain, fear of dying,
love of position or possessions.
But when cowards are consumed with hate,
anything is possible.
(dramatic music)
Senators, the Emperor of Rome!
(horse whinnies)
[Man] Get out of the way!
(murmuring)
(horse whinnies)
Senators.
A gift for you, on the Feast of Augustus!
Strong and graceful, bred for war!
Accustomed to burdens.
Wise in his generation.
A gourmet with a nose for the sweetest hay.
Allow me introduce, Insultatus!
A new senator of Rome!
You will treat him as your peer in every debate.
(murmuring)
Well?!
(loud applause and stomping)
(water lapping)
Did you mean what you said?
I've never meant anything else.
I love you.
Here, Acte take this.
It's valuable.
It will buy your freedom and take us
to a distant corner of the world.
No, I can't leave.
I can't.
Goddamn the law Acte.
We'll find a way to change it.
Or we'll just ignore it.
I love you.
You know I can never be your wife.
Keep it anyway.
No, it's all you have.
Everything you were.
The only memento of your mother.
I can remember her without it.
(romantic music)
No Lucius!
Goddamn it.
No please!
Take it, take it please.
Please, take it.
Take it!
Acte.
[Man] Up!
[Caligula] Are we visiting this brothel or attacking it?
[Man] My lord, there are Christians in the city.
Are they as barbarous as they say,
these Christians.
Oh yea my Lord.
We found remains of butchered children.
Remains?
[Man] Oh yes.
[Caligula] Did you bring them?
No Empoeror.
Pity.
I shall want to look at them later.
I still don't understand why
we have to come all the way down here.
Trust me sir, it's worth it.
You've never seen anything like it.
Is it a boy or a girl?
[Man] Whatever you want it to be.
Can't we go any faster?!
I want that brought to the palace
whatever it is.
Yes, my Lord.
Here?
Yes.
(threatening music)
(blade unsheathes)
(grunts)
You sent me to the Gods.
(gasping)
I bequeath thee Hades!
(blades slashing)
(grunting)
[Messalina] Britannicus, Octavia, quickly!
[Man] Take it.
Take it.
Claudius.
Take it.
(dark music)
[Man] Hail, Claudius, Emperor of Rome.
[Messalina] Congratulate your father Britannicus.
Father says you're leaving.
There's no longer any reason for me to stay.
Where will you go?
Not to Rome.
To Greece.
The land where you were born.
A place where they love music and poetry.
A place where anything's possible.
Come with me.
Acte, come with me.
We'll conquer Athens with my cithar.
Our singing, and your dancing.
My dancing? (Laughing)
With some practice.
And the Parthenon by moonlight.
And the hills by campfires.
We'll bring joy.
And sooner or later Rome will forget we ever existed.
[Man] Are you Lucius Enobarbus Nero?
Lucius no!
(dramatic music)
Do you have anything better to wear?
(sorrowful music)
(hopeful music)
I thought I'd lost you.
I thought you were dead.
I was.
Who is that girl?
Her name is Acte.
She's pretty.
She's a slave?
So was I.
[Girl] Mistress?
Is everything the way you remember it?
Yes.
Your uncle Claudius, I mean, the Emperor,
paid for the upkeep and told us to
make sure nothing was changed.
How is he?
No one mocks his limp, now he's Emperor.
He's a good man.
[Agripinna] And his wife?
[Girl] The Lady Messalina.
Well, I...
Yes?
I only know what I hear mistress.
Rumors.
She doesn't spend much time at the palace.
Does she have a lover?
Worse, magic rituals in the woods.
She doesn't come home until dawn.
And her children?
Does she love them?
She dotes on her son Britannicus.
Poor boy.
He has epilepsy, the illness of the Gods.
But she would do anything for him.
She loves him more than her life.
Leave us now.
(threatening music)
(breathing heavily)
You're afraid.
Me too.
Our world was shattered that night.
But now we are together again.
It's a new life.
We must make sure it lasts.
Rome is a battlefield.
A nest of vipers.
We must protect each other.
Take care of me Nero.
I need your strength and love.
(weeping)
(triumphant music)
[Claudius] Bring them in.
Bring who?
What's he playing at?
Oh, didn't he tell you?
Agrippina, oh no.
Oh yes.
Agrippina, Nero, welcome home.
[Agrippina] My Lord.
We thank you for your protection.
And everything you have done for us.
Nero, you've grown to be a fine young man.
Do you remember me?
How could I forget, the only man who was kind to me.
Octavia!
Is something wrong?
