I don't get one thing - why, oh why, do all portrayals of Ancient Romans have them talking in British accents? Or more specifically, English accents. And not just Romans, even ancient Greeks are given the stiff upper lip. Whereas, say, ancient Egyptians (at the time of the pharaohs) are portrayed as having an Arab accent (I am broadly generalising what an Arab accent is) - at that time Egypt was not even remotely influenced by the Arabs (the Arab conquests had not taken place yet, obviously).
I really don't understand where this trend came from. You might as well have them talk in German accents for all the authenticity you will achieve. I blame mainly Hollywood for this - somehow 'Europe' equals 'British' for them.
But then again, what else can you expect them to do? It's not like you can have entire television series or movie in old Latin, with subtitles - no one would bother watching it. And even if you do have it in Latin, what would the accent be like? Is there any way to decipher what people sound like by looking at the written language alone? What did an ancient Roman citizen sound like?
I always found this particular thing very funny. I don't understand where this trend came from. If anyone knows, please write in the comments below.
I just noticed what a problem this is when I recently watched Rome (BBC/HBO, 2005-2007). In the show, Latin is equated with English. So if you are a Roman citizen, and you know how to speak the language, you are portrayed as speaking in English, with an English accent. (Conveniently enough, any written portrayals clearly show Latin text, not English).
I don't know much about English accents, but nobility or educated people are shown as having that perfect BBC-accent, whereas common thugs are shown as having that East Enders sort of accent (again, forgive me if I am not using the correct terms, I can only recognise different accents from England, I don't know their names). It is really very strange. I feel like certain biases of writers/directors/producers are leaking into these portrayals of ancient people.
But then a big problem emerges from this - what if you want to portray a slave or a tribe person from Gaul? They did not know Latin at that time, hence you cannot show them speaking in English on the show, since English = Latin. The show overcame this problem by having these characters not speaking at all! I found that so weird.
And there are some Greek characters on the show, and they are shown as having a distinct accent too, a bit like how a modern Greek person sounds (I have met a few Greek people). So strange - if this was a show only about ancient Greeks, then they too would have an English accent.
Funnily enough, they gave the Egyptians English accents this time too (with a very neurotic Cleopatra); although Nubian tribe members were portrayed as either speaking very little, or speaking in an Arab accent. Does accent equal social hierarchy in these portrayals?
One more interesting thing - Jewish people who have 'assimilated' into Roman society are shown as having English accents, whereas a Jewish person who has just arrived from Jerusalem also talks in a 'Arab accent' (someone please give me a technical term for this).
I know that most actors in this particular production were British, and you could argue that the use of the English accent only follows, but I think this was done precisely because they did not want to waste time trying to teach American actors the English accent.
And it is not just this show - many American movies do this all the time. Pick up any random movie about ancient people, and they will be talking in English accents. Most times (before production begins), American actors will specifically be trained in the English accent.
Honestly, I want to see someone make a movie or television series on ancient Rome, with everyone talking in Norwegian accents. How refreshing.
I really don't understand where this trend came from. You might as well have them talk in German accents for all the authenticity you will achieve. I blame mainly Hollywood for this - somehow 'Europe' equals 'British' for them.
But then again, what else can you expect them to do? It's not like you can have entire television series or movie in old Latin, with subtitles - no one would bother watching it. And even if you do have it in Latin, what would the accent be like? Is there any way to decipher what people sound like by looking at the written language alone? What did an ancient Roman citizen sound like?
I always found this particular thing very funny. I don't understand where this trend came from. If anyone knows, please write in the comments below.
I just noticed what a problem this is when I recently watched Rome (BBC/HBO, 2005-2007). In the show, Latin is equated with English. So if you are a Roman citizen, and you know how to speak the language, you are portrayed as speaking in English, with an English accent. (Conveniently enough, any written portrayals clearly show Latin text, not English).
I don't know much about English accents, but nobility or educated people are shown as having that perfect BBC-accent, whereas common thugs are shown as having that East Enders sort of accent (again, forgive me if I am not using the correct terms, I can only recognise different accents from England, I don't know their names). It is really very strange. I feel like certain biases of writers/directors/producers are leaking into these portrayals of ancient people.
But then a big problem emerges from this - what if you want to portray a slave or a tribe person from Gaul? They did not know Latin at that time, hence you cannot show them speaking in English on the show, since English = Latin. The show overcame this problem by having these characters not speaking at all! I found that so weird.
And there are some Greek characters on the show, and they are shown as having a distinct accent too, a bit like how a modern Greek person sounds (I have met a few Greek people). So strange - if this was a show only about ancient Greeks, then they too would have an English accent.
Funnily enough, they gave the Egyptians English accents this time too (with a very neurotic Cleopatra); although Nubian tribe members were portrayed as either speaking very little, or speaking in an Arab accent. Does accent equal social hierarchy in these portrayals?
One more interesting thing - Jewish people who have 'assimilated' into Roman society are shown as having English accents, whereas a Jewish person who has just arrived from Jerusalem also talks in a 'Arab accent' (someone please give me a technical term for this).
I know that most actors in this particular production were British, and you could argue that the use of the English accent only follows, but I think this was done precisely because they did not want to waste time trying to teach American actors the English accent.
And it is not just this show - many American movies do this all the time. Pick up any random movie about ancient people, and they will be talking in English accents. Most times (before production begins), American actors will specifically be trained in the English accent.
Honestly, I want to see someone make a movie or television series on ancient Rome, with everyone talking in Norwegian accents. How refreshing.
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