Movies - Imperium: Augustus

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	Movies - Imperium: Augustus

British-Italian joint Imperium: Augustus production 2003 as part of the Imperium series. It tells of the life story of Octavian and how he became Augustus. Half the film takes place in the past (As Augustus explains to his daughter Julia how be became who he was) and the other half takes place in the later life of Augustus. The drama starred Peter O'Toole as Augustus, Charlotte Rampling as Livia, Vittoria Belvedere as Julia, Benjamin Sadler as Octavian (Young Augustus) and Juan Diego Botto as Iullus Antonius.

As the empire kneeled in defeat, one man stood in triumph - English tagline, 2003

Plot

Augustus' is on his death bed, dying of illness and the poison that his wife is secretly been feeding him. He looks back on his life to a conversation he had with his beloved daughter, the beautiful and witty Julia. After an attempt on Augustus' life, Augustus is shocked to learn his closest friend and Julia's husband Marcus Agrippa is dead. Livia, Augustus' second wife and Julia's stepmother suggests that for the safety of Rome, Julia and her own son, Tiberius should be married. Julia's reluctance to marry Tiberius causes Augustus to sit down and tell her his life story about what he had to do and what it cost to become the man he was.

He recalls 42 BC Rome is in the middle of a civil war. Together with his friend Marcus Agrippa, the young Octavian (Augustus) goes to Spain in order to help Julius Caesar battle the troops in Pompey. Even though they are outnumbered, they manage to defeat Pompey. Caesar honours his adopted son Octavian with a triumphal entry into Rome and then sends him to Greece together with his friends Agrippa and Maecenas. There, Octavian hears the news of Caesar's assassination and he returns to Rome with his friends.

Back in Rome, he is able to gain both the support of the people and political power. In his struggle with the conspirators against the murder of Caesar and claiming his new share of the empire, he finds an ally in Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man. Mark Antony not only pursues Brutus and Cassius, he also initiates a wave of executions, which practically eliminates the old Roman ruling class. Among those who are killed is the husband of Livia Drusilla, a woman with whom Octavian marries, divorcing his wife and but in doing son, claiming his newborn baby daughter Julia as his daughter, and his alone.

Octavian and Mark Antony are able to defeat the forces of Brutus and Cassius at the battle of Phillipi. But now Octavian has to share his empire with Mark Antony who, in the meantime, has become the lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Octavian declares war on both of them and after a successful military campaign he becomes the sole ruler of the Roman Empire and in doing so, takes the great name of Augustus.

During his rule, Rome not only experiences a period of peace and prosperity, it is also an age in which both art and culture flourish. His wife Livia Drusilla becomes his most important political advisor. However, she is hard and cruel towards those who stand in her way. She is bitterly jealous of her stepdaughter. Augustus' beloved Julia has grown into the witty, dutiful and the most beautiful woman in Rome. Desperate to live her life, is restricted to set morals and the life of the King's daughter. Augustus forces Julia to marry her step-brother Tiberius, who she hates. He is also upset of having to divorce his wife, and is pleased to be sent as far away as possible, since Augustus knows how much his daughter hates him.

Julia meanwhile admits to her father that she is in love with another man, none other then the ambitious Iullus Antonius, the son of Marc Antony, who was Augustus' greatest enemy. Iullus, who started out on his journey with only one goal, to avenge his father's death by killing Augustus, to Scipio's shock, has fallen deeply in love with Julia. His love for her has made him desperate to be with her at any rate.

Their affair, while not reaching Augustus, reaches Tiberius who returns from his "self exile" to confront her about her illicit affair with Iullus. Julia announces that their marriage was a sham to begin with and that if Tiberius didn't like it then he could "fall on his sword" and orders him to leave. Tiberius threatens to find Iullus and kill him, because despite their hatred for each other, he would have no one have Julia other then him. Julia threatens that her father would throw him in prison for being a deserter, which be a greater insult on his pride then any man who'd share her bed. Provoked into anger by Julia's behaviour and carelessness, he attacks her and then rapes her.

As a result of Tiberius' attack on her, she breaks down and confides in Iullus of her desperation to get away. Iullus, still desperate to marry her himself comes up with a plan to murder Augustus and make Julia and himself rulers over Rome with a slow return to the republic. From fear of losing Julia, he doesn't tell her about the plan. Tiberius, who is still planning to kill Iullus for infidelity with his wife, over hears this plot and informs his mother. Livia decides that they will catch Iullus in the act and in doing so would rid themselves of Julia also. The plan is foiled, Tiberius saves Augustus and Iullus is revelled as the attempted assassin.

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