Rome (2005–2007)

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Creators:

Bruno Heller, William J. MacDonald, John Milius

Stars:

Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 14 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kevin McKidd	...	Lucius Vorenus (22 episodes, 2005-2007)
Ray Stevenson	...	Titus Pullo (22 episodes, 2005-2007)
Polly Walker	...	Atia of the Julii (22 episodes, 2005-2007)
Kerry Condon	...	Octavia of the Julii (22 episodes, 2005-2007)
James Purefoy	...	Mark Antony (22 episodes, 2005-2007)
Ian McNeice	...	Newsreader (20 episodes, 2005-2007)
Coral Amiga	...	Vorena the Elder (19 episodes, 2005-2007)
Lindsay Duncan	...	Servilia of the Junii (18 episodes, 2005-2007)
Lidia Biondi	...	Merula (18 episodes, 2005-2007)
Tobias Menzies	...	Marcus Junius Brutus (17 episodes, 2005-2007)
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Posca (17 episodes, 2005-2007)
Indira Varma	...	Niobe (15 episodes, 2005-2007)
David Bamber	...	Marcus Tullius Cicero (15 episodes, 2005-2007)
Chiara Mastalli	...	Eirene (15 episodes, 2005-2007)
Manfredi Aliquo	...	Castor (15 episodes, 2005-2007)
Suzanne Bertish	...	Eleni (14 episodes, 2005-2007)
Max Pirkis	...	Gaius Octavian (13 episodes, 2005-2007)
Lee Boardman	...	Timon (13 episodes, 2005-2007)
Esther Hall	...	Lyde (13 episodes, 2005-2007)
Ciarán Hinds	...	Gaius Julius Caesar (13 episodes, 2005-2007)
Anna Fausta Primiano	...	Vorena the Younger (12 episodes, 2005-2007)
Michael Nardone	...	Mascius (10 episodes, 2005-2007)

Storyline

In this British historical drama, the turbulent transition from Roman republic to autocratic empire, which changed world history through civil war and wars of conquest, is sketched both from the aristocratic viewpoint of Julius Caesar, his family, his adopted successor Octavian Augustus, and their political allies and adversaries, and from the politically naive viewpoint of a few ordinary Romans, notably the soldiers Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo and their families.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | civil war | roman salute | eroticism | roman empire | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | War

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [United Kingdom] HBO [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Roma

Filming Locations:

Boyana Film Studios, Sofia, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

HD Vision Studios, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 90 min (1 episode) 50 min (9 episodes) 52 min (22 episodes) 60 min (12 Episodes)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A man with Titus Pullo's background, i.e. son of a slave and therefore he must have been born a slave or at very least a freedman, could not have been a legionary. By Roman law, a legionary had to be born free. However, since his mother died when he was young it is entirely possible that he side-stepped this legal hurdle, and managed to join the Roman army by representing himself as an orphan.

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Goofs

During several episodes captive birds are shown. There are Macaws and Amazon parrots from America, and cockatoos from Australia. Since the continents these birds came from were unknown to the Romans, they would not have been able to travel there and bring these animals back to Rome with them.

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Quotes

Niobe: [with admiration while helping Lucius put on his magistrate's toga] Look at you.
Titus Pullo: You look like laundry.

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Connections

Referenced in Kevin Smith: Sold Out - A Threevening with Kevin Smith (2008)

User Reviews

Don't listen to the Naysayers

Having watched the first three episodes, I am anxiously looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes. All of the intrigue that was Rome is presented well, considering that no one involved lived during that time that could give accurate details on Roman life. For that matter, all historical presentations that are over a hundred years old are filled in with speculation and assumption and for that no one can discredit the attempts at accuracy.

For all of the naysayers, listen well. You complain that the show is full of pointelss dialogue. Rome was one of the first political empires to exist. When you have a Senate, it becomes very political. As for the accuracies to design, as I said, we can only speculate in accordance to available artifacts, as to how the place really looked. The designs do look as I picture in my own mind. Another complaint that I saw was about the sex with one such comment relating Rome to "Skinimax". The fact is this is set prior to Christian corruption, shunning the act of sex. So yes, there was a lot of it.