10+ / 10
Rome is one of the best television productions ever made. The HBO series ran two seasons from 2005 to 2007 and was canceled because the budget was unsustainable. The two seasons that exist comprise twenty-two episodes of historical drama operating at levels no prestige television series before or since has quite matched. The 10+ rating is honest. I have watched the series several times since first viewing. The series rewards rewatching because the production density is so substantial that single viewing cannot register all of it. The series should have run six seasons. The two it received are the best historical television of the past twenty-five years.
Bruno Heller served as showrunner. Heller would later create The Mentalist. He had been a journalist and screenwriter before HBO assigned him the Rome project. The show was a co-production between HBO and the BBC. The combined budget was approximately ten million dollars per episode in 2005 dollars, which made Rome one of the most expensive television productions in history at the time of release. The expense was visible. Every frame of the show contains the kind of production density that television budgets typically cannot support.
The Premise
The first season follows the final years of the Roman Republic from approximately 52 BC to 44 BC. Julius Caesar returns from Gaul with his legions. The Senate refuses his demands. Caesar crosses the Rubicon. The civil war between Caesar and Pompey begins. Pompey is defeated. Caesar becomes dictator. Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March. The season ends with Caesar dead and the Republic in collapse.
The second season follows the immediate aftermath. Mark Antony attempts to position himself as Caesar’s heir. Octavian arrives in Rome and asserts his own claim. The triumvirate forms. The proscriptions begin. Brutus and Cassius are defeated at Philippi. The triumvirate fractures. Antony and Octavian conduct the final civil war. Cleopatra dies. Octavian becomes Augustus. The Republic ends. The Empire begins.
The show handles all of this through the parallel narratives of two ordinary soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, whose fictional lives intersect with the major historical events. Vorenus and Pullo are both based on real Roman centurions mentioned briefly in Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War. The historical record contains approximately two sentences about each. The show invents the rest. The invention works because the invented material is consistent with the actual social and military realities of the period.
The Cast
Kevin McKidd plays Vorenus. The performance is the foundation of the show. Vorenus is a serious career soldier who follows the rules, honors the gods, and tries to maintain dignity through circumstances that systematically destroy his ability to maintain it. McKidd plays the character as a man being slowly broken by the collapse of the institutions he has spent his life serving. The performance is one of the great prestige television lead performances of the previous two decades. McKidd has done other excellent work since Rome. Nothing has matched what he delivered as Vorenus.
Ray Stevenson plays Pullo. Pullo is Vorenus’s opposite. Loud, undisciplined, generous, violent, sentimental, and basically happy in ways Vorenus is not. Stevenson plays the character with full physical commitment. Pullo eats with his mouth open. Pullo fights with whatever object is closest. Pullo loves people and animals with the unselfconscious openness that Roman culture produced in the lower social classes. The performance is one of the most charismatic supporting performances in prestige television. Stevenson died in 2023 at fifty-eight years old. The role remains his defining work.
Ciaran Hinds plays Julius Caesar. The performance is restrained, intelligent, and aware of the historical weight the character carries. Hinds does not play Caesar as monumental statue. Hinds plays Caesar as a politician executing strategy that he is making up as he goes along because the situation is rare. The character calculates. The character improvises. The character occasionally panics. The performance honors the historical figure without deifying him. Hinds is one of the few actors who has played Caesar at a level the historical material actually deserves.
James Purefoy plays Mark Antony. The performance is the second-best supporting performance in the show. Antony in Purefoy’s interpretation is brave, charming, sexually voracious, politically reckless, and capable of strategic brilliance when his attention is engaged. The character is dangerous because the character is unpredictable. The performance is the most physically committed of any in the show. Purefoy fully embodies a Roman general from a culture that valued physical presence as political asset.
Polly Walker plays Atia of the Julii, Caesar’s niece and Octavian’s mother. The performance is one of the most influential female prestige television performances of the past twenty years. Atia is ambitious, vindictive, sexually manipulative, occasionally tender, and entirely focused on advancing her family’s political position. Walker plays the contradictions without flattening them. The character is not a feminist icon. The character is not a villain. The character is a Roman aristocratic woman doing what Roman aristocratic women had to do to survive the political situation around them. The performance influenced subsequent prestige television female characters substantially.
Lindsay Duncan plays Servilia. Servilia is Caesar’s longtime mistress and Brutus’s mother. Duncan plays the character as the slighted woman whose accumulated humiliations eventually produce political action that destroys Caesar. The performance is quieter than Walker’s. The threat is therefore harder to anticipate. Duncan plays Servilia as a woman who watches and waits and eventually acts. The character’s arc across the first season is one of the strongest in the show.
Kenneth Cranham plays Pompey the Great. Tobias Menzies plays Brutus. Karl Johnson plays Cato. James Frain plays Octavian initially in the first season before Simon Woods takes over the older Octavian in the second season. The cast depth is consistent across all roles. Even the briefest supporting performances are calibrated for credibility within the Roman cultural context.
