godisawesome
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So Vikings is ending after a pretty decent run as an edutainment historical/low fantasy series that actually had some major success in dramatizing a period of history less covered by reliable primary sources and a lot more mythical sagas and legends.
What parts of history could serve as inspiration for other shows? How much flexibility or reliability could they have with historical records? What would be the selling point and main focal characters in your opinion?
Some ideas:
- “Warlords of Rome”: Set during the very Late Western Roman Empire’s slide into its collapse, the series would focus on the lives of the men and women who lead the various factions that at times preserved and betrayed Rome.
The focus would be the main military leaders at the Battle of Cataulonian Plains: King Theodric of the Visigoths, the people who both sacked Rome under his father Alaric and then were their greatest allies against the Huns, Flavius Aetius, “The Last of the Romans” who was raised by both the Visigoths and the Huns, and of course, Attila the Hun, “The Scourge of God.
Aetius is the connecting character, with Theodric is more sympathetic and Attila the most enagaging and flexible. You could start the series off with the young Theodric first coming to know the young Aetius before experiencing the breakdown between the Visigoths and Romans when Stilcho was killed, which resulted in Romans murdering Gothic civilians and the Visigoths retaliating against the city of Rome itself, with Aetius now in the court of the Huns and meeting young Attila. Then you’d simply carry the story through their lives, all of which end right around the same time. You’d have the Roman Rebent and Empress Gallic Placidia as a major power broker for her son Valentinian and her daughter Honoria, and as an epilogue, you could show how Valentinian’s wife and daughter wound up inviting the Vandals to come and sack Rome to free them from Valentianian’s murderer and successor.
You’ve got plenty of court intrigue going on, particularly among the Romans, a hugely diverse cast, and enough flexibility in history to do some crazy things based off of crazy claims by historians: Aetius supposedly allowed his daughter to marry one of his Hun bodyguards who later avenged his murder, and himself married the widow of a rival supposedly on that same rivals request, Theodric has a dughter mutilated by the Vandal prince who married her, which enrages him, and Attila made such an impact he even features in Viking Sagas centuries later.
What parts of history could serve as inspiration for other shows? How much flexibility or reliability could they have with historical records? What would be the selling point and main focal characters in your opinion?
Some ideas:
- “Warlords of Rome”: Set during the very Late Western Roman Empire’s slide into its collapse, the series would focus on the lives of the men and women who lead the various factions that at times preserved and betrayed Rome.
The focus would be the main military leaders at the Battle of Cataulonian Plains: King Theodric of the Visigoths, the people who both sacked Rome under his father Alaric and then were their greatest allies against the Huns, Flavius Aetius, “The Last of the Romans” who was raised by both the Visigoths and the Huns, and of course, Attila the Hun, “The Scourge of God.
Aetius is the connecting character, with Theodric is more sympathetic and Attila the most enagaging and flexible. You could start the series off with the young Theodric first coming to know the young Aetius before experiencing the breakdown between the Visigoths and Romans when Stilcho was killed, which resulted in Romans murdering Gothic civilians and the Visigoths retaliating against the city of Rome itself, with Aetius now in the court of the Huns and meeting young Attila. Then you’d simply carry the story through their lives, all of which end right around the same time. You’d have the Roman Rebent and Empress Gallic Placidia as a major power broker for her son Valentinian and her daughter Honoria, and as an epilogue, you could show how Valentinian’s wife and daughter wound up inviting the Vandals to come and sack Rome to free them from Valentianian’s murderer and successor.
You’ve got plenty of court intrigue going on, particularly among the Romans, a hugely diverse cast, and enough flexibility in history to do some crazy things based off of crazy claims by historians: Aetius supposedly allowed his daughter to marry one of his Hun bodyguards who later avenged his murder, and himself married the widow of a rival supposedly on that same rivals request, Theodric has a dughter mutilated by the Vandal prince who married her, which enrages him, and Attila made such an impact he even features in Viking Sagas centuries later.
