Centurion is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen this year. It has far from the character development of Gladiator, but it does however portray Roman Legatus Titus Flavius Virilus in a good enough light to remind me, and anyone else who studies their Roman generals, of Marcus Antonius, who cast his lot with Cleopatra instead of Octavian. Virilus was of course a fictional character, but I feel sure that Marcus Antonius served as his inspiration. 
Both men were incredibly popular within their legions, both men were heavy drinkers, and both men were great generals, tough and fully ready to defend the Empire/Republic. All that was missing in the comparably short story of Virilus was relationships with several women, especially with an Egyptian Queen. The cunning charms of Cleopatra were far from present in Centurion, replaced in full by the devious intentions of Etain, a Pict warrior/tracker from the highlands of Britannia. The love/convenient relationship between Antonius and the Macedonian Queen of Egypt is replaced with disdainful, vengeful one between Virilus and Etain, sworn enemies in every since of the word.
Dominic West was cast in Centurion as Virilus, and Antonius being one of my favorite figures from history, the fictional general immediately reminded me of the actual one. We're first introduced to Virilus as he hangs out with his legions, entangling himself in an arm wrestling match with one of his soldiers, the rest placing bets and shouting their picks. I truly believe this is how Antonius interacted with his soldiers, as the Roman historian Suetonius reports that Antonius knew many of men by name and often ate meals with them at the common mess table. Virilus and Antonius were separated by almost 250 years, but the similarities are there. In the next scene that we see Virilus, he's washing himself with another soldier in a pretty common manner, hangover and all. A rider comes into camp and insists that he talk to Virilus, whom he's never seen before. He shouts at the real Virilus and demands an audience with the general, threatening a flogging. Virilus shouts back, telling the rider that he is the Legatus and that he could have the rider flogged instead. This was the type of man Antonius was, spending so much time with his infantry that he could've been mistaken as one of them. He often lowered himself to their status, but he was also quick to remind those out of line that he was still the man in charge. He sincerely cared about his troops and they adored him for it. Even lowering himself enough to be found frequently in their encampments, they respected him. Virilus is seen in the same light in Centurion.
Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator is seen in a similar light as Virilus and Antonius, and I'm sure that many other general's in Rome's long history shared the same sort of traits. But I continually study the character of Antonius and both he and Virilus were men's men. Antonius immediately came to mind when I saw the characterization of Titus Flavius Virilus in Centurion. I think that in terms of writing a fictional Roman general, the best possible muse would be a man like Marcus Antonius, one who was loved by men, adored by his women, and etched into Roman history as admirable soldier with a heart of gold and endearing reckless abandon when it came to excess.
These two pictures are of actor James Purefoy as Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome - the best on-screen Antony I've ever seen.
I was going to further explore the personality of Antonius in another blog, but while I'm on the subject, I'll indulge myself. He was a passionate man with a "live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse" sort of mentality. He was a true Grecophile, meaning that he loved all things Greek. The Romans claimed their roots from the Greek Aeneas, and in turn, Antonius claimed his roots from Hercules. As men of power claiming divine status was popular during the Roman Republic and Rome Empire, Antonius called himself the earthly incarnate of the Greek god of wine and free love, Dionysus, and his personality and habits of excess matched the qualities. Antonius had a taste for exotic things. His relationship with Romen women, whether wife or mistress, never lasted, as he was more inclined to endulge into relationships with Glaphyra, princess of Cappadocia, and most famously, Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Antonius probably fell in love with Cleopatra at some point, but he was surely enthralled as well by the levels of excess in her kingdom and the fact she was descended from the Macedonian Greek line of Ptolemy I Soter and Alexander the Great - famous Greeks he surely greatly admired. He probably lost the Battle of Actium simply because he failed to listen to his Legatus, Publius Canidius Crassus, who told him they should fight Octavian's army on land instead of at sea. He was proud and stubborn and full of bravado, thinking he could defeat the lesser general in any situation presented. He was the equivalent of a modern football star who walks around quoting coaching great Vince Lombardi. He was the equivalent of a modern military general who fervently studies the battle tactics and campaigns of Patton or Napoleon. He was the equivalent of UFC fighter Marcus "The Irish Handgrenade" Davis, who's an American fighter but boasts proudly his Irish roots.
No comments:
Post a Comment