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A Necessary Fiction
Pullo prays for Eirene and their child.
Season	2 (2007)
Episode	20
Air date(s)	March 11, 2007 (HBO)
Writer(s)	Todd Ellis Kessler
Director	Carl Franklin
Setting	Rome
Time frame	39 BC See also: Chronology of Rome
Link	HBO summary
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A Necessary Fiction is the eighth episode of the second season of the television series Rome. The air date is March 11th, 2007.

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• TV.com summary
• HBO summary

• This episode gives the impression Octavian and Livia met for the 1st time then when in fact they had already met in Rome series 1.
• No mention was made of Octavian's first (Claudia) and second wife (Scribonia), nor of his only child, the daughter Julia Octavian had with his second wife.
• Sextus Pompey is an important historical character generally ignored by the series. Sextus was the son of Pompey the Great. Other than Brutus and Cassius, Sextus was the greatest thorn in the side of the Second Triumvirate. Much of the co-operation between Marc Antony, Octavian and Lepidus was designed to keep Sextus in check. Much of the discord between the Triumvirs was also due to Sextus. Octavian's second wife Scribonia was Sextus Pompey's niece, and the grand-daughter of Pompey The Great. The marriage was intended to form a diplomatic alliance, but ultimately, Sextus was defeated militarily.
• Livia was pregnant with her and Tiberius Claudius Nero's second child Drusus when she met Octavian. At that time, Octavian's wife Scribonia was pregnant with Octavian's daughter, Julia. On the day that Julia was born, Octavian divorced Scribonia and immediately married Livia; Drusus was born only about a month into their marriage.
• Atia Balba was dead at the time this episode took place. She died in August or September of 43 BC, which was about 18 months after the death of Julius Caesar. Her second husband, Lucius Marcius Philippus, Octavian's step-father, was very much alive and an active influence on Octavian for many years. The ancient sources portray Atia as a virtuous and religious woman. The ambitious spiteful schemer portrayed in the series is more similar to Antony's 3rd wife, Fulvia, and the historian Tacitus's portrayal of Livia.
• The episode gives the impression that Antony and Cleopatra VII are about to become lovers. Historically, Antony and Cleopatra had been lovers for some time when this episode took place. Cleopatra gave birth to twins just 2 months after Antony married Octavia.
• The episode gives the impression that Octavia's first pregnancy by Antony would result in the couple's first child. Between them, Antony and Octavia had 7 children at the time of this episode. The marriage between Octavia and Marc Antony was her 2nd and his 4th. At the time of marriage, Octavia and Antony each had 2 children from previous marriages, and Octavia was pregnant by her late husband (who died 5 months before she married Antony). Additionally, Antony had 2 children by Cleopatra at this time.
• Nothing in the ancient sources suggests that Agrippa was the lover of Octavia. Agrippa did eventually marry one of Octavia's daughters, and much later would marry Augustus' daughter.