‘Those About to Die’: The New Ancient Rome Series Desperate to Be Next ‘Game of Thrones’

A swords-and-sandals epic that’s cast in a Game of Thrones mold—and strives to whet audiences’ appetites for Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator II—Those About to Die delivers intrigue, deception, and coliseum carnage with an enthusiasm that’s offset by its derivativeness.

Though nominally based on Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 book of the same name, George R.R. Martin appears to be the true authorial inspiration for showrunner Robert Rodat and director Roland Emmerich’s 10-part Peacock drama (out July 18), what with its mix of sex, violence, treachery, and murder—as well as its treatment of its most famous star, whose participation turns out to be merely a short-term device to entice viewers to embrace a tale featuring largely unknown players.

In 79 CE, Tenax (Iwan Rheon, best known as GoT’s Ramsay Bolton) runs the biggest and most profitable betting tavern in Rome. This is a lucrative profession, since the masses are endlessly entertained by the games held at the Circus Maximus stadium, and they’re eager to wager on the fates of those who dare to square off in gladiatorial combat and chariot races.

Tenax is a cunning businessman who’s pulled himself up from the gutter, and he’s always on the lookout for an angle that will best benefit him. There are plenty of those, since despite being a time of peace, Rome is in a moment of potential transition, with Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins) in the final days of his rule, and—while working to build a monumental Flavian Colosseum that will contribute to his legacy—trying to decide who will succeed him on the throne.

Vespasian’s prime candidates are his two sons, famed general Titus (Tom Hughes) and canny politician Domitian (Jojo Macari), the former a serious-minded He-man and the latter a sniveling schemer. The logical choice between the two is clear, albeit complicated by a current grain shortage—brought about by shipping delays—that have led to riots that are destabilizing the capital. Meanwhile, in the Roman province of Northern Africa known as Numidia, Aura (Kyshan Wilson) murders a legionnaire to save her younger sister Jula (Alicia Ann Edogamhe) from being raped.

The two are subsequently taken to be sold into slavery in Rome. To protect them, their mother Cala (Sara Martins-Court) convinces their brother Kwame to accompany them by getting selected for gladiatorial duty. Despite his small stature, Kwame succeeds in this venture because he’s a fearsome warrior who’s just demonstrated his mettle by catching a rare, ferocious white lion.

Those About to Die divides its time not simply between these two narrative threads but numerous others in Rome. Senator Marsus (Rupert Penry-Jones) and his wife Antonia (Gabriella Pession) are conspiring to seize the throne from Vespasian, and Tenax is plotting to establish himself as a big-time Circus Maximus bigwig by bucking tradition and establishing a fifth racing “faction” (i.e. team).

To accomplish this, he partners with celebrity chariot racer Scorpus (Dimitri Leonidas), a drunken playboy whose licentiousness is only equaled by his ego. Tenax also strikes up a covert partnership with Domitian, whose permission is needed by Tenax to accomplish his ends, and who’s willing to go along with this plan so long as he profits from it. Further strengthening that deal is Tenax’s acquisition of formidable white Andalusian steeds from a trio of Spanish brothers, who are seeking their fortune in Rome—and eventually choose to stay in the city as Tenax’s chief stable hands alongside loyal Gavros (David Wurawa).

Tenax’s maneuverings kick into gear at the outset of Those About to Die, courtesy of him fixing a race in order to swindle Rufus (Michael Maggi) out of his ownership shares of the Blue Faction, and the series rarely lets up in terms of mixing and matching its characters in various alliances and conflicts.

Most of its drama plays out in a manner that will be highly familiar to those who’ve spent time in Westeros and King’s Landing (or watched HBO’s short-lived Rome), albeit with an intermittent stolidness and unoriginality that cuts its suspense off at the knees. As for its action, directors Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner provide regular, vicious clashes in Circus Maximus, with chariots crashing, burning, and mangling their human riders, and gladiators doing all they can to stay alive in fights to the death against the unkillable (and The Mountain-esque) goliath Flamma (Martyn Ford).

Those About to Die is rarely boring but it’s often a bit second-rate. Though its skirmishes and gore are plentiful, the series’ CGI landscapes and wild animals are chintzy and undercut the otherwise satisfactory period-piece production design. This is especially true in close-ups of Scorpus and his competitors in their chariots, as well as the few instances in which the white lion escapes its cage and feasts on whichever unfortunate souls are closest to it. Emmerich is no stranger to large-scale grandeur, yet in aesthetic and narrative terms, Rodat’s show is a step below its HBO brethren, and the fact that House of the Dragon has upped its game with its ongoing second season only reinforces this unflattering comparison.

Still, there are minor reasons to salute Those About to Die, including the lead performances of Rheon and Macari, whose characters’ crafty ambitiousness is emblematic of Rome, where anyone can climb the social ladder with enough smarts, ruthlessness, and bloodlust. By its midway point, the series’ tangled storylines all hinge on questions of loyalty and duplicity, and if Rodat resolves a few too many of them in predictable fashion, he also upends expectations via startling deaths and the revelation that Tenax has a skeleton or two that he may not be able to keep in the closet. Of those, the most pressing is a mysterious menace who appears in Rome with the express intention of tormenting the gambling titan and thwarting his upward-mobility dreams.

Ultimately driven by assorted characters’ quest for power and survival—including Titus’ Judean wife, Domitian’s servant lover, and Scorpus’ chariot-arena rivals—Those About to Die never achieves the full glory to which it aspires. Nonetheless, viewers with an insatiable hunger for old-school mayhem and machinations will likely give it a qualified thumbs up.