MovieChat Forums > Pompeii (2014) Discussion > Pompeiians Were Romans

Pompeiians Were Romans

posted 11 years ago by essex9999
90 replies | jump to latest

What is this nonsense in the movie where the people of Pompeii resent the "Romans" as conquerors? What is this crap where Cassia describes herself as a "citizen of Pompeii"? She was a Roman. Pompeian citizens were Roman citizens.

I'm sure there was plenty of province-vs-capital tension and suspicion, but the idea that people in Pompeii thought of themselves as a separate nationality or group from Romans is ridiculous. It's not just a typical Hollywood, minor historical inaccuracy; it's a lie, 180% opposite of the truth.

Apparently, Anderson was so determined to make Romans bad guys that he couldn't bring himself to have the heroine and her family be Roman. In fact, the Romans were no morally worse than any other large nationality ("nationality" being an anachronistic word for the period, but I can't think of a better one ATM) at the time. They are also our direct cultural ancestors. The world was and is better off because of the Roman Empire, and, without it, modern Western civilization - and therefore us - would not exist.

I get that filmmakers love to identify with underdogs and prefer to make movies where history's winners are portrayed as evil and cruel (as indeed the Romans often were - just not any more evil and cruel than the people they defeated). I also get that, when making a movie about events that happened 2000 years ago, absolute accuracy is not expected. On the other hand, reversing major historical facts in order to make your Titanic-wannabe storyline work and to fit your "oppression"-obsessed worldview is cheating.

Besides, it's a crap film.

[–] le-ciel-bleu 11 years ago

One could compare the situation with Rome and Pompeii to Quebec in Canada when it wished to separate (I think...)

[–] boxerrebellion 11 years ago

LOL... most of the way through the movie, I was thinking 'Titanic with a volcano instead of an iceberg'; and then when he got off the horse, I was thinking: yup, Rose & Jack, except this time, everybody dies.....

[–] President_Ackbar_Impeached 11 years ago

Pompeii founded in the seventh century BC by the Oscans, and was captured by the Romans in 80 BC.

[–] boo_themighty 11 years ago

Not to be that boring historian, but the Pompeiians were not Romans, they were Socii. Which was a term for the Italian tribes allied to the Romans. In the case of the Pompeiians they were allies of the Capuans which was rival to Rome even after the Romans had conquered the whole Italian peninsula. So it does indeed make sense for them to not identify with the Romans, however by the time of the disaster such differences would have largely dissappeared over time.

[–] Tarquin_Q_Zanzibar 11 years ago

"The world was and is better off because of the Roman Empire"

But...what have the Romans ever done for us?

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars..." Oscar Wilde

[–] TheQuagmire 11 years ago

Ukrainians don't hate russians... you've been watching too much cnn.

[–] elmuano 11 years ago

They do. I have Ukranian friends who otherwise you'll think wouldn't hate anyone until you mention Russia; now on a side note imagine the stupidity of americans who know her (one of my Ukranian friends) call her Russian, even after being told she isn't a million times.

[–] luckybee333 11 years ago

no we don't i am Ukrainian-American and i do not hate Russians. Please don't speak for me or my family in Ukraine who also don't hate Russians, people are divided so stop your nonsense. I was raised in a part of Ukraine as a Russian, I don't even speak the language i speak RUSSIAN only we were all raised as Russians where i lived. The country is divided between pro Russian and anti Russian Ukrainians you should stop speaking to your "friends" and research things yourself.

[–] elmuano 11 years ago

Well then you partially prove my point; in fact i never said every Ukranian.

[–] kascha-klaussen 11 years ago

I'm German-Ukrainian and the Ukrainian side of my family for the most part resents Russia with everything they've got. Especially those remaining in Kyiv and surrounding areas at this moment.

You have a significant group of people (non-Russian descent) who will not even agree to use a certain version of the language to describe anything because it is an ugly reminder of Russian rule. To pretend that doesn't indicate rejection of Russia is sort of disingenuous.

But are you right about there being no "all" of anything? Yes. As you are about whether or not even what I've described constitutes hatred for a Russian or Russian descendant walking up on the street.

[–] MJohnathen 11 years ago

Ukrainians, Russians and Belarussians are all "RUS" people, the same people, Ukrainian is a dialect of Russian(Russian being the closet to old Rus Slavic) that has western-slavic influences in it.

[–] george-papadimitriou 11 years ago

Pompeii was conquered by the Romans in 80 BC, so they were under Roman occupation since then, like many others across the so-called Roman Empire.

No way of becoming a citizen of your conqueror, unless you don't care about your freedom - and far too many like the Pompeii people did care back then.

There in no morality in conquering anyone, and same goes for the Romans too.

Would you accept yourself saying that you are as evil and cruel as your conqueror?

All in all, I understand why you deem the Romans as the founders of the Western civilization - the way you describe it, they both uphold the same virtues..

[–] Strunf 11 years ago

hmm I'm pretty sure the world would be much better today had the Romans never existed... my gut tells me that and it's never wrong!