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[narrator]
For over a century,

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the Roman Coliseum has hosted
the most grueling and bloody games

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in human history,

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fought and won
by the Roman gladiator.

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♪♪

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At the end of
the second century,

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the Roman people
witness a game like no other.

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For the first time in history,

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a Roman Emperor
will fight to the death.

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[announcer]
All hail Commodus,

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Emperor of Rome!

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♪♪

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[screams]

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[cheers]

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[narrator] Commodus's reign
will mark the beginning of the fall...

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of the greatest civilization on Earth.

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But his story begins
more than a decade earlier.

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[theme music playing]

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[narrator]
By the end of the second century,

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There's no civilization as massive
or as powerful as the Roman Empire.

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Almost one in five people on Earth
lives within the Empire's boundaries...

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and is under rule of one of
the most powerful men on the planet,

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the Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius.

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For more than a decade,

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Aurelius has waged war
to defend the Empire's reach.

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And he reigns over a territory
that spans thousands of miles.

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From Western Europe
and the Middle East,

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through parts of Africa
and the entire Mediterranean.

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[Prof. Corey Brennan]
Marcus Aurelius was

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considered really one of
the most successful Emperors.

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He was not just Emperor,
but he was a distinguished philosopher.

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He was a student of Epictetus,

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who was the leading
Stoic philosopher of the day,

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and he was a gifted philosophical writer
in his own right.

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His meditations are still read today.

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[narrator]
Over the last century,

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Rome has been built into
one of the most advanced cities

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in the ancient world.

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And, under Aurelius's reign,

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it's given rise to a modern era.

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[Tom Holland] The Roman Empire
in the second century

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was a formidable global superpower.

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They had the most proficient
military forces.

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They ruled
the most civilized array of people.

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There was anything that you wanted
by Roman standards,

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you could find in their empire.

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And what kept this empire together

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was an incredibly efficient
array of infrastructure.

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[Prof. Marden Nichols] Ancient Rome during
this time period was the greatest empire

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that the world had ever known.

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It was responsible for
enormous advances in technology

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such as the system of Roman roads
or the aqueducts that supplied water.

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The city of Rome itself
had reached one million people.

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So it was the first

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large-scale urban metropolis.

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[narrator] Marcus Aurelius
rules over 50 million people

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within the boundaries
of the Roman Empire.

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And no one lives
better than his son...

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Commodus.

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[Holland] The problem that was
ushered in by Marcus Aurelius

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when instead of doing
what his predecessors had done,

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and adopting a person
who was qualified

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by temperament, and upbringing,
and training to serve as Emperor,

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instead wanted
his son to succeed him.

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[Nichols]
Commodus was the first Roman Emperor

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who was ever born to a sitting emperor.

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Growing up
the son of an emperor,

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as someone who was
raised from birth to succeed his father,

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we have to imagine
that Commodus's ego had no place to go.

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Knowing that he would
have this role,

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that this had planted some seed
in his mind

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that he was,
in some sense, extraordinary.

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Commodus.

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[groans]
[sighs]

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Go.

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Good morning, mother.

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Now.

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Do you know what time it is?

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Early.

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I'm sending you to Germania.

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What? Why?

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Because all you do here
is drink and play with whores.

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But there's a war.

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It'll teach you discipline.

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I'm not going anywhere.

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It's already been decided.

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Your father's expecting you.

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[Brennan] When you think about Commodus,
who had more, personally,

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and more, historically, going for him
than any other human being

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previous in the history
of human existence...

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I mean, in fact, no Roman Emperor
for 80 years had had a son.

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However, one would be very,
very hard pressed to find

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a less intellectually,

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less energetic, less motivated

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person with that type of responsibility
in the whole of human history.

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♪♪

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[narrator]
Against his will,

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Commodus has been
called to Germania.

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Ordered to train under his father
to become the next Emperor.

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Hundreds of miles from Rome,

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along the borders of the Empire,

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massive armies of Germanic tribes
are invading Roman territory.

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And the Roman military
has been called to the front lines.

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With one of the strongest ground
and naval forces in the world,

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the Roman military is made up of hundreds
of thousands of highly trained soldiers,

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equipped with the latest weaponry,

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and prepared to defend
the Empire's borders...