For Writers
Rome demonstrates the value of parallel narrative structure when the historical events are too large for any single point-of-view character to witness directly. Vorenus and Pullo experience the major events through their service to greater historical figures. The audience receives the political collapse of the Republic through ordinary soldiers who do not understand what they are witnessing as it happens. The two-tier structure preserves both the historical accuracy of the major events and the human accessibility of the lower-status protagonists. The lesson for writers is that historical fiction often requires invented characters at lower social positions than the actual historical figures. Real historical figures tend to be either too documented or too rarefied to function as protagonists. Invented characters provide the access points the historical material needs. The invented characters can do things the real historical figures never did while still operating within the actual historical circumstances. Vorenus and Pullo are invented. The world they inhabit is not. The combination is what gives Rome its specific dramatic power.
The Production Design
The show was filmed primarily at Cinecittà Studios in Rome on permanent sets that approximated the Forum, the major Roman streets, and several aristocratic residences. The sets were the largest standing exterior sets in television production at the time. The Forum set ran multiple city blocks. The street sets supported full crowd choreography with hundreds of extras. The aristocratic interior sets included accurate frescoes, accurate furniture, and accurate household equipment that conformed to actual archaeological evidence.
The costume design by April Ferry won the Costume Designers Guild Award and was nominated for the Emmy multiple times. Ferry researched actual Roman textile production, actual dyeing methods, and actual class-specific clothing rules. The togas, the tunics, the military equipment, and the aristocratic finery were calibrated for historical accuracy rather than for cinematic spectacle. The result is one of the most authentic Roman wardrobes ever assembled for screen production.
The visual approach also restored the actual color palette of Roman urban life. Most previous Roman productions had presented Rome as the gleaming white marble city that nineteenth-century neoclassical aesthetics had projected onto the historical record. Actual Roman buildings were painted in bright colors. Actual Roman public spaces contained competing graffiti, painted statues, and visible commercial signage. Rome the series presented this actual visual reality. The Forum is not white marble. The Forum is brightly painted stone covered in graffiti and political slogans. The visual choice is correct historically and produces a Rome substantially different from the Rome popular culture had previously presented.
The Religion
Rome takes Roman religion seriously. The characters pray. The characters make offerings. The characters consult priests. The characters genuinely believe in the household gods and the state cult. The show does not present Roman religion as colorful background. The show presents Roman religion as the actual operating belief system that Romans lived within. The decision is one of the show’s distinctive strengths.
The Vorenus household includes specific household gods that the family addresses by name. The aristocratic households include specific shrines that the audience sees in operation. The political moments include specific religious ceremonies that the characters perform with full credibility. The combination produces a Rome where religion is structural rather than decorative. The audience understands what the characters believe and how those beliefs shape their decisions.
The show also handles the introduction of Egyptian religious material with similar seriousness when the second season moves to Alexandria. Cleopatra’s court operates within Egyptian religious frameworks that the show treats as functional rather than as exotic spectacle. The audience receives Egyptian religion as a different actual belief system rather than as a costume the Romans encounter.
The Sex
Rome features substantial sexual content. The show was made for HBO during the period when HBO was actively distinguishing itself from broadcast television through content that broadcast standards could not have permitted. The sex in Rome is not gratuitous in the strict sense. The sex is historically grounded. Roman aristocratic culture genuinely operated within the sexual frameworks the show depicts. Atia and Antony’s relationship is calibrated for actual aristocratic Roman sexual customs. Servilia and Caesar’s relationship reflects actual long-term aristocratic affairs that the historical record documents.
The show also handles class-specific sexual dynamics with the same fidelity. The aristocratic characters operate within different sexual rules than the soldier characters or the slave characters. The differences reflect actual class differences. The show does not impose modern sexual ethics onto Roman characters. The show also does not exoticize the differences. The sexual content is treated as part of the broader cultural reality the show is reconstructing.
Audiences sensitive to sexual content should be aware that Rome is at full HBO content levels. The show is appropriate for adult audiences. The show is not appropriate for younger viewers. The sexual material is one of the show’s defining textures rather than a removable element. Audiences who cannot accept the texture cannot accept the show. The texture is the historical accuracy.
The Violence
Rome features substantial violence. The combat sequences are physically grounded. The battle choreography reflects actual Roman military doctrine. The political violence reflects actual Roman political practice. The slave punishments reflect actual Roman slave law. The show does not flinch from the brutality the period contained.
The opening battle sequence of the series demonstrates the approach. Vorenus and Pullo are engaged in actual combat as Roman legionaries. The combat is close-quarter, exhausting, and primarily mechanical. The soldiers operate as units rather than as individual heroes. The choreography reflects actual Roman tactics including the formal rotation of front-rank soldiers and the disciplined use of pila and gladii. The sequence is one of the more accurate depictions of Roman military combat in screen history.