The last time I stood in this room my Lord,
my father's head lay on a platter.
A lunatic attacked my mother
and held a knife to my throat.
Many of the people here saw it all,
and did nothing.
Nero, name something I can do for you.
Haven't you already done enough?
They have returned from exile.
Her fortune restored.
The only thing they lack, is gratitude.
[Agripinna] Thank you Messalina.
Even rudeness is excusable when it prompts good manners.
Domitia please, accept my gratitude,
for everything you did for my son.
Living among slaves and laboring in fields
made his body strong, but it's done little for his mind.
I must attend to his education,
so that he may take his place in the Senate.
Well, I had hoped to give him a gift
he would enjoy but if you insist on a tutor.
Seneca.
Where is Seneca?
In Corsica.
Exiled, he barely escaped a death sentence.
He is absolutely the worst man...
Enough!
Seneca will be pardoned.
Send for him.
(mysterious music)
(crowd bustling)
(peaceful music)
(dark music)
(gasps loudly)
Shh.
Lucius, you're back.
(moaning)
My father.
I want to show you something.
You'll be back before he realizes you were gone.
I've missed you.
(moaning)
(romantic music)
(wind blowing)
[Nero] I wanted you to see this, Rome by night.
It's beautiful, so many torches.
Don't they ever sleep?
They can't.
Horse-drawn traffic is forbidden during the day.
So no one sleeps.
A million people, a handful of patricians
control all the wealth.
And around them, the nameless,
all desperate, all waging war against their own lives.
That's the world, not just Rome.
The world is what Rome makes it.
What the Emperor makes it.
You want to be emperor?
No.
But I stood next to him today.
If I gain his trust,
I might be able to remind him,
of this things other men would prefer
to stay forgotten.
So, when do we leave for Greece?
Your music, my dancing, making Gods and shepherds weep.
(giggling)
I'm teasing.
Just teasing.
I want to go.
But I can't leave yet.
My mother needs me.
She could be in danger.
I have to look after her.
But I will find a way for us to be together.
I swear it.
I can be patient.
Lucius Aeneus Seneca.
(coughing)
Where is the boy?
Have Corsican bandits stolen your courtesy?
The perfume of Corsica's flowers
carries far out to sea.
The stench of Rome sours the air
of the known world.
I show you enough courtesy to put myself
within reach of old enemies.
[Agrippina] Rome, has need of great men.
Hm, the empire's new.
At dawn, even dwarfs cast long shadows.
I know how to distinguish between
men and their shadows.
My son will put the shadow of his hand over the Empire.
It has been foretold, he will be emperor.
Oh I see.
Does he know?
No, not yet.
When he's ready.
Now it's my duty to clear his path
and to protect him from the likes of Messalina.
And what do you ask of me?
Teach him.
Open his eyes and discipline his mind.
Arm him with the knowledge of the world and himself.
Make him fit to rule.
Create the ideal emperor.
Vanity.
No.
Only if pride leads you to it.
Listen, fate has brought you to this place
and this choice, isn't that your philosophy?
[Man] No, no, sit up straight in the saddle!
A horse is a noble beast.
That's what he expects of his rider.
Listen to him!
[Nero] How can I sit straight in a saddle like this?
With a horse weighed down by these ridiculous trappings?
[Man] They are not ridiculous
they are dignified!
They're ridiculous.
(sighs)
He's a lunatic.
Hup.
Hup!
(horse whinnies)
Hup!
Nero, you must learn to be disciplined!
I listened to him.
I did what he wanted, did you not hear?
(chuckles)
Who is the greater rebel?
Horse or rider?
Seneca.
So what's the end result of your display?
Neither you nor your horse are fit
to take part in an important ceremony.
But at least you've proved
yourself to be a free spirit.
Hmm?
If you like.
Then why are you back inside the fence?
[Nero] Why should I listen to you?
Well, because,
(grunts)
because perhaps there's still much to hear.
[Nero] I can act comedy and tragedy,
isn't that all I need to be a Senator?
(chuckles)
[Seneca] Can you protect your mother with feeble jokes?
Like it or not, you face a difficult
and dangerous journey.
I can show you the road,
even if I stumble from time to time.
You have to ask yourself two important questions.
Who am I and what do I want?
Answer yourself, truthfully.
(snaps)
I want...
What?
It's ambitious.
Don't stoics despise ambition?
If a man were destined to achieve things
most would think impossible, you would be wrong
to ignore this ambition.
But if he should fail?
Then he's found his true destiny.
