Wake

The Year
Of The
Four Emperors

Adventure, Drama, Historical Epic

War, Action, Thriller, Mystery

In the year 55 AD the very young emperor Nero of Rome orders his fourteen year older stepbrother Britannicus (a son of the murdered emperor Claudius) poisoned. Nero was adopted by Claudius by persuasion of his own mother Agrippina, when the latter was married to the emperor. With Britannicus now gone, Nero reigns over the Roman empire at the age of 17, yet his mother thinks she’s pulling the strings. Nero, advised by old and wise teachers Seneca and Burrus (who are the real political leaders of Rome), designs a plot to have Agrippina killed at sea. With his most important enemies now deceased, Nero establishes his leadership.

A decade later.

The number of Nero’s enemies have grown to an enormous amount. Nero was corrupt and under his reign, Rome was going no where but down. In the year 65 AD a huge fire destroyed a large part of the city, and rumours went around Nero started the fire himself. Nero himseld was going down as well. Having fought to marry Poppaea Sabina, the woman who was considered the most beautiful lady of their time, Nero’s status was deminuishing, as he was performing a bad play on stage, drunk, when the fire broke out.

He did use the fire as an excuse to rebuild Rome in a bigger, better and larger way than before. One of Nero’s enemies wa Vindex who started a rebellion in Gallia. Nero’s general Rufus and his Rhine legions defeat Vindex at Vesontio, but the loyalty to the emperor is declining. Rufus joins politician Galba, as rebellious generals and praefects of the Senate find Nero’s policy to be unsatisfying and want him gone. The old Galba, once a loyal man, saw no other way than to fight Nero, using the aid of a corrupt praetorian Nymphidius. Many conspiracy theories follow, driving Nero so mad that he kills himself in 68 AD. Here, the Year of th Four Emperors began.

Rome was without a leader, but Galba put himself into the position of leader. When he was away, his right hand man Nymphidius tried to force a coup on the throne; he failed and was executed himself (as were his trustees) on Galba’s command. Galba also beat down remaining troops of Nero with his own army. He returned to Rome in the company of his governor Otho, where Galba made one political mistake after another. He trusted advices by corrupt functionaries and he refused to pay the army that fought Vindex; this was the beginning of the end for Galba. The troops in Germania wanted their general, Vitellius, on the throne. Galba countered by adopting a song, the political and military inexperienced Piso. The adoption hardly impressed rebelling armies, nor politicians, praetorians or the Senate. It did however furied Otho, who had hoped to succeed Galba one day. Otho conspired with the praetorians and had himself crowned emperor, resulting in Galba’s public execution. Piso was slaughtered as well. Otho was a friend of Nero, even though he was originally married to Poppaea Sabina before Nero stole her from him.

Otho was extravagant, wild and aggresive. He lasted only 8 weeks as an emperor, despite his efforts of making up for his predecessors mistakes, and trying to make peace with every party, also hoping to win the trust of the Senate. His big army was defeated in the winter of 69 by the immense army of general Vitellius during the great Battle of Bedriacum. Vitellius’ troops were on their way to Rome to demand the emperor’s resign in preference of the general himself; a surprise attack on them by Otho’s men didn’t work in the end, and Otho commited suicide.

Vitellius got his powerful position from Galba. His father belonged to the old regime of emperor Claudius. Upon hearing Otho was defeated, he set foot for Rome in a triomphant march. The highlight for him was witnessing thousands of Otho’s fallen men near Bedriacum, at wich he gazed with excitement. Vitellius’ first actions as a ruler were unexpected; he pardoned former sympathizers of Otho, or sent some of his trustees away to far away corners of the empire, instead of simply killing them all, which was usual. His political reshapings however weren’t that great. Oversea armies in Egypt and Syria joined forces and went on a trip to Rome, lead by general Vespasian. Vitellius’ several armies all over the empire were losing battles, and in middle-Italy, some of them were simply joining Vespasian without putting up a fight. Vespasian was rapidly nearing Rome. One of his brothers tried to talk Vitellius out of fighting the coming general, to which Vitellius responded in a way you’d expect: he was killed, furiating of course Vespasian. But it didn’t matter to Vitellius; he was dethroned. In a desperate attempt to save his life, he hid himself wearing old rags and using nothing but a stool and a matras to barricade a door in a remote peasant’s house were he resided. When he was discovered, he was humiliated publicly, and half naked torched and killed on the Forum, and thrown into the Tiber river.

Vespasian become the fifth emperor in 15 months. Under his ruling, the political and military instability was recovered. Later, his son Titus would succeed him, and Rome was ruled by the Vespasians for a grand total of 62 years.

Against the backdrop of these political episodes of Rome’s history, the movie focuses on a fictive storyline about an ambitious (at first low ranked) officer in the emperor’s army. He belongs to a group of soldiers who get assigned to the imperial guard with each new emperor. This man, Laureus, fights with Vitellius’ troops at the Battle of Bedriacum. He doesn’t know that Otho has good things in mind for Rome, and believes in his general. When Vitellius’ is emperor and doesn’t quite change Rome for the better, Laureus loses faith in him. When in middle-Italy to defend the coming troops of Vespasian, he is one of the initiators of the non-violent surrender to the Vespasian forces. Side by side, Vespasian and Laureus head for Rome to dethrone Vitellius in one final journey of battles.

What Laureus really wants though, throughout the film, is to go back to his beloved Alfabaetia. This beauty has a relatively high position for a woman back in Rome, due to her fistyness. She hardly approves of the new emperors, while Laureus is more traditional and remains loyal to each new leader. So aside from their physical relationship, Laureus and Alfabaetia don’t quite share opinions on a political level. When back in Rome after Vitellius’ arrival he is extremely happy with her, but he is heartbroken when the emperor sends him away to fight Vespasian. This eventually results in his decision to join forces with Vespasian, as it will bring him back to Rome (to his lover) sooner; just as he supported Vitellius a half year earlier to go to Rome. Laureus leads a paradoxic life, which tears them apart. His romance with Alfabaetia is interchanged with gritty battles and political rivalries, being away from home a long time for the emperors. All these wars have made Laureus a little mad. His easy betrayal and doubtful loyalty make him a little unpleasant, which Alfabaetia also realizes. When Vitellius is torched in public in the heart of Rome, Laureus stands at the very front of the crowd witnessing the spectacle; that’s how much his personality was harmed by the events of the last year. He and Alfabaetia end their relationship in a heavy way after yet another political debate (Alfabaetia, as always, doesn’t believe in Vespasian’s skills either). Laureus makes a pact with the new emperor of Rome, Vespasian as an advisor.

The film combines the anti-glamour the imperial strugglings, the sophisticated ancient Rome, the intriguing political conspiracies with the personal voyage of a man lost in between the gritty battlegrounds and the feelings for a lady back home. With two major battles, a lot of personal intrigue and a fair deal of history, this is a grand epic film that takes the audience back to what may be the most compelling time in the history of civilization.