The political violence is handled with similar fidelity. The Ides of March assassination is reconstructed from the surviving classical sources. The proscriptions in the second season include the actual deaths of historical figures including Cicero. The Battle of Philippi and the Battle of Actium are dramatized within the constraints of television budget. The aggregate is a show that respects the historical violence of the period without either gratuitous excess or sanitizing restraint.
For Writers
Rome demonstrates the value of treating historical cultural material on its own terms rather than translating it into modern moral frameworks. The show does not condemn Roman slavery. The show does not celebrate Roman slavery. The show simply shows what Roman slavery actually was and lets the audience absorb the implications. The show does not condemn Roman patriarchy. The show shows how the patriarchy functioned and lets the audience see both the costs and the rare advantages it produced for women operating within it. The show does not condemn Roman religion. The show shows the characters operating within their religious framework and lets the audience evaluate the framework on its own terms. The lesson for writers is that historical fiction requires holding modern moral instincts in restraint while the period material is being established. Once the period reality has been established, the audience can develop its own response to the material. Writers who impose modern moral commentary onto historical periods produce thinner work than writers who trust the audience to engage with the period on its actual terms.
The Compression Problem
The series was canceled after two seasons because the production costs were unsustainable. HBO and the BBC had originally planned five seasons. The Caesar material was supposed to extend across two seasons. The Antony and Cleopatra material was supposed to occupy seasons three and four. The final season was supposed to handle the early Augustan period. The cancellation forced massive compression of the planned material.
The second season is the visible victim of the compression. The season covers approximately fifteen years of historical material in ten episodes. Major historical events get one or two scenes each. Characters disappear without dramatic resolution. The Antony and Cleopatra material that was supposed to occupy two seasons is compressed into approximately three episodes. The Battle of Actium happens in dialogue rather than on screen. The pacing of the second season feels rushed because it actually was rushed.
The compression does not damage the second season basically. The material that does appear is excellent within its compressed framework. The Antony and Cleopatra sequences in particular contain some of the strongest single scenes in the show. The Atia and Octavia material remains powerful. The Vorenus and Pullo individual story arcs reach satisfying conclusions despite the rushed broader political events. The season works as the actual season that was made rather than as the season that should have been made.
The audience that experienced the cancellation in 2007 understandably wanted more. The audience that comes to the show now can experience the two seasons as a complete artistic unit rather than as a truncated longer work. The framing affects how the show registers. Approaching Rome as twenty-two episodes of historical drama produces different response than approaching it as the first forty percent of an unfinished five-season epic. Both framings are legitimate. Both produce different appreciation of the same material.
The Music
Jeff Beal composed the score. Beal had been working primarily in film and would later score House of Cards. His Rome score uses a combination of orchestral and ancient instrument approaches. The recurring themes deploy harp, flute, drums, and string material that approximates the kinds of musical instruments actual Roman audiences might have heard. The combination produces music that sounds period-appropriate without becoming archaeologically precious.
The opening title sequence is one of the most distinctive in HBO history. The graphics depict animated Roman wall frescoes that come alive across the title card. The music for the sequence has become one of the recognized prestige television opening themes of the previous twenty years. The opening establishes the show’s visual and tonal identity within ninety seconds.
The Influence
Rome influenced almost every subsequent historical prestige television series. Game of Thrones inherited Rome’s willingness to treat sexual and violent material with adult frankness within a deeply textured historical or pseudo-historical context. The Borgias, The Tudors, Spartacus, and various other historical productions all operate within frameworks that Rome had established. Bruno Heller’s specific approach to using ordinary protagonists as access points to major historical events has become standard practice for the genre.
The visual approach also influenced subsequent production design across multiple historical periods. The willingness to restore actual color palettes rather than projecting nineteenth-century neoclassical aesthetics onto historical material has become standard. The commitment to physical sets and practical effects over digital recreation has become aspirational rather than universal but remains an acknowledged ideal. Most historical productions since 2007 have measured themselves against what Rome accomplished even when they have not matched it.
Craft Note
Craft Note
Rome is the example case for what television can accomplish when production budget supports complete creative ambition. The HBO and BBC co-production spent approximately ten million dollars per episode in 2005 dollars. The expense is visible. Every frame contains the kind of production density that television budgets typically cannot support. The expense produced the most authentic Roman period reconstruction in screen history. The expense also produced the unsustainability that led to cancellation. The show is the example of both what television can accomplish when fully funded and what economic pressures destroy when the funding becomes too expensive to maintain. The lesson for writers is that ambition has costs. Ambitious work requires resources that may not be renewable. Less ambitious work can sustain longer because the ongoing demands are lower. Rome chose maximum ambition and got two seasons. Other shows have chosen less ambition and gotten ten seasons. Both choices are legitimate. The writer should understand the tradeoff and make the choice with full awareness of the consequences. Rome could not have been Rome at a sustainable budget. The unsustainable budget is the show. The cancellation is the price the show paid for being what it was.