And must resign himself to it.
I know there is an ideal empire.
And there is the empire that exists.
If there is a way, to create an empire
that is just and merciful, I want to play my part.
Mm hmm.
You're laughing at me.
No.
I smiled because I love Corsica
and can never see her again because I must stay in Rome.
Because now, I can't leave your side.
It's a risky undertaking.
What is it?
There is something you should know.
It might change your mind.
There is a woman I love.
She's a slave.
If I have to, I'll sacrifice anything I am
or might become, to share my life with her.
It shouldn't be too hard for you to marry a slave.
[{Agrippina] Nero.
Is she really so special?
She's my life.
I wish she were here.
I'll talk to Domitia.
Really?
I'll see what can be done.
Mother.
Thank you, thank you.
(peaceful music)
[Agrippina] Young lady, come over here please.
Are you Acte?
Yes my Lady.
Do you have a question for me?
No Lady.
Loyal and discrete.
I understand why my son loves you.
I want you to live with us.
Nero needs you and I see no reason
why you cannot be one of his concubines.
(dark music)
Send the girl Acte and her father away.
They must leave immediately.
Why?
Because I ask you to.
No!
They've been many years here...
Send them to your farm in Sardinia.
And if the Emperor ever asks,
where and how his wife, your daughter Messalina
spends her nights and some of her days,
I won't tell him.
[Nero] Acte, did my mother speak to you?
Get away from me.
What's wrong?
You asked her to buy me!
To make me a concubine!
What do you mean, I would never do that to you?!
You know me better than that!
I thought I did!
It was a mistake, that's all, a misunderstanding.
I won't be your whore!
I want you to be my wife.
You know you can't.
I can!
I will find a way, but until then, I need my friends.
I need you, I need you, all of you.
But especially you.
It was a mistake.
(applause)
[Apollonius] Rome!
Wonderful.
At long last a worthy audience.
Have I told you about the night
I gave my Hercules for the great Augustus?
Yes, a thousand times.
Turn left there!
But it's straight on for Rome.
We're not going to Rome, we're going to Sardinia.
I'm taking you to Lady Domitia's vineyard.
No, it's been agreed.
We're going to live with Nero.
Acte.
I'm not going anywhere else but Rome.
A fugitive slave risks the death sentence.
Killing you is something I could do with pleasure.
(grunts, horse whinnies)
[Acte] Father!
(grunting)
Father!
(grunting)
(gasping)
Father!
Father are you hurt?
I've never been, good at martial roles.
We have to hurry, do you know anyone in Rome?
Etius, help me, help me!
I'm sorry, Domitia should've sent someone with them.
Something must've happened.
Yes it did!
They saw a chance to run away and they took it.
Nero, slaves can't be trusted.
My darling.
Listen to me.
(crowd bustling)
(dark music)
[Nero] Claudia!
Claudia!
[Etius] Paul of Tarsus, a servant of Jesus Christ.
To all that live in Rome, beloved of God
and called to be Saints, wrote this.
[Old Man] Your faith is spoken of
through other new world.
I long to see you that I may give you some spiritual gifts
and be comforted by our mutual fate.
[Etius] It is time to awake out of sleep.
For our salvation is nearer than we'd believed.
The night is fast spent, the day is at hand.
Let us cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.
Don't, don't chase dreams.
You'll never catch him.
Lucius will break your heart.
(weeping)
(sorrowful music)
Full house?
Not bad, not bad Apollonius.
For a matinee not bad.
I read Paul of Tarsus letter.
There's something you might appreciate.
There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all
is generous to all who call upon him.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,
shall be saved.
(breathes deeply)
(weeping)
Claudius, you're home early!
Our children will be so pleased.
And you?
(sighs)
You're going out.
Yes, I wish I could stay with you.
You should have sent word.
Stay anyway.
I can't, I'm sorry.
Asinuis Marcellus is giving a dinner
to celebrate his daughter's engagement,
I've heard that Asinius plans to oppose your
inheritance law reforms.
And since he's bound to get drunk,
I want to be near when the wine loosens his tongue.
What would I do without you.
Messalina, stay please.
If I'm not too late, I'll come to your room.
(dark music)
I take you for a husband.
I take you for wife.
(together) In the sight of Dionysis,
and witnessed by his children.
(eerie music)
(threatening music)
(screaming)
Claudius!
Claudius it's not what you think.
It's just an innocent little ceremony!
A game!
A silly game with the old God to bring good fortune!
(blade slashes, man grunts)
(screams)
Claudius you love me.
