Kyber Belt Productions presents Kingdom by Phill McMurtry
Episode 1
On the 18th of February 3021, the spaceship Discovery 3020 is about to enter a wormhole
at a speed of 95 km per second. It is something that no human has ever experienced before.
Captain John Arrow is giving instructions and receiving feedback from his crew.
Jason Burns is second in command.
Jason, please take the IMT and 3TC down to a third of capacity. This should make the wormhole transition smoother.
IMT and 3TC set to a third, Captain, but should we not increase this as we may experience gravitational turbulence from the wormhole?
I understand that it's all theoretical and we are essentially the guinea pigs for wormhole entry, but what if that's the correct way?
Like you said, Jason, it's theoretical. How many seconds to wormhole entry?
20 seconds, Captain, and counting. 19, 18, 17, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Why hasn't anything happened yet?
There is silence amongst all on board the spaceship and then suddenly, without warning, the spaceship jolts to the right, then the left.
What on earth was that? Could it be the gravitational turbulence?
Perhaps. Take the IMT and 3TC to a higher setting like you said.
Are you sure? Jason, do it now!
Time, light, space and sound appear to stand still. Black and white colours beam around the spaceship.
The present, past and future within a five-second tolerance is happening in ultra-slow motion.
Jason and Captain John Arrow are seen gasping in horror.
On the 13th of July, 100 BC, a boy is born to Gaius Julius and Aurelia Cotta.
The child will grow up to become a great Roman general, statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose and will play a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
His parents have hopes for their newborn and for Rome.
Aurelia, my darling, I love you so much. You have given me a wonderful boy. I am truly blessed. He is beautiful.
I know in my heart that he will take the Roman Republic to newer heights. We will name him Gaius Julius, just like his father.
If that is your wish, Gaius Julius it is. I am very tired, my love. I am going to retire to my chambers now.
Ask the servants to cook a feast in the honour of our baby's birth. We shall invite all our near and dear ones for the evening.
I will have a word with the servants, Aurelia. You can rest now.
Gaius Julius is ten years old and is playing in the courtyard with his two sisters.
Julia, isn't it a beautiful day? Why do you like me plaiting your hair so much? I don't know, Julia. It just feels nice and it relaxes me.
Bah! I don't have any time for this hair-playing nonsense. That's for whimpering girls only.
Thrust my sword into my hand and I'll fight a battle any day. I'll be victorious against my enemies. That's what father tells me.
You? Victorious? You cannot be victorious against a defenseless chicken, even if you could manage to catch it in your hands in the courtyard.
Just wait. One day you'll see me become the greatest general Rome has ever seen. You'll see. You'll see.
Girls, leave Gaius alone and stop teasing him. Just because he's a ten-year-old boy today does not mean that he won't be a valiant and honorable Roman general another day.
The one who laughs last laughs the longest.
Yes, father.
Sorry, father. Sorry, Gaius.
Sorry, Gaius.
By the time he is 40 years old, Gaius Julius is a general of the Roman Republic. As such, he forms a powerful political alliance called the First Triumvirate with two other generals, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Ganius Pompeius Magnus, otherwise known as Pompeii.
This alliance will bring peace and prosperity to Rome and its Republic, its legions, patricians, plebeians and the noblemen.
Peace? How can you talk of peace when so much wealth waits to be obtained in Parthia and the eastern region? I will not rest until the Roman Republic obtains the gold, plentiful minerals and many other riches.
Crassus, your luck can only last so long. It might run out sooner than you think. Slow down.
Pompeii's right. You have already amassed a lot. How much more wealth can a man need?
More than both of you can imagine. I hope that Jupiter makes your wishes come true.
But after Crassus is killed in battle at Parthia in 53 BC, Gaius Julius and Pompeii rule the Republic together. Gaius Julius in the west and Pompeii in the east.
Gaius Julius invades and conquers Gaul with the aid of a young Mark Antony, but in the Roman Senate, Pompeii Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus are debating the return of Gaius Julius to Rome.
Gaius Julius has now conquered Gaul and is gaining far too much power. He must come back to Rome without his legions. We shall write him a letter ordering him to do so.
If he refuses to come alone, we will have to banish him from Rome. And if he still dares to cross the Rubicon River with his legions, he will meet his fate.
