So, I was watching the old HBO series Rome today and it follows the events and characters of the fall of the Roman Republic and its rebirth in the Roman Empire. Needless to say, Gaius Julius Caesar (namesake and inspiration for our very own Caesar and his Legion) plays a large role in the show. A large part of that however is framed in his position and dealings with the so called First Triumvirate of which he was apart; basically it was an alliance of three powerful men who worked together to secure even more power in the waning days of the republic and ultimately what provides Caesar the opportunity to seize absolute power.
So, now that the background history lesson is done I can get to the point I wanted to make about the members of this group. Obviously, Caesar is in some aspects a very close approximation of his counterpart, by explict design. Of particular initial interest to me was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (generally just know as Pompey) who early on was a sort of friend and mentor to Caesar and a respected general but ends up becoming a pretty bitter rival. Immediately I thought of Joshua Graham, who started as a teacher and guide for Edward Sallow and it is together that they build up the Legion (at this point just the Blackfoot Tribe) into a force to be reckoned. Certainly, its not a perfect parallel but there is enough there that I was interested to see how else it plays out in reflection. The final member of the historical trio Marcus Licinius Crassus who is a notable enough historical figure what we have records enough of but generally gets left out of any narratives due to his overall effect on the arc of events. Coincidentally, there is a similarly placed figure in connection to Caesar and Joshua Graham: Bill Calhoun. He also is placed as being important to the foundation events that would lead to larger things but quickly leaves the story and much of his character is a mystery. In fact, I think the only thing we really know about him is that he is a doctor.
Has anyone else made this connection? Do you think this was intended by the designers/writers? Do you have any thoughts yourselves about the validity either way of this connection? I'd love to hear any input on this fun little theory that occurred to me as a result of media only tangentially related.
So, now that the background history lesson is done I can get to the point I wanted to make about the members of this group. Obviously, Caesar is in some aspects a very close approximation of his counterpart, by explict design. Of particular initial interest to me was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (generally just know as Pompey) who early on was a sort of friend and mentor to Caesar and a respected general but ends up becoming a pretty bitter rival. Immediately I thought of Joshua Graham, who started as a teacher and guide for Edward Sallow and it is together that they build up the Legion (at this point just the Blackfoot Tribe) into a force to be reckoned. Certainly, its not a perfect parallel but there is enough there that I was interested to see how else it plays out in reflection. The final member of the historical trio Marcus Licinius Crassus who is a notable enough historical figure what we have records enough of but generally gets left out of any narratives due to his overall effect on the arc of events. Coincidentally, there is a similarly placed figure in connection to Caesar and Joshua Graham: Bill Calhoun. He also is placed as being important to the foundation events that would lead to larger things but quickly leaves the story and much of his character is a mystery. In fact, I think the only thing we really know about him is that he is a doctor.
Has anyone else made this connection? Do you think this was intended by the designers/writers? Do you have any thoughts yourselves about the validity either way of this connection? I'd love to hear any input on this fun little theory that occurred to me as a result of media only tangentially related.