You always forgive me.
Please, I'm the mother of your children.
It was Agrippina wasn't it?!
Claudius beware of that woman!
Protect the life of our son I beg you!
Save our son, I beg you!
Save our son!
(screaming)
(crowd roaring)
Uncle and husband too.
Claudius promulgated a special decree
to legitimize the marriage.
Do you think he'll manage to unpick
that knot of Hercules?
He won't even try.
This is politics, not romance.
(crowd cheering)
(applause)
[Septimus] Hail Claudius!
The Senate wishes you both a long
and happy life together!
Pray accept our sincere felicitations
on this most glorious, joyous day!
Thank you Septiumus.
But this day is even more joyous than you suppose.
Nero.
Let everyone assembled here bear witness,
I adopt this worthy young man as my son
Lucius Claudius Nero.
(applauding)
Octavia come forward.
Britannicus you too.
[Octavia] Uh, Britannicus!
[Nero] Britannicus, hold him, hold him still.
Help him out!
[Nero] Hold him, it's alright.
(metal clanging)
[Nero] I knew I'd find you here.
Acte.
(sighing)
Where have you been?
My father is dead.
What happened?
(sighing)
I'm so sorry.
I missed you so much.
I missed you.
My mother told me, Domitia had sent you.
But you must've run away.
No, no!
Listen to me, you must go back to Etius' house.
I'll come to you.
When?
Soon.
But I need you now.
I'll come to you, I promise.
I promise.
Troy fell.
But Aeneas, son of Aphrodite sailed to the west
to found a new city with a great destiny.
Aeneas' blood flowed in mighty Caesar's veins.
(whispers) It's a magnificent beginning.
(Nero speaking in the background)
A wonderful performance.
The passion of youth and the punish of an actor.
Those old frogs find him irresistible.
[Nero] Or shall we honor our ancestry
and free her from crippling taxation.
(applause)
Nero, would you favor us with your opinion
of the situation in Brittania?
Should we leave our legions to endure
yet another winter under constant attack,
there being no great benefit to the Empire?
Septimus.
Would you care to address me directly?
If you oblige your generals to occupy
that damp and dreadful island they must be allowed
to ensure their own security.
No!
Waging a new campaign would be reckless and irresponsible.
We shall not do it!
(crowd chattering loudly)
I only meant to state the opinion of the Emperor,
as he expressed it to me and I...
(chattering louder)
[Man] How dare she appear on the Senate floor like this!
It's outrageous!
Senators!
I await dispatches from Britannia.
Only when I have fresh and accurate situation reports,
will I make a decision on this matter.
[Nero] Acte?
Who is Acte?
No one.
Acte.
That sounds like a girl from one of those
dirty songs you teach Britannicus.
They are not dirty, they're comic.
They're dirty.
They're in Greek.
You don't speak Greek.
How is Britannicus?
Better.
But he could do with cheering up.
Go and teach him a dirty song.
I want to ask a favor.
Well.
Can you teach me to play the lyre?
(chuckles)
I'm serious.
Well, you'd have to be, it takes years of dedication.
I know.
Will you teach me?
There are plenty of good teachers.
Who taught you?
A slave.
He was a great man.
And you loved him.
I've seen your music bring tears
from generals and I've seen children dance with joy.
If we had to be together for a lifetime,
I would never grow tired of you.
Octavia.
Don't say anything now.
Please not yet.
No, I will not marry her.
The Emperor commands it.
I will talk to him.
No you won't!
After the marriage you are to be granted Proconsular powers.
The Senate has already petitioned the Emperor.
They want you to be full Consul next year.
Get Consul?
That means power.
That means safety.
Is it that girl?
Domitia's slave?
Acte.
She's gone.
Forget her!
Nero, you have no choice.
You are already so close to the Emperor
that you are an obstacle to dangerous, ambitious men.
[Agrippina] Don't you realize
that before our meals, I watched slaves
taste our food and wine.
There are moments in which we have to put aside emotion,
and follow the road that reason indicates to us.
[Agrippina] I know your destiny.
And I know it's price.
Please Nero, we are in danger.
I need your protection, do not disappoint me.
Strengthen our bond with the Emperor,
take Octavia, enjoy a beautiful and loving wife.
(frustrated scream)
(yells)
(screams)
(exotic music)
When and where,
you are Lucius,
then and there,
I am Lucia.
Bone of your bone,
flesh of your flesh.
(theme music)
Nero?
Why?
I had no choice.
I did it for my mother.
I did it for you.