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at all costs.

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[Brennan] There was
the problem of Rome's neighbors.

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Both to the east, and to the north.

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The Parthians to the east

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and Germanic tribes to the north,
which were a threat.

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Romans had been fighting Germans,

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at this point, for 250 years.

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And the border

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on the Danube
had always been a problem.

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And, in fact, as it turns out,
always would be a problem.

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[Holland]
The Roman army

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was the most formidable
fighting machine

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that the ancient world had seen.

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The basis for their success

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was less their capacity for killing,

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and more their capacity
for entrenchment.

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It was a capacity
for digging fortresses,

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for fashioning all the infrastructure
of a frontier force

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that served to ensure
that the Roman frontiers

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were essentially guarded
and held secure.

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[Cleander] 
Oh, Saoterus, that's disgusting.

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I hope you learned your lesson.
You'll never outdrink me, my friend.

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Never again.

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[Cleander laughs]

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Tell my father I'm here.

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Let's hope we're not
stuck here for too long.

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Come with me.

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[Prof. Clifford Ando]
Marcus Aurelius and Commodus

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have come down in history as very,
very different individuals.

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After all, he was also
a leading general of his time

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and led many wars
along the Danube frontier.

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Commodus probably was
as irresponsible as people say.

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That said, Marcus Aurelius does not appear
to have shown any hesitation

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in promoting Commodus
from a very young age.

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♪♪

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Where is he?

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[sigh]

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What?

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I promised your mother

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I'd try and do my best
to make a man of you.

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I never break my word. Ever.

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It begins now.

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You want me to train
like some common soldier?

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[grunting]

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Again...

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Again...

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Again...

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I'm going to show you what happens
when you don't know how to handle a sword.

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[Prof. Aaron Irvin]
One of the great debates,

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not just among
Roman historians of today,

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but even of the time,
was why Commodus?

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Why did Marcus Aurelius
choose Commodus? 

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Why, despite the fact
that everybody seemed to see

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that he was not up to this task,
why was there still the insistence

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that Commodus
was going to be the next Emperor?

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Perhaps we can
chalk it up to naïveté

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or a kind of generic
just love for his son,

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blinding him to the realities

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that his son
was not up to the task.

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And his son was
not ready for this position.

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[Nichols] The means through which Commodus
was groomed and trained to become Emperor

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were unparalleled in Roman history.

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He had high hopes
for his son during this period.

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What Marcus Aurelius imagined
for his child and what his child became

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were two very different things.

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[narrator]
As Commodus trains,

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the Germanic tribes
begin to push through Roman defenses,

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banding together and launching
a massive assault on the Roman army.

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[Holland] The great Roman nightmare
was of Northern Barbarians

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sweeping southwards
and conquering Rome.

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In the reign of Marcus Aurelius,
there was a disturbance.

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He knew that he had no choice
but to confront that.

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And as it turned out,
the wars that Marcus Aurelius fought

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against the German people were

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as strenuous and challenging
as any Barbarian enemy

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that the Roman people had faced.

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[narrator]
Lasting years...

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it's a devastating war.

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Killing thousands
of men on both sides.

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The war also takes its toll
on the Emperor...

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who soon falls ill.

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[Anthony Everitt]
Marcus Aurelius spent most of his life

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dealing with, fighting,
trying to resist, coping with

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Barbarian tribes pressing up against
the frontiers of the Empire.

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00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:17,319
And as the health
of Marcus Aurelius began to fade,

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there was a great deal of worrying.

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He seems to have had problems
in his chest and stomach.

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It may have been cancer.

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It may have been something to do
with his heart. One doesn't really know.

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[narrator]
With the Emperor's health diminishing,

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news is sent to the palace.

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But on its way back to Rome,

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the message is quickly distorted.

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And soon enough,
it becomes a rumor...

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00:22:00,779 --> 00:22:03,365
that Marcus Aurelius has died.

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00:22:08,620 --> 00:22:10,414
[Ando]
In the case of Marcus Aurelius,

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it seems quite clear
that rumors started to spread

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00:22:13,625 --> 00:22:15,200
that the Emperor had died.

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00:22:15,586 --> 00:22:17,921
And sometimes these
may well have been engineered.