The plebeians should be informed that he might become the enemy of the state. In the name of Jupiter, do you really think that that tyrant will listen to us?
He just wants to rule the Republic alone. Is a Senate even required with him around? Gaius Julius would not rule, he would merely dictate.
Perhaps Gaul turned him a little insane. Perhaps it is the effect of staying with those tribal people for too long.
I agree with Cassius, but I don't think Gaius Julius means any harm to us or to the Senate.
Brutus, you fool. Gaius Julius wants to rule the Roman Republic and make all of us his slaves.
I would rather die and be free rather than being enslaved to a man like him. I mean no offence to your father.
Well, it's not my place to make any accusations about who your father might be. My sincere apologies.
None taken. Even I suspect that Gaius Julius is my father and I, the bastard son. It is unpleasant but true.
My mother has known Gaius Julius for too long to question whether it's true or not.
And at an army camp somewhere in Gaul, Gaius Julius and Mark Antony review the communication from Rome.
Mark Antony, please send back a letter to Pompey and his cowardly supporters conveying that I will certainly return to Rome with all of my legions,
but without any malicious intentions. They may treat me as an outcast and an enemy, but I am willing to fight for my leadership, for I have earned it.
I am deeply surprised at Pompey, the way he has changed since we last met all those years ago.
Nothing surprises me anymore. Can you trust Pompey or Brutus and that worm of a person Cassius?
If I were in Rome, I would chop off his hands and nail them to the Senate's door.
The Senate orders Gaius Julius to lay down his military command and return to Rome.
He refuses and in 49 BC he marches his legions across the Rubicon. Pompey retreats with his legions from Rome.
The Senate declares Gaius Julius an outlaw. He defeats Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus,
who subsequently is then assassinated while seeking refuge in Egypt.
Gaius Julius Caesar, now the unrivaled leader of Rome, is proclaimed dictator in perpetuity, but some in the Senate, fearing his rule of tyranny, conspire to assassinate their enemy.
They are led by Brutus and Tilius Cimba, who meet Caesar in the theatre of Pompey.
Caesar, would you so kindly review this petition to call my brother out of his exile?
Tilius, please choose your moment for such a matter. Can't you see that I'm rather busy?
I've chosen my moment, all right?
Why, this is violence! What are you doing, Tilius?
What is it you cry for, Caesar? I can't hear you.
No, no! Not you too, Brutus!
This is for your desire to send me into exile in Macedonia. Die, you tyrant!
Well, well, I've seen everything.
Caesar, stabbed 26 times, drowns in his own blood.
Caesar's grand-nephew and adopted heir, Gaius Julius Octavian, along with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, all of them Roman generals, form a second triumvirate.
Lepidus is expelled in 36 BC for usurping power in Sicily and attempting a rebellion.
How dare Lepidus stab us in our backs with a rebellion?
Well, I guess power eventually goes to the people's heads.
Are you intimating something, Mark Antony?
Dare I, Octavian? After all, I'm your brother-in-law.
By the way, how is Octavia? It's been some time since we've spoken.
Don't taunt me, Mark Antony. She is my sister. Show me some respect.
Anyhow, what should be done with Lepidus? Throw him to the lions? Or make him a gladiator to entertain us?
No. We must just expel him from the triumvirates, but he may retain his pontificate.
Otherwise the plebeians will view us as inhumane, and if he dies, that will only make him a martyr.
He must fade away into obscurity.
Octavian and Mark Antony are left as the two most powerful men in Rome.
Octavian rules from Rome in the west, and Mark Antony, based in Egypt, rules in the east.
But it is only a matter of time before their alliance will turn sour,
and after Octavian hears of Mark Antony's affair with Cleopatra, he addresses the Senate in Rome.
Has Mark Antony gone mad to be with Cleopatra?
Are you, my dear fellows, aware that he has ceded much of the eastern territories of Sironacea, Cyprus and Armenia
to Cleopatra and Caesarian?
Cleopatra has now been given the title Queen of Kings and Caesarian King of Kings.
Dare they both threaten the strength of the Republic?
We must squash them both like bugs and annex Egypt immediately. We must fight them.
We have read Mark Antony's will, and he has a desire to be buried in Alexandria, would you believe it, rather than Rome?
He has dishonoured his wife Octavia Minor, my beloved sister, by having an affair with Cleopatra.
