Word: rome
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...first, the Norse traded locally around the Baltic Sea. But from there, says Fitzhugh, "their network expanded to Europe and Britain, and then up the Russian rivers. They reached Rome, Baghdad, the Caspian Sea, probably Africa too. Buddhist artifacts from northern India have been found in a Swedish Viking grave, as has a charcoal brazier from the Middle East." The Hagia Sophia basilica in Istanbul has a Viking inscription in its floor. A Mycenaean lion in Venice is covered with runes of the Norse alphabet...
...plot, familiar from the 1964 epic The Fall of the Roman Empire, is this: in A.D. 180, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) is ailing. He anoints his best general, Maximus (Crowe), a man whose motto is "Strength and Honor," as Protector of Rome until it can again become a republic. Before announcing his decision, Marcus informs his son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who lusts to be Emperor. Commodus is displeased by the news; he smothers Marcus in his bosom, murdering him with a filial embrace, and proclaims himself Emperor. In short order, the nasty boy has swiped Maximus' job, ordered...
...Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), who is nearing death and tortured by uncertainties over his place in history. Therefore, he decides to bypass his power-hungry son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), as emperor and invest all his authority in Maximus, who can then re-empower the senate and help Rome return to its glory days as a republic. Maximus is not particularly enthusiastic he'd much rather occupy his time with a less stressful task, like tending crops, but he reluctantly agrees. Next thing he knows, Commodus has seized the throne and he's been condemned to die. Maximus...
...originality. Ridley Scott has always enjoyed a somewhat undeserved reputation as a visual virtuoso (White Squall? GI Jane?), but this is one project in which his supposed visual prowess is on display full-force. Taking a page from the James Cameron playbook, Scott meticulously recreates the world of ancient Rome, capturing the most minute details from the bustling streets to the massive Coliseum. And the numerous gladiator battles are quite spectacular, capturing the split-second barbarity through a combination of the realist "skip-frame" technique from Saving Private Ryan and the furious, in-your-face editing style Oliver Stone employed...
...think I'm hip for the first time ever. You know, London is swinging, baby. Have you been there recently? It's amazing. I'm just trying to keep up and everyone's having a good old time. It's almost like the last days of Rome-it's all going to explode or some terrible disease is going to come. You can't really get anybody on the phone because everybody's either out partying or hung-over. And it's fabulous...