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Gave it a 9. I didn't care for Ephiny getting dispatched so quickly and almost dismissively, Pompey was a bit too hammy in this ep, and the whole atmosphere of the ep was a bit too depressing, but otherwise it was excellent. I loved the new and improved Brutus -- well, the real Brutus, really -- and I really liked Amarice in this episode. She was bratty, but spunky and funny, and the scene between her and Brutus in the jail was great (loved the way he cuts her down). Awesome fight scenes, especially the one in the forest with Xena and the Amazons vs. Pompey's men. Pompey's demise was great too, as was the final scene with Brutus and Caesar.

I liked Gabrielle in this ep -- for once, her pacifism didn't make her a ninny, and she was actually showing herself as a wise leader and strategist.

My favorite lines, besides the ones Amphipolis Angel quoted:

Amarice: Hey, Roman -- have you ever witnessed an Amazon execution before? I don't know how they do it here -- but in my tribe, it took a long, long time. And as the life oozed out of you, we'd talk with you -- ask you how it felt.

Brutus: You're such a child. I've seen death that you could never dream of. And the fact that you would tell me that story means either you never saw it -- or you're a fool.


And this:

Amarice: I was thinking about what you said, Xena -- about not finding my answers at the end of a sword -- and it seemed to make sense. Then I started thinking about old Pompey, and -- it seems to me he found an answer at the end of yours...

Gabrielle: Amarice, did you not find any philosophy behind those words?

Amarice: Yeah -- kick butt and take names later.

Just wanted to comment on something that was said earlier:

Sylvius Delmonte wrote:

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The most intriguing part was the characterisation of Marcus Iunius Brutus, though. Normally movies who deal with the life of Caius Iulius Caeasar idolise the Emperor and present Brutus as a sort of evil-born ruthless killer (in Dantes DIVINA COMMEDIA Brutus is put into the lowest part of hell, together with the "God-murderer" Judas). In XWP it is the other way around.

Really? What movies did you have in mind? The only two movies I can think of that deal with Caesar's assassination are screen versions of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in which Brutus is an extremely sympathetic character (and Caesar is not). I think the same is true of most literature -- particularly after the 18th Century, when liberty and republican government became a fashionable idea, Brutus came to be seen as a freedom-loving fighter against tyranny (and particularly noble because he sacrificed his friendship with Caesar to his love for freedom). In fact, John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, wrote in his diary that he couldn't understand why he was universally hated "for doing what Brutus was honored for" (just read this on Wiki ).

I think Dante's Divine Comedy is atypical in making Brutus a villain. In fact, an annotated edition of it that I used to have had a note explaining that while modern audiences will probably find it strange to see Brutus lumped with the worst of sinners, Dante saw him as a betrayer of a friend rather than a fighter for freedom.