Rome: Season 1 Episode 1 The Stolen Eagle
Legionaries Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are sent to retrieve the stolen Eagle Standard while members of the Senate urge Gnaeus Pompey to strip Julius Caesar of his power.
Series Index
Characters/Groups
Atia of the Julii - Polly Walker
Pompey Magnus - Kenneth Cranham
Servilia of the Junii - Lindsay Duncan
Marcus Junius Brutus - Tobias Menzies
Octavia of the Julii - Kerry Condon
Marcus Tullius Cicero - David Bamber
Curial Magistrate - John Boswall
Head Priest - Allan Caister-Pearce
Vercingetorix - Giovanni Calcagno
Antony's Tribune - Bart Ruspoli
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are in formation during a battle between Julius Caesar's legions and Gaulish warriors in the year 52 BC. Pullo breaks ranks advances on the Gauls forcing Lucius to advance the formation. At camp Pullo is being whipped for insubordination as Lucius proclaims his sentence to be death. At the center of camp, Antony's Tribune asks Caesar what he would do with Vercingetorix, the Gaulish King as he kneels before Caesar and submits to Rome. A fellow Prisoner tells Titus the war is over. Posca and a Slave Trader haggle over the price of the Gaulish slaves. A solider hands Caesar a letter from Pompey Magnus informing him of the death of his daughter Julia during childbirth. Mark Antony tells Caesar he hopes he received a good price for the slaves and then when he notices Caesar's expression he asks if he heard news from Rome. Caesar tells Antony the news of Julia's death.
In Rome, Sextus informs Pompey of another batch of Caesar's war spoils coming into Rome. Porcius Cato, Marcus Tullius Cicero and Scipio are watching the parade of people being thrown items from the wagons full of war spoils. Scipio complains of the sound the common people make when they are excited and Cato warns it will be worse once Caesar returns. Timon and his guards bring a white stallion through the market on their way to Atia of the Julii's home. In the market area a Newsreader gives the news including the possible theft of a slave. Timon and Atia have sex and Timon realizes Atia had sex with him so he would give her the white stallion he has. Later Atia tells her son Gaius Octavian she wants him to take the horse she got from Timon to Caesar in Gaul as a present. During a senate meeting the Curial Magistrate calls on Cato to speak. Cato accuses Caesar of wanting to rule Rome as a tyrant by buying favor from the people and some senators. Cato calls for Caesar to be called back from Gaul immediately so he can face charges including the charge of treason. Pompey stands up and defends Caesar and refuses to have a vote on Cato's proposal. Cicero stands and tells the crowd both Cato is wrong for bringing a powerful Caesar back to Rome and Pompey is wrong for not seeing the danger of Caesar. Pompey ends the meeting by telling the senate he will not betray his friend.
At an outdoor theater Scipio introduces his daughter Cornelia to Pompey as a possible replacement for Julia. Cato approaches Pompey and asks to speak alone. He tells Pompey if he wants to defeat Caesar it will require the help of the aristocrats, but Pompey refuses to renounce Caesar. As Octavian is leaving with his escort, Atia tells Andros to bring back Octavian safely or his children will suffer. Lyco tells Pompey the white stallion he wanted was purchased by Atia and is to be a gift to Caesar. Angry, Pompey tells Sextus he might have him do another job while he is in Gaul. A group of men wearing blue dye break into Caesar's camp and steal the eagle standard. Marcus Junius Brutus arrives at Caesar's camp and they discuss recent events and Brutus' mother Servilia of the Junii, who is upset Caesar hasn't written to her lately. Mark Antony interrupts them and asks for gold to reclaim the eagle standard. Caesar orders Strabo to give Antony the gold he needs. Brutus asks about the eagle and Caesar tells him about its theft and the discontent amongst the legion it has caused. Octavian and his escorts are ambushed and Andros is killed while Octavian is taken captive along with his white horse. Lucius Vorenus is brought before Mark Antony and told he will be in charge of retrieving the eagle. In order to gather information on who stole the eagle local villagers are crucified, a Crucified Man tells Lucius it was Spaniards who stole the standard. Antony's Tribune goes into Titus Pullo's cell and informs him he will be joining Lucius Vorenus on the mission to retrieve the eagle standard. Brutus returns home and gives his mother Servilia, Caesar's messages. Servilia reads Caesar's letter and then hands it to Eleni. Servilla is upset he didn't say love, but Elani reminds her Caesar is a soldier and not a poet.
As they are riding Titus thanks Lucius for taking him on the mission and Lucius informs him he didn't do it as a favor, but knowing the odds of them finding the standard were low, he decided to take a condemned man along so as not to ruin the career of a good soldier. At Servilia's dinner party Brutus gets drunk and tells the crowd of Pompey, Octavia of the Julii and Glabius of his time in Gaul. Pompey calls Brutus aside and Brutus tells him of the loss of the standard and the lack of support from his army. Atia reads a letter from Caesar asking her to pick one of available women from the Julii family to be a replacement wife for Pompey. Atia conducts a bull sacrifice and the Head Priest tells her no harm will come to Octavian. She asks Octavia how her marriage with Glabius is going and then tells her she must divorce him as she is to be married to Pompey. Later at a dinner party Atia offers Octavia to Pompey and lets him take his betrothal privileges early and he accepts. While Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are camping Titus falls asleep during watch and their horses are stolen. They see a group of people walking while also using Octavian to pull a cart. They kill the men and find out they were the Spaniards who stole the standard. They also find Sextus amongst the group holding the standard. Sextus strikes Pullo with the standard and tries to run away but is impaled and killed by a spear thrown by Lucius. They return to camp with the standard and Octavian. Caesar is given Sextus' severed head and he realizes Pompey has already turned against him. Pompey is given Sextus' head and a letter from Caesar telling him he will be camping his army closer to Rome. Pompey marries Cornelia and Atia vows revenge against Pompey. Caesar and his army burn their camp and are on the move.