Ciarán Hinds Looks Back on Rome and Caesar as a Cautionary Tale for Today

Hardly more than 20 years ago, HBO took a gamble on its first foray into epic television. The series that resulted, burned brilliant and bright. And briefly, as the gargantuan portrait of how a centuries-old republic transitioned into permanent one-man rule only lasted two seasons before the premium cable network pulled the plug on Rome—prematurely as they later admitted. 

While the difficulties of bringing Rome to the world ended up acting as a kind of test run for Game of Thrones and the glut of epic and “cinematic” television shows that followed, the 22 episodes masterminded by showrunner Bruno Heller between 2005 and 2007 remain a beloved favorite two decades on because of their scale, their writing, and most certainly their acting. To this day, many count Ciarán Hinds’ portrayal of Gaius Julius Caesar as their favorite interpretation of the man who almost became dictator for life in the Roman republic—at least until his longtime friends and colleagues skewered him to death with knives on the senate floor.

Cool, surprisingly compassionate (except to the Gauls), and intensely intellectual behind his curt smiles, Hinds’ interpretation of Caesar carried himself like a consummate gentleman, even as such airs belied a bottomless appetite for power, prestige, and still further honors. In 2005, it was a thrilling example of epic storytelling and a re-contextualization of a familiar history lesson about how the charisma of one man—and the blueprint he left for others after his death—transitioned the greatest power of antiquity into a permanent autocracy. By the end of Rome, Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian (Simon Woods) claims his title is simply “first citizen,” but his power over the ghost of the Senate and his homeland is ironclad after the last of his enemies have been silenced.

In other words, it plays differently now, including to Hinds who we caught up with earlier this month to discuss his new film Midwinter Break. And during our conversation, the Irish actor admits he never dreamed they were making a cautionary tale for the modern world when going back to the time of Caesar and Cleopatra.

“I had no idea, and it saddens me desperately, not as an American but just as a human being for the people I know over there,” Hinds says. “When I was looking at the analogies of that time and that period, I was going mostly in the past, but also in Ireland there was Taoiseach [Charles] Haughey, who was a very stylish man, or [Silvio] Berlusconi. These people who were modern and in the world then, and there was a sense of whatever goes on underneath as the dealings of politicians, they’ll always present themselves in a way that’s very charming. But we could still see through them.”

The heads of state that Hinds refer to include the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) who governed as chief of the government for three separate terms in the 1980s and ‘90s, and who after leaving office was discovered to have reportedly taken millions of pounds as secret gifts from businessmen using offshore accounts. Berlusconi, meanwhile, is the infamous on/off prime minister of Italy in the ‘90s and 2000s whose allegations, trials, and even convictions are the stuff of legend. Still, there is something more extreme about what Caesar and a true cult of personality can achieve.

“It was kind of that idea of ‘why are these people continually getting voted in?’” Hinds says. “And it’s a charisma that’s beyond my [reasoning]. I can see manipulation. But it seems to work, and certainly in your country at the moment. It’s kind of extraordinary from what I see.”

While Hinds’ strategic tactician on the HBO series might be a little more cerebral than current analogies, perhaps one of the reasons his rise so fascinates as it is a lesson that never goes out of date about the popular man.

We’ll have more on the site in our conversation with Hinds about Midwinter Break later in the week.