Triumph

In the Senate, Cicero (David Bamber), feeling that he has no choice, calls for Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) to be made emperor. Brutus (Tobias Menzies), also under tremendous pressure, speaks passionately in favor of the motion, and it passes unanimously. Caesar exhorts the senators, "Join with me in building a new Rome, that offers justice, peace, and land to all its citizens." Posca (Nicholas Woodeson), Caesar's slave, coaches Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) as he campaigns to be magistrate of the Aventine district. When Vorenus grows weary of studying laws and such, and wonders if they should wait and see if he's elected first, Posca lets him know that his opponents in the election are "straw men." Pullo (Ray Stevenson) wants to march in Caesar's Triumph, but is told that he can't because he's no longer a soldier. At a loss, he impulsively decides to free Eirene (Chiara Mastalli) so that he can marry her and move to the country. Vorenus agrees to help him, but his plans go badly off-course. An innocent man is murdered in a moment of passion, and a severe rift develops between Pullo and Vorenus. Octavia (Kerry Condon) has run away and sought shelter with a religious order, but Octavian (Max Pirkis) goes to retrieve her in time for the Triumph. Octavia still believes (and rightly) that Atia (Polly Walker) was responsible for Glabius' death. Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) gains a new ally against Caesar when Quintus (Rick Warden) arrives on her doorstep, looking for Brutus. With help from Quintus and Cassius (Guy Henry), Servilia composes a screed against Caesar's tyranny, to which she puts Brutus' name.