Sejanus by Ben Jonson

Went to see Sejanus by Ben Jonson at the Trafalgar Studios - an RSC performance starring William Houston as the slightly demented Pratorian commander.

By no means a great play - more a history lesson - there seems no sense of drama - you know that Sejanus is going to get his come uppance all the way through and there seems no development for anyone in the play - neither Tiberius the Emperor, Sejanus or even the few rather ineffectual good guys. They just sit there and watch it happen, and grumble a lot. Sejanus camps around in a slightly demented and self confident way, and the Emperor seems to have very little to commend him.

So, a drama it is not, the lines are spoken too quickly to really judge the poetry but there are certainly one or two notable phrases and lots of wisdom spoken. If you had no idea how power was deployed in a tyranny, well this might be a starting point. In 1603 it would have been very exciting to get insight into this part of distant history and a lot of it would have had contemporary parallels - spies round every corner - very like late Elizabethan england and I would guess true of Jacobean England too. The whole idea of favourites and court sycophants would have been challenging in James 1st reign - although not sure his honeymoon period was over by 1603 - later he certainly would have been hated on account of his scottish catamites.

The play was well acted but I don't think the Director found a way to make the play worthwhile to a modern audience,except as a historic artefact. The womem's roles were not at all interesting. Agripina, Nero and Caligula all being pallid non-entities. The true star of the Show (after Sejanus) was the dead Germanicus.

Stay in and read Robert Graves I Claudius or get it from the horse's mouth and read Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Room.

Interesting article on Sejanus life suggests that it is important for the dating of Jesus's death

This is a quote:

Conclusion

The fact that Sejanus's downfall came in 31 CE has a very significant impact on dating the death of Jesus. Only 30 or 33 CE are tenable years for Jesus' death. Pilate was probably Sejanus' appointee who actively carried out his anti-semitic policies, and thus was in danger after Sejanus was executed. The behavior of Pilate and the Jews during the trial of Jesus makes sense only after Sejanus' demise. Therefore, 33 CE is the preferable date for the death of Jesus.'

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