For me?
(sardonic laughter)
Do you think this is easy for me, do you?
Acte, trust me, when it's safe.
- [Nero] I'll repudiate... - [Acte] When it's safe?!
This is my wedding night and I'm here.
I'm here.
(moaning)
(theme music)
(weeping)
I have reached a decision reagarding
the situation in Britannia.
I want to put an end to our troubles once and for all.
I shall join our legions and take fresh troops with me.
[Man] You?
(crowd grumbling)
At war?
[Septimus] What mainly concerns all of us,
is the Emperor's safety.
But I am obliged to remind you
that you have absolutely no military
experience whatsoever.
A situation I intend to remedy immediately.
And leave Rome without her father.
Now?
Septimus, I may be lame but I'm not spineless.
[Man] This is the last decree
for you to sign my lady.
Good.
The Imperial seal.
(screams)
(laughing)
(moaning)
I have a solution.
They want me to have experience with government.
The Emperor's about to return
and when he gets here, when he gets here,
I'll ask him for the Governorship of Greece.
(squeals with delight)
Thank you Acte.
You've been so patient.
And you've waited so long.
(crowd roaring)
(triumphant music)
(applause)
Hail Claudius!
The Senate and the people shall...
Britannia is ours!
Her kings and warlords are brought to Rome in chains.
I promised you victory
and despite my inexperience at war, you have it.
(applause)
(coins clanging)
What is the meaning of this?
No Imperial coin ever bore the face of a woman.
Not unless she were dead of course.
Quite a good likeness don't you think?
(crowd laughing)
Are you mad?!
Have you completely lost your mind?
Have you?!
I'm the Emperor's wife!
The wife you saved you from Messalina!
The wife who protected your family
while you were away playing at war.
And when you were gone so long
that some men thought that they could
do without you for good.
Your wife gave them someone to hate.
Dear old Claudius!
At he's not as bad as that witch.
How we miss him, how we need him.
Now, if you will have the courtesy,
your wife has prepared a feast,
to celebrate your triumphant return.
I have made a new will.
Soon its contents will be announced.
Whatever you think is best for our sons,
it will be for me as well.
This is why I wanted you to be the first to know.
Nero is my eldest son in the eyes of the law.
But I can't ignore the claim of blood and family.
Britannicus and not Nero will be Emperor.
(dark music)
(pounding)
Who did you expect?
He won't come.
He will.
We're...
Yes?
[Acte] He's speaking to the Emperor tonight.
And if Lucius is made Governor of Greece,
I'm going with him.
No Acte.
I thought you would understand.
I do, but I wish...
What?
Nothing, I'll pray for you.
Ah, mushrooms, ah, mm.
I found them even in Britannia
but they weren't as good as ours.
The food of the Gods.
I'm sure the God's have better
food than stinking fungi that thrive in horse dung.
Nero, I have granted the Senate's request.
You and Desimus Toquatus shall be consuls next year.
Thank you father.
You honor me, but...
But?
In all modesty, I now have a thorough
working knowledge of Rome and her institutions.
Hm, you have proved it many times.
But I know nothing of the Empire.
What do you have in mind?
The Governorship of Greece.
[Claudius] Greece, this comes as a surprise.
Very well.
To the new Governor of Greece!
(grunts, metal cup clangs)
Father.
Father!
(grasping)
[Man] Wait!
Leave him, leave him!
The Emperor is dead.
(crying)
Burrus, post extra guards around the palace!
No one must enter or leave!
Guards!
Tigilinas, come with me!
My lady.
(sword slashing, grunting)
Get out of my way.
If you run, you will die.
You, Acte, and your mother.
Britannicus would never hurt me.
Perhaps not but the men who make him Emperor will.
Or the cutthroat who wins the civil war.
And then thousands will die.
Can't you see it?
This is the moment we have worked for.
The world sleeps.
Men dream in vain.
But tomorrow, when dawn comes,
we can make our dream reality.
(crowd chattering)
[Porridus] What's going on?
How should I know?
Where's Claudius?
Has something happened to him?
[Septimus] Ah, chorus advances,
the drama begins.
Senators, knights, and people of Rome!
Claudius, your Emperor is dead.
(crowd roars)
A weakness of his great and generous heart
has deprived Rome of her father.
But in his wisdom, he did not leave us
without naming his successor.
A descendant of the divine Augustus,
a man beloved of the Senate and the people,
Lucius Claudius Nero!
(crowd roars)
(theme music)
(crowd cheers)
(crowd chanting 'Nero')