Diksha Sundriyal
Peacock’s ‘Those About to Die’ paints a thrilling portrait of ancient Rome, where the lust for power drives everyone. The show follows the perspectives of varied characters from different backgrounds to give a sense of what life looked like back then. We primarily follow the point of view of a man called Tenax, whose hunger to rise the political, social, and financial ladder takes him down a treacherous path.
Iwan Rheon, known for playing Ramsay Bolton in ‘Game of Thrones,’ plays Tenax, a complicated character with strong business acumen. At the story’s start, we find him running a betting ring, but that is just one step in his plans. As events escalate, we see him become more powerful. Because he comes from a humble background, he appears as one of the more relatable characters to the audience, but he is not real.
The Fictional Tenax Serves as a Reference Point for the Audience
‘Those About to Die’ adapts Daniel Mannix’s 1958 non-fiction book of the same name and relies on real-life historical figures to create most of its characters. While the show’s creators had a trove of knowledge about the emperors and famous figures like Scorpus, they had to invent characters to fill the gaps in the narrative. Tenax was made up to serve the narrative of the show by giving the audience a man who is an outsider to the upper class but does not lack knowledge about the workings of their politics. Through Tenax, the creators got someone the audience could be emotionally invested in while getting an “in” into the Roman royalty through his perspective.
While his character is not real, Iwan Rheon delved into research to bring realism to Tenax and make him as historically accurate as possible. He referenced Mike Duncan’s podcast, ‘The History of Rome,’ which he listened to multiple times to get in the headspace of someone who lives in Rome. Because the story begins at a turning point for Tenax, much of his backstory is either mentioned in passing or revealed through flashbacks. We know he has been through a tough journey, but we don’t exactly get to see it. The audience could do without knowing it, but the actor couldn’t.
To play Tenax at this point in the show, he needed to know how the character got there. The show mentions Nero’s reign, the time of the Four Emperors, who were eventually reduced to one. Rheon focused on these times to understand Tenax’s journey and what he would have had to do to get to the betting rings eventually. Even if it wasn’t revealed to the audience, Rheon needed to map out that journey for Tenax better to understand his core, intentions, and motives and figure out what the character would look like.
The Gold Faction was Real But is Heavily Fictionalised in the Show
One of the things that Tenax wants is to have his own faction and his own riders racing in the arena. Much like in the show, there were four factions (Blue, Green, White, Red) held by wealthy families that controlled the chariot racing. In the show, Tenax lays the foundation of the Gold faction in the show, which also existed in real life. It was backed by Domitian, who also started another faction, Purple. However, Gold and Purple couldn’t stay in business for long, unlike the original four. Later, Red and White factions backed out of the race, and the main competition remained between Blue and Green.
Rheon tapped into Tenax’s outside-looking-in feeling and his desire to be one of the factions and sit next to them. This motivation is the precursor for all his actions, good or bad. It is also something the audience can relate to very well, so despite his fictional nature, Tenax remains rooted in reality.
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