He has turned his back on Rome and on the Republic. He is an enemy of the Republic. This means war.
Mark Antony's affair with Cleopatra leads Octavian, the Senate and the people to deem Mark Antony an outcast and an enemy of the Republic.
When he cedes much of the eastern Republic to Cleopatra, Octavian declares war upon Egypt.
Octavian will not win, fret not.
How can you be so sure, Antony? You both possess roughly the same number of legionaries. Perhaps we should surrender peacefully or strike a truce.
Nonsense! Octavian has always been a coward. If I were to fight him with my bare hands, I would crush him.
Besides, if we surrender, he will only execute us.
Then summon the soldiers. Where do you intend to fight him?
We will sail to Greece, my love, and we will crush his small ships at Actium.
We will fight for your soul, and take your honor.
We will fight for your honor, and take your honor.
Hold on! Hold out! Stay calm! Don't shout! Fight now! Fight well!
Save us from hell!
Hold your swords proud! We hate you very well! Hold on! Save us!
I love your face! It's your time!
Soldiers, stay calm now! Don't move away from here! Now hold on tight to your shields! Never let them win the war!
Run like the winds! Let their kind demons are approaching us now!
Don't be afraid! They have a know-how! Don't be scared! Just fight them real hard!
We will perish to the great guns! With your sword of prestige and men!
Fight real hard! You must not give in! Take them to the river bank and show them who has highest rank!
We will perish to the great guns! With your sword of prestige and men!
Fight real hard! You must not give in! Take them to the river bank and show them who has highest rank!
Be careful, soldier! Don't become wasteland or you'll be the dust in the everlasting blowing wind!
Just fight like the winds! And don't be afraid!
Demons are approaching us now! Don't be afraid! They have a know-how! Don't be scared! Just fight them real hard!
We will perish to the great guns! With your sword of prestige and men!
Fight real hard! You must not give in! Take them to the river bank and show them who has highest rank!
We will never give in! Till you're never bound to your ways!
We will fight forever with you! Never frown upon our lives!
Never give up! Never give up! Never give up our freedom of our lives!
We will fight forever with you! Never frown upon our lives!
We will never ever, never ever, never ever give up our love!
Octavian defeats Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium. Cleopatra, worried for the safety of her son Caesarian, sends him away to India.
I have failed the Republic. I have failed my legions and I have failed myself. I must do the honorable thing now and take my own life.
The gods and Jupiter will decide what to do with me afterwards. Antony lets escape and move south where we could live a happy life together for the rest of our days.
What? Hide behind a rock for the rest of our lives in the fear of Octavian? I would rather die. He will eventually find us and then he will kill us.
Mark Antony, a broken man, commits suicide and thus avoids capture by Octavian's troops. However, Cleopatra meets Octavian.
Cleopatra, I am sorry to hear about the loss of your lover.
He was a good man. I assume that my children are in safe hands and that Caesarian has nothing to fear.
I would like you to come back to Rome with me where they will celebrate me at my triumph. Caesarian must die.
No!
Two Caesars are one too many.
Please, leave my son alone. He has done nothing wrong. He is only seventeen.
He will be butchered without compunction as he was Caesar's son. Your other three children will be safe. You have my word. It's not personal. It's just something we must do.
In her mausoleum, Cleopatra takes an asp in her arms. It bites her and she starts to pass away.
I will see you soon, my love. Soon. We will get our revenge. It may not be today, but we will have our day, trust me.
Oh, the pain. Antony, is that you I see before my swollen eyes? Come here, my darling. I will comfort you.
Caesarian, why are you next to me in Eastern India? Augustus will kill you. Run, my child. Run as fast as you can. Children. Children, where are you? All for the love of Jupiter.
The son of a Sheldrick. In ancient Rome, Gaius Julius was played by Alastair Dunne and Aurelia Cotta, his wife, by Hilary Horton.
Gaius Julius, their son, was Tristan Sheldrick and their daughters Julia and Lydia were played by Lydia Finch and Emma Finch.
Gaius Julius Caesar was played by Michael Tanzer, Mark Antony by Alastair Dunne, Octavian by Bob Finch and Cleopatra was played by Sarah Tallis.
All other parts were taken by members of the cast. The narrator was Alec Newman.
Studio production was by Phil McMurtry and the play was directed by Robert Finch.