Roland Emmerich Visits The Roman Empire In “Those About To Die”

“I’ve always been fascinated with the Roman Empire,” claims veteran filmmaker Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day). “And I’ve also always wanted to do something with sports because I’m fascinated by why people watch them.” Therein lies Emmerich’s inspiration for turning Daniel P. Mannix’s novel Those About To Die into a blood-soaked limited series for television.

The series was developed by Robert Rodat and directed by Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner. They tapped into the vein of the underbelly that holds these events for the thirsty masses as their guiding force.

Sports betting accounted for over thirty percent of the Roman economy at the time. In modern times, it’s a matter of who will win or lose, but in ancient times, pundits bet on who will live and who will die.

Roland Emmerich. Photo by Reiner Bajo

The violent and often deadly games in ancient Rome were held in the Colosseum in front of tens of thousands of willing spectators who’ll pay anything to be entertained in an increasingly desensitized world. Although the chariot races, brutal combats, and violent gladiator games are long gone from modern sports arenas, humanity’s perverse desire for blood and adrenaline-fuelled entertainment remains fervent. Much like today’s sports stadiums, spectators were seated according to social and political class. Attending an event at the Coliseum was a time to be seen and display one’s finest fashions to assert their social status.

Though set firmly in the past in 70 AD, Those About To Die is a lens through which we can inspect current times in terms of extreme entertainment, violence, immigration, gender, poverty, ambition and wealth. It resides at the crossroads of politics and dynasties. It tells the gripping story of the moral decay of a powerful empire.

Emmerich didn’t explicitly set out to create a period piece about one of the most influential social and military empires that lasted for almost a millennium. “It’s a mix between old and new. It’s a very well-researched show, but naturally it takes extreme creative license. We did this on a purpose to make things more understandable.”

The filmmaker believes that humanity’s hunter-gatherer history naturally lends itself to our love of violent sports. “I have a feeling that people were not as sensitive then. Somebody could be killed by an animal, and the spectators didn’t flinch. They were even amused. We became a little bit domesticated,” he quips.

The Flavian Dynasty

Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins), the founder of the Flavian dynasty initiated work on the Colosseum – also known as the Flavian Amphitheater which held sixty-five thousand people. In order to service the insatiable demand for bloodsports, combats, and races, he built the Circus Maximus which would house almost five times as many willing spectators.

Titus (Tom Hughes) Photo by Reiner Bajo/ Peacock

Those About To Die straddles enormous thematic terrain – greed, lust, family, power, control, and revenge. Emmerich asserts that the nucleus of his show is about power – attaining it, keeping it, and building it, despite the sparring powerful and ambitious factions, internal and external.

The factions are the Flavians who run the events, the Numidians are traders and fighters, the Underbelly are the gamblers, fixers, and criminals, the Corsi brothers are the Spanish brothers who come to Rome to sell horses, and the Patricians, the ruthless and powerful ruling class families.

Adapting The Novel

Roland Emmerich and his team had substantial creative leeway in adapting Mannix’s novel. “We kind of used it only as a title. There were descriptions of events in there we want to use. But there were no characters in there. There was dimensionality in certain people, but you had to come up with all these people and characters. They had to all be different. There had to be emperors, betting tavern owners, charioteers, and gladiators. And they all had to have a story,”  he states.

Emmerich deliberately didn’t seek inspiration from comparable films pertaining to the Roman Empire to help contour his story. “I do the opposite and not watch anything which is related to what I do. It keeps the narrative pure.”

Jojo Macari as Domitian. Photo by Reiner Bajo/Peacock

However, he maintains the essence of sports betting in the book throughout his series. “We’re going a little bit backwards these days when it comes to combat. People beat each other up in a very brutal way. And they become more and more famous because of it.” This axiom seems to apply to our society at large far beyond the sports arena.

Those About Die examines many characters resigned to their uncertain fates. We asked Roland Emmerich which character he identifies with the most. “Kwame (Moe Hashim),”  he replies due to the character’s indomitable fighting spirit.

“Kwame saw his father die. He has this hatred for the Romans. Then he gets snatched because he wants to free his sisters Aura (Kyshan Wilson) and Jula (Alicia Edogamhe). But the first guy he thinks he wants to kill, Viggo (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), is actually the son of an emperor, so it’s not so easy.”

Kwame is a lion tracker who’s been captured to perform as a lion-fighting gladiator. He understands that the only value his life serves is to entertain and he can die during any event. Although he recognizes that every event is a game of kill or be killed, Kwame holds a special spiritual connection with the animals in the arena.

“In the second episode, Viggo offers Kwame a deal that he wants to learn to be as fast as him, and maybe kill a lion in the arena. Then is disappointed. Kwame knows that it’s absurd to have this impossible goal. At one point, the vision dies by the hand of a gladiator, which was for me a long goal.”

Viggo (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) and Kwame (Moe Hashim) Photo by Reiner Bajo/ Peacock

Those About To Die doesn’t ignore the raw human emotions within its relentless action. “We’re showing stories of pain and joy. People die, hearts are broken, and many are left behind to grieve.”

The filmmaker doesn’t overthink what drives him to a particular story. “I don’t want to analyze it so much because then I’m in danger of losing it. I tell always the same stories. There’s always either a mother or a strong father there. It has a lot to do with my upbringing. I had a very strong, enthusiastic father, which showed me how much passion you have to put into your job.“

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.