This is a period in history that’s notable for the sheer number of legendary figures that populate it, and Rome takes great joy in bringing them all to life, from Caesar and Marc Antony (James Purefoy), to Cicero (David Bamber) and Cato (Karl Johnson), and even Cleopatra (Lyndsey Marshal) herself.
As Caesar heads home to Italy fresh from conquering Gaul, a complicated mix of conspiracies and betrayals begins, as the men jockey for power and try to tempt each other into being the first to break the peace between them.
The series begins at the end of the First Triumvirate, when the three-way relationship between military leader Pompey, beloved man of the people Julius Caesar (Ciarán Hinds), and the fantastically rich Crassus, fractures beyond repair. A period drama that whole heartedly embraces many of the standard tropes of the genre, but makes them seem utterly badass by covering them in blood, Rome was utterly singular at the time it aired-and largely remains so today. And though Rome is quite different from the Dust Bowl-set tale about the impending apocalypse, it too was a series ahead of its time. Rome premiered on HBO back in 2005, just a few short months after Carnivale, the network’s first foray into what would ultimately become prestige fantasy, ended. It is not your typical period drama, but, then again, it was never really meant to be. Incredibly violent yet remarkably fun to watch, it is a show that embraces the bloodiest, most decadent aspects of the time in which it is set, using ordinary avatars and realistic dirt and grime to tell a legendary story in the most human of terms. HBO’s Rome is very much not that kind of period drama. Tudor-era pieces allow us to protest the murderous patriarchy that ground down six remarkable women in the name of a horrible man’s pride, and everyone loves the hardscrabble charm of Dickens’ London, where everyone is poor until they magically aren’t. Too often, when people think of period dramas they immediately think of Regency or Edwardian-era costume pieces like Pride and Prejudice or Downton Abbey, stories about marriage matches and inheritance politics that present a sanitized version of life in a particular time period.
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