History Buff Compares This Year’s HBO Max Hits to the Fall of the Roman Republic: ‘The Bloody Spectacle Is Just the Beginning’
As audiences flock to the best shows on HBO Max, one historian draws an eerie parallel between the platform’s gritty dramas and the violent cycle of political entertainment that doomed Rome. ‘They’re binge-watching the collapse, just like plebeians at the Colosseum,’ says Dr. Elena Voss, noting how dramas like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us mirror the empire’s obsession with spectacle and power games. ‘Mark my words—the real cataclysm comes after the credits roll.’