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00:22:18,505 --> 00:22:22,426
And what is crucial about this,
is that verification of these rumors

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00:22:22,509 --> 00:22:25,220
in the Roman world
would have been phenomenally difficult.

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[narrator]
Before long,

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00:22:51,580 --> 00:22:54,410
the rumor of Marcus Aurelius's death

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00:22:54,124 --> 00:22:56,835
reaches the most powerful
woman in the Empire...

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00:22:57,586 --> 00:22:59,171
Empress Faustina.

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00:23:09,806 --> 00:23:12,434
[Jerry Toner]
Faustina was Marcus Aurelius's wife.

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She was the daughter
of the previous Emperor,

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Antoninus Pius.

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00:23:17,231 --> 00:23:19,900
And she was
a successful wife with Marcus,

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00:23:19,983 --> 00:23:21,860
gave him children
over that period.

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00:23:21,944 --> 00:23:27,324
So she must immediately have looked for
her safety and for her family's safety.

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[narrator] Devastated by news
of her husband's death,

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00:23:32,788 --> 00:23:36,291
Faustina fears her son
isn't ready for the throne,

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00:23:37,459 --> 00:23:42,470
and knows she has to come up with
a plan before word reaches the Senate.

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00:23:50,264 --> 00:23:53,976
The Roman Senate is made up of
the most influential men in the Empire.

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All looking for opportunities
to further their political careers.

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00:24:09,741 --> 00:24:12,661
[Brennan]
There were clearly any number of folks

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00:24:12,744 --> 00:24:13,996
in the Roman Senate

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00:24:14,790 --> 00:24:16,999
themselves, who were senators,
who thought that they had

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00:24:17,820 --> 00:24:18,709
even better claim to nobility

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00:24:18,792 --> 00:24:22,400
or to the throne
than the reigning Emperor himself.

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00:24:22,671 --> 00:24:24,840
In general,
it seems that being at the top

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was a very lonely
and dangerous place in Ancient Rome.

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[narrator]
Throughout the Empire,

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00:24:35,100 --> 00:24:38,562
governors and ambitious leaders
are determined to seize control.

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00:24:39,855 --> 00:24:43,984
And a challenge to the throne could come
from any of the Empire's regions.

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00:24:45,235 --> 00:24:46,695
With rumors quickly spreading,

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00:24:47,487 --> 00:24:49,990
a power grab could soon take hold.

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00:24:56,663 --> 00:25:00,250
The play for the throne
puts members of the royal family at risk.

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00:25:01,793 --> 00:25:04,460
Including the Emperor's daughter...

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00:25:04,129 --> 00:25:05,380
Lucilla.

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00:25:08,175 --> 00:25:10,802
Married to her father's trusted advisor,

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00:25:11,803 --> 00:25:15,849
Lucilla has already been groomed
for a life of influence.

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00:25:18,180 --> 00:25:19,728
[Irvin] Lucilla had been

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00:25:19,811 --> 00:25:22,689
one of the oldest
of Marcus Aurelius's children

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00:25:22,773 --> 00:25:24,566
who had survived into adulthood.

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00:25:25,234 --> 00:25:27,819
She had been involved
in Roman politics,

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00:25:27,903 --> 00:25:30,906
the back room deals,
the administration.

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00:25:31,448 --> 00:25:33,116
So she was far
more experienced.

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00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,160
She had far better contacts.

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00:25:35,244 --> 00:25:39,665
She had resources at her disposal
that Commodus didn't even know existed.

249
00:25:43,430 --> 00:25:45,546
[narrator] But with the throne
being called into question,

250
00:25:47,339 --> 00:25:50,676
Lucilla knows her ambitions
are in jeopardy.

251
00:25:51,510 --> 00:25:53,720
[Toner] 
Lucilla was Commodus's older sister

252
00:25:53,804 --> 00:25:54,805
12 years older.

253
00:25:55,347 --> 00:26:00,269
And so she was used to having a place
at the top table in Roman society.

254
00:26:01,311 --> 00:26:03,605
But she certainly seems
to have been slightly jealous

255
00:26:03,689 --> 00:26:07,943
of the increasingly powerful role
that her younger brother Commodus

256
00:26:08,260 --> 00:26:09,194
would have to inherit.