The Verdict
A 10+. Rome is one of the best television productions ever made and remains the high-water mark for historical prestige television. The two seasons that exist comprise twenty-two episodes of work that no subsequent historical production has matched. Bruno Heller’s showrunning, Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson’s parallel performances, the entire supporting cast, the production design, the costume design, the religious and sexual fidelity, the violence calibration, and the willingness to treat Roman culture on its own terms combine to produce a series that matches the level the historical material deserves.
The series should have run six seasons. The series received two. The two are still better than almost any other historical television series of the past quarter century. Watch the show. Rewatch the show. The production density rewards multiple viewings because single viewing cannot register all of it. The first season is the stronger of the two because the production had more time to develop the material. The second season is still excellent despite the compression. The aggregate is one of the great television achievements of the previous two decades.
FAQ
Why was Rome canceled?
The production budget was unsustainable. HBO and the BBC could not continue financing the show at approximately ten million dollars per episode. The Cinecittà sets were enormous. The cast was extensive. The production design demanded constant historical research and execution. The economic model did not match what subscriber revenue could support. The cancellation was financial rather than creative.
How accurate is the historical content?
Substantially. The major historical events are reconstructed from surviving classical sources. The political figures are based on actual historical individuals. The cultural details about Roman religion, sexuality, slavery, military practice, and aristocratic family politics reflect actual archaeological and textual evidence. The fictional characters are calibrated to operate within the actual historical context. The show takes the historical material seriously and treats fidelity as a structural priority.
Are Vorenus and Pullo real?
Loosely. Julius Caesar mentions two centurions named Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo in his Commentaries on the Gallic War. The mention runs approximately two sentences and describes a competitive incident during the siege of a Gallic fortress. The show invents the rest. The invention works because the invented material is consistent with the actual social and military realities of the period.
How many seasons did they originally plan?
Five. The Caesar material was supposed to extend across two seasons. The Antony and Cleopatra material was supposed to occupy seasons three and four. The final season was supposed to handle the early Augustan period. The cancellation after two seasons forced compression of approximately three additional seasons worth of material into the second season that actually aired.
How explicit is the sexual content?
Substantially. The show was made for HBO during the period when the network was actively distinguishing itself from broadcast television through content broadcast standards could not have permitted. The sex is historically grounded rather than gratuitous. Roman aristocratic culture genuinely operated within the sexual frameworks the show depicts. Audiences sensitive to sexual content should approach the show with this awareness. The show is appropriate for adult audiences only.
How violent is it?
Very. The combat sequences are physically grounded. The political violence reflects actual Roman practice. The slave punishments reflect actual Roman law. The proscriptions include graphic execution of historical figures including Cicero. The show does not flinch from the brutality of the period. Audiences sensitive to violence should approach the show with this awareness.
How does this compare to I, Claudius?
Different shows handling overlapping material at different production scales. I, Claudius from 1976 is a BBC stage-bound theatrical production with extraordinary writing and acting on a minimal budget. Rome is a massive production with comparable writing and acting on an enormous budget. Both are excellent. I, Claudius covers the later imperial period that begins where Rome ends. The two productions function as complementary halves of a single Roman political collapse and reconstruction narrative.
What is the best episode?
Different viewers identify different episodes. The first season episode in which Caesar crosses the Rubicon is commonly cited. The Ides of March episode is commonly cited. The second season episode in which Antony and Cleopatra die is commonly cited. The Pullo and Vorenus reconciliation in the final episode is commonly cited. The show maintains quality across most of its episodes. Individual preference depends on which dramatic elements the viewer responds to most strongly.
Should I watch it now or wait for a remaster?
Watch it now. The show has not been remastered in 4K and may never be. The original HD masters are sufficient for current viewing. The show is available on multiple streaming services depending on region. The wait for theoretical remastering is not worth delaying the experience of watching the show as it currently exists.
Why is it called Rome rather than something about specific characters?
The show is basically about the city as historical actor rather than about any individual character. The two seasons follow the city’s transition from Republic to Empire. The individual characters are the access points to the broader transformation. The title reflects the actual subject of the show. The city is the protagonist. The humans are the participants whose individual stories illuminate what is happening to the city.
Are there any sequels or follow-ups planned?
None confirmed. There have been periodic rumors about revival projects over the years. Nothing has materialized. The original creative team has moved on to other projects. The original sets were dismantled or reused for other productions. A genuine continuation would require basically rebuilding the production from scratch. The two seasons that exist remain the complete artistic statement.