Roman Empire: Reign of Blood Netflix Mini-series Review

Roman Empire: Reign of Blood (2016)
Mini-series - 6 episodes

Roman Empire: Reign of Blood Season 1

Watch Roman Empire: Reign of Blood on Netflix
Directed by: Richard Lopez
Narrated by: Sean Bean
Starring:  Aaron Jakubenko, Edwin Wright, Genevieve Aitken, John Bach
Rating: TV-MA/R

Plot:
Sean Bean narrates this mix of documentary and reenactment. This focuses on the reign of Commodus, which marked the beginning of the end for the Roman empire.

Verdict
At first the juxtaposition of interviews and reenactment felt dynamic, but it soon became tedious. It's difficult to separate fact from fiction, and I'm guessing this is a lot of speculation. The interviews contain very little information and Sean Bean is often just narrating what we see on screen.
The research is thin, and I would hesitate to state anything I saw as fact. I know the Roman empire and Commodus did exist. Anything past that and I would have to start Googling for verification.
The documentary parts are forty minutes long in total, I would guess. The reenactment is often dull. It's clear the budget was limited. It feels like a budget history channel series. Gladiator this isn't.
Some information just doesn't translate well to visuals. This is a subject I would want Dan Carlin to explore in his Hardcore History podcast.
Skip it.

Review
So many things about this mini-series, and I'm just assuming it's a mini-series, are odd.
Why is Sean Bean credited as narrator on the title card? The other actors aren't even billed as themselves. The introduction credits only list them as the character portrayed.
Why don't any of the historians reference anything. They reference no books, not even texts from the timer period. They appear to make general statements. Bean's narration doesn't add much. It tells us what we're actually seeing or what we already know.

Episode 1 - Commodus as a gladiator.

This is more R-rated historical drama than documentary. Even the title is sensational. Once you include nudity, it's more entertainment than teaching. It's not epic as that implies a broad scale and scope. It's not really a documentary as that implies it imparts knowledge and facts. It's not really entertainment as that implies I enjoyed it.
This series takes facts and manufacturers the connecting tissue. If you can't make this a true documentary, and it's obvious they couldn't, make it a fictional series.
Did the creators want a successor to HBO's Rome (2005-2007), but didn't have the budget? Expansive scenes that we never see seem to be sacrificed for vapid interviews. A producer surely said, "That' scene is too expensive, better include an interview instead. People love interviews!" I find it hard to believe that the final product is exactly what was intended.

Episode 1 - Marcus Aurelius

This has a great premise. Commodus (Aaron Jakubenko) took over as emperor from his father Marcus Aurelius at the height of the Roman empire. Commodus was ill-equipped and his reign kick starts the fall of Rome.
You may remember Marcus Aurelius and Commodus from the 1999 movie Gladiator. It may be fiction, but it's fun to watch.
While I can't verify the accuracy of this series, obviously many of the interactions are speculation, but I can't tell where facts start and stop. While this looks pretty authentic, it is easy to see where the sets stop. This really is the age old tale of how nepotism ruins empires or businesses,

Marcus Aurelius is the first standing emperor to have a son. While his son is a spoiled brat, Commodus wants his son to secede him as emperor. We can assume nepotism, but as the historians tell us, no one really knows.

Poor communications lead to the rumor of Marcus Aurelius's death. His wife begins securing her future as the wife of the new emperor from Egypt. The family of former emperors is often killed, and she wants to prevent that. The guy in Egypt raises an army to invade Rome. The cut to interviews makes this much less exciting. The reenactments are limited to scenes in Commodus's bedroom, the Senate floor, or the gladiator pit.
In the first episode I thought the mix of reenactment and interviews helped make the history visceral, by episode two it just made the story disjointed and bland.

Episode 5 - Cleander's treachery reaches an end.

Commodus becomes emperor to the dismay of many. There's a plot to kill him and he banishes his sister. His trusted adviser Cleander secures the power of the Senate, but Cleander's attempt to usurp power is ended by Commodus's dagger.

Episode 5 - Commodus nearly loses his head training to be a gladiator.

Commodus plans to become a gladiator. This seems like narcissism. He just wants attention and praise. At this point I began my own speculation. While the actor portraying Commodus is physically fit, would Commodus really have the dedication and discipline to exercise? In his first scene he's portrayed as sleeping all day and wooing women. He's never had to do anything or work for anything. I liked Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Commodus in Gladiator much better with that in mind. It seems incredibly vain to think you could defeat a gladiator head on, then again I'm sure Commodus has been told he's the greatest his entire life.

How does this show know that Commodus dulled the blades of his opponents? How does it know that's all he did?

Commodus is assassinated, leaving you to wonder why it took so long. Thankfully he only reigned twelve years, otherwise this series might have been longer.