257
00:26:18,954 --> 00:26:20,122
Here, take that.

258
00:26:21,915 --> 00:26:22,999
No.

259
00:26:23,750 --> 00:26:24,585
Yes.

260
00:26:28,460 --> 00:26:29,715
No one told me we were leaving.

261
00:26:30,924 --> 00:26:31,884
You've heard?

262
00:26:42,561 --> 00:26:43,478
Where are we going?

263
00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:48,358
I'm going to Egypt.

264
00:26:50,986 --> 00:26:52,279
You're staying here.

265
00:26:53,864 --> 00:26:55,741
We can't abandon Rome completely.

266
00:26:56,450 --> 00:26:58,118
And there are things I need to do,

267
00:26:58,952 --> 00:27:00,245
to secure our safety.

268
00:27:00,954 --> 00:27:02,122
In Egypt.

269
00:27:05,209 --> 00:27:06,835
You're seeing Avidius Cassius.

270
00:27:08,378 --> 00:27:10,255
I'm doing what I need to do

271
00:27:10,339 --> 00:27:12,900
to protect our family.

272
00:27:12,799 --> 00:27:14,259
So to protect Commodus,

273
00:27:15,930 --> 00:27:16,845
you'll leave me here by myself.

274
00:27:22,893 --> 00:27:24,186
I know it's dangerous.

275
00:27:27,856 --> 00:27:29,608
But what other choice do we have?

276
00:27:31,902 --> 00:27:32,903
My cloak.

277
00:27:34,112 --> 00:27:37,866
I will return as quickly as I can.

278
00:27:37,950 --> 00:27:40,369
We will all be together.
We will all be safe!

279
00:27:45,541 --> 00:27:46,542
Trust me.

280
00:27:49,461 --> 00:27:50,420
Go!

281
00:27:53,757 --> 00:27:55,926
[Prof. David Levene]
Any member of the imperial family

282
00:27:56,900 --> 00:28:00,970
is potentially in danger
when the Emperor dies.

283
00:28:00,180 --> 00:28:02,641
It is extremely common

284
00:28:02,724 --> 00:28:05,227
for emperors who fall from power

285
00:28:05,310 --> 00:28:08,313
to have their entire family wiped out.

286
00:28:45,267 --> 00:28:47,728
[narrator]
Determined to protect her family

287
00:28:47,811 --> 00:28:49,396
and secure her own power,

288
00:28:51,315 --> 00:28:53,692
Faustina sets a plan in motion.

289
00:28:54,234 --> 00:28:56,695
Instead of waiting for an overthrow,

290
00:28:56,778 --> 00:28:58,780
the Empress plans
to leave her city...

291
00:28:59,531 --> 00:29:00,657
immediately.

292
00:29:06,246 --> 00:29:09,208
Traveling more than
1,000 miles south...

293
00:29:11,168 --> 00:29:15,422
across the Mediterranean
to one of the Empire's furthest regions...

294
00:29:19,384 --> 00:29:20,469
Egypt.

295
00:29:39,780 --> 00:29:42,320
One of the wealthiest territories
in the world,

296
00:29:44,868 --> 00:29:47,621
Egypt is one of
the leading producers of grain,

297
00:29:49,623 --> 00:29:53,585
and is home to one of the largest ports
in the Northern Hemisphere.

298
00:29:59,258 --> 00:30:02,845
Guarded by more than
15,000 Roman soldiers,

299
00:30:13,897 --> 00:30:17,442
and run by the second most
powerful man in the Empire,

300
00:30:18,527 --> 00:30:21,738
Egyptian governor
Avidius Cassius.

301
00:30:27,350 --> 00:30:29,162
[Irvin]
Egypt was the personal territory

302
00:30:29,246 --> 00:30:32,374
of the Emperor.
It was actually his estate,

303
00:30:32,457 --> 00:30:36,440
and Cassius was tasked
with keeping control of Egypt,

304
00:30:36,128 --> 00:30:39,673
essentially keeping control
of the Emperor's own private lands.

305
00:30:40,465 --> 00:30:42,259
He had been trusted by the family.

306
00:30:42,342 --> 00:30:44,178
He had been in the inner circle.

307
00:30:51,852 --> 00:30:53,103
[guard]
Sir...

308
00:30:53,187 --> 00:30:54,646
The report you requested.

309
00:31:02,821 --> 00:31:05,320
I want you to
double the guards at the port.

310
00:31:05,115 --> 00:31:06,783
There's been some
pilfering of the grain.

311
00:31:07,492 --> 00:31:08,410
I'm not happy.

312
00:31:13,290 --> 00:31:14,583
-You can go.
-Sir.

313
00:32:08,387 --> 00:32:10,550
[Prof. Andrew Scott]
The image we get out of Faustina

314
00:32:10,138 --> 00:32:12,724
is one of untrustworthiness
and promiscuity.

315
00:32:13,183 --> 00:32:15,936
There are many rumors
going around about both of these areas.

316
00:32:17,437 --> 00:32:22,818
And we can see a partial answer to that
in Faustina's bid to Avidius Cassius,

317
00:32:24,270 --> 00:32:27,948
where she thought maybe she would be
able to retain her position in the Empire,

318
00:32:28,310 --> 00:32:29,533
perhaps even as his wife.

319
00:32:39,334 --> 00:32:41,420
That was unexpected.

320
00:32:43,460 --> 00:32:44,890
Cassius,

321
00:32:45,257 --> 00:32:47,259
you've always been there for me

322
00:32:47,885 --> 00:32:49,803
ever since we were children.

323
00:32:52,931 --> 00:32:55,267
Now you're the only one
who can protect me.

324
00:32:57,644 --> 00:33:00,314
I think you might be
overestimating me.

325
00:33:02,316 --> 00:33:03,358
How could I?

326
00:33:04,318 --> 00:33:05,152
Marcus always said

327
00:33:05,235 --> 00:33:08,280
you were the second most powerful
man in the Empire.

328
00:33:09,990 --> 00:33:11,658
You could be Emperor yourself,

329
00:33:12,910 --> 00:33:13,785
if you wanted.

330
00:33:14,912 --> 00:33:16,380
Emperor?

331
00:33:18,582 --> 00:33:20,501
With the strength of your armies

332
00:33:21,460 --> 00:33:23,712
and my name behind you,

333
00:33:24,546 --> 00:33:26,673
no one could stop you.

334
00:33:31,553 --> 00:33:33,722
Emperor of Rome.

335
00:33:39,436 --> 00:33:41,647
But you must promise me one thing.

336
00:33:42,272 --> 00:33:43,190
Anything.

337
00:33:44,191 --> 00:33:46,680
Protect my family.

338
00:33:46,151 --> 00:33:47,236
Commodus.

339
00:33:48,237 --> 00:33:49,738
As if he were your own.

340
00:34:04,795 --> 00:34:10,500
[Levene] Allegedly, again, she had
actually promised to marry Avidius Cassius

341
00:34:10,133 --> 00:34:12,520
after Marcus's presumed death

342
00:34:12,135 --> 00:34:16,980
in order to solidify
that transfer of power.

343
00:34:17,891 --> 00:34:20,227
Because, if a power vacuum
had been left,

344
00:34:20,310 --> 00:34:23,730
that would've put Faustina
and everybody else around Marcus

345
00:34:23,814 --> 00:34:26,191
in an extremely perilous position.

346
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,490
♪♪

347
00:34:39,454 --> 00:34:41,665
[narrator]
With Empress Faustina's backing,

348
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:46,253
Avidius Cassius raises an army
to march on Rome...

349
00:34:46,837 --> 00:34:48,964
and claim the throne for himself.

350
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:55,220
Within months,

351
00:34:55,304 --> 00:34:59,600
he seizes control of major territories
in the eastern Roman Empire.

352
00:34:59,683 --> 00:35:05,630
And with support from leaders
in Egypt, Syria, Judaea, and Arabia,

353
00:35:07,691 --> 00:35:10,485
he makes the ultimate move
for the throne.

354
00:35:13,530 --> 00:35:15,449
[Irvin]
Cassius declared himself Emperor.

355
00:35:15,532 --> 00:35:18,577
Egypt declared him to be
the Emperor as well.

356
00:35:18,660 --> 00:35:23,207
Two of the legions located within Egypt
declared Cassius for Emperor.

357
00:35:33,675 --> 00:35:37,540
And then, it was gradually revealed
that Marcus Aurelius was still alive.

358
00:35:39,181 --> 00:35:41,160
That he hadn't passed away after all,

359
00:35:41,990 --> 00:35:44,186
that the messages had been
incorrectly interpreted.

360
00:35:46,605 --> 00:35:47,606
And now,

361
00:35:47,689 --> 00:35:49,107
we have two rival Emperors.

362
00:35:49,191 --> 00:35:51,693
We have a potential civil war
within the Empire.

363
00:36:08,836 --> 00:36:12,890
[narrator] As news
of Aurelius' recovery reaches Egypt,

364
00:36:12,881 --> 00:36:17,636
Empress Faustina knows
she must face her husband in Germania.

365
00:36:19,888 --> 00:36:24,935
While Avidius Cassius chooses to continue
his campaign for the throne.

366
00:36:26,186 --> 00:36:28,981
[Levene] Avidius Cassius, I think,
had little choice

367
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,859
but to continue with his campaign.

368
00:36:34,903 --> 00:36:36,864
If he backed away at that point,

369
00:36:36,947 --> 00:36:38,949
then everybody's going to know,

370
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,743
including Marcus, is going to know

371
00:36:41,827 --> 00:36:46,331
that he was ready to seize the power
from Marcus's own son,

372
00:36:46,999 --> 00:36:51,440
who was the closest person
in line for the succession.

373
00:37:18,113 --> 00:37:20,490
[general] Avidius Cassius
has raised seven legions already.

374
00:37:21,450 --> 00:37:24,995
Three in Syria, two in Judaea,
one in Arabia, and one in Egypt.

375
00:37:25,996 --> 00:37:28,832
So only Cappadocia and Bithynia
have remained loyal.

376
00:37:30,209 --> 00:37:31,752
[general]
If we split our forces in half,

377
00:37:32,461 --> 00:37:35,422
we send ten legions across
the Mediterranean to Alexandria--

378
00:37:35,506 --> 00:37:37,633
No, no. Ten legions are not enough
to hold the front here.

379
00:37:37,716 --> 00:37:39,510
Our men would be spread
as far as Vetera.

380
00:37:39,593 --> 00:37:41,136
They'd be practically useless.

381
00:37:41,220 --> 00:37:42,387
With all due respect, Emperor,

382
00:37:42,471 --> 00:37:44,932
-your wife has put Rome--
-My wife has nothing to do with it.

383
00:37:45,390 --> 00:37:47,851
Mother? She's involved?

384
00:37:47,935 --> 00:37:48,894
No.

385
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,630
Rumors only, nothing more.

386
00:37:53,482 --> 00:37:55,567
Listen, if we move the fifteenth north,

387
00:37:56,944 --> 00:37:57,819
to Dacia.

388
00:37:58,362 --> 00:37:59,571
We take the twelfth...

389
00:37:59,655 --> 00:38:02,324
♪♪

390
00:38:33,647 --> 00:38:36,692
[narrator] After inadvertently starting
a war for the throne,

391
00:38:37,526 --> 00:38:41,710
Faustina knows
she must return to her husband...

392
00:38:42,300 --> 00:38:45,325
and try to maintain
her place as Empress.

393
00:38:51,665 --> 00:38:54,585
[Irvin] Faustina, unfortunately,
overplayed her hand.

394
00:38:56,545 --> 00:38:59,423
The great women in Roman society

395
00:38:59,506 --> 00:39:01,967
always supported their men,
elevated their men,

396
00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:07,222
pushed the men that they represented
into greater positions of power,

397
00:39:07,306 --> 00:39:09,570
greater positions of competition,

398
00:39:09,141 --> 00:39:10,976
and helped to drive them forward.

399
00:39:13,187 --> 00:39:14,688
We can see this
playing out, of course,

400
00:39:14,771 --> 00:39:17,524
directly in the case of
Avidius Cassius.

401
00:39:18,233 --> 00:39:21,695
Where she clearly trusted him
and had every reason to believe

402
00:39:21,778 --> 00:39:24,448
that he would make
a fantastic emperor.

403
00:39:24,531 --> 00:39:27,242
Unfortunately, of course,
we have a miscommunication

404
00:39:27,326 --> 00:39:30,621
that ends up backfiring
on that entire situation.

405
00:39:51,475 --> 00:39:52,809
I need to talk to my mother.

406
00:40:05,948 --> 00:40:07,533
The generals in there
want you dead.

407
00:40:08,992 --> 00:40:11,745
By the Gods,
how has this gotten so out of control?

408
00:40:12,287 --> 00:40:13,705
I never intended this.

409
00:40:14,248 --> 00:40:15,249
Well is it true?

410
00:40:16,410 --> 00:40:17,334
Did you betray us?

411
00:40:19,253 --> 00:40:21,129
I thought your father was dead.

412
00:40:21,797 --> 00:40:23,674
I knew what that meant,

413
00:40:24,341 --> 00:40:25,843
how they would come for us.

414
00:40:27,177 --> 00:40:29,179
I was only trying to protect us,

415
00:40:30,970 --> 00:40:31,306
to protect you.

416
00:40:32,474 --> 00:40:34,101
So it was a misunderstanding.

417
00:40:34,977 --> 00:40:36,687
So tell father that.

418
00:40:38,630 --> 00:40:39,356
He'll never believe me.

419
00:40:40,148 --> 00:40:42,250
It's the truth.
Of course he'll believe you.

420
00:40:44,695 --> 00:40:46,113
The truth...

421
00:40:47,300 --> 00:40:48,699
He'll understand. He has to.

422
00:41:34,870 --> 00:41:35,829
Is it true?

423
00:41:37,289 --> 00:41:39,750
-You know me better than that.
-That is not an answer.

424
00:41:42,461 --> 00:41:44,213
You think I'd betray my own family?

425
00:41:44,922 --> 00:41:45,839
My husband?

426
00:41:46,340 --> 00:41:48,675
I think someone
can be driven to do anything,

427
00:41:49,343 --> 00:41:50,594
when their life's in jeopardy.

428
00:41:51,845 --> 00:41:54,431
And some things are beyond
even imagining.

429
00:41:55,474 --> 00:41:57,100
Faustina. Tell me the truth.

430
00:41:57,184 --> 00:41:59,394
-I don't know what you want.
-I need the truth!

431
00:42:02,189 --> 00:42:05,359
You tell me plainly. Now.

432
00:42:09,488 --> 00:42:11,490
I've been faithful to you.

433
00:42:12,616 --> 00:42:13,825
Always.

434
00:42:16,578 --> 00:42:17,704
And these stories,

435
00:42:18,205 --> 00:42:21,667
concerning you
and Avidius Cassius?

436
00:42:21,750 --> 00:42:23,210
They're lies.

437
00:42:24,837 --> 00:42:26,839
It's rumors...

438
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:30,551
If there is one thing that's true,

439
00:42:31,510 --> 00:42:32,469
it's that I love you.

440
00:42:33,303 --> 00:42:36,390
And I would not do
anything to hurt you.

441
00:42:37,432 --> 00:42:40,600
Anything else is a lie.

442
00:42:45,566 --> 00:42:47,442
I just needed to hear it

443
00:42:48,235 --> 00:42:49,653
from your own lips.

444
00:43:02,499 --> 00:43:03,667
Marcus.

445
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,131
Protect Commodus.

446
00:43:36,825 --> 00:43:37,701
Sir...

447
00:43:50,297 --> 00:43:52,508
[Toner] Being a Roman Emperor
was a difficult job.

448
00:43:53,258 --> 00:43:54,760
You are atop of a system

449
00:43:54,843 --> 00:43:58,305
that managed one of the largest empires
the world had ever known.

450
00:43:59,556 --> 00:44:02,170
But there were also
problems of loyalty.

451
00:44:02,100 --> 00:44:05,620
In such a big empire,
you need to delegate.

452
00:44:05,145 --> 00:44:06,730
But who can you trust?

453
00:44:06,813 --> 00:44:09,274
Can you trust even
members of your own family?

454
00:44:09,733 --> 00:44:11,109
Often, sadly, not.

455
00:45:35,861 --> 00:45:36,862
[groans]

456
00:45:42,117 --> 00:45:44,369
[gurgling]

457
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:07,184
Mother...

458
00:46:57,860 --> 00:47:00,404
[theme music playing]