For all you history buffs out there, this HBO series is going to have to be at the top of your Netflix qeu or your Blockbuster to rent list.  Not only is the acting superb and the actors spot-on for the characters they play, in look, poise and mannerisms, but the opulent sets are enough to make you believe what you are watching is a true piece of history.  Too bad the opulent and expensive sets are the reason this show did not renew for a third season, which I’m really disappointed about, and from the looks of the reviews the second season is getting, I’ll be even more disappointed when there is no more “Rome” for me to watch.

I just finished the first season, which takes place in those last few years that Julius Caesar was in power, and ends with Caesar’s demise at the hands of at least dozen of his own senate, on the senate floor in the political forum no less.  It brings back memories of those high school history classes, where I was actually, for once, glued to the lesson for that day and not bored in the least.  I think even if you don’t have a taste for history, you can appreciate the Rome series as an epic film of sorts, each show being a mini movie on its own.

The show is full of all the things that modern day addictive tv has, like romance, sex, intrigue, murder, and betrayal, only it is presented in such a way that never comes off as forced, because it is, after all, based (if not somewhat loosely) on real life events.  The actors are British, as far as I can tell, and many of them I’ve never heard of, although their styles make me think they were or are theater actors. 

Kevin McKidd plays Lucius Vorenus, a noble but poor man who is raised through the ranks by Caeasar, as a means to get the people on his side since he is a poor man’s hero, and the excellent Ray Stevenson plays Titus Pullo, and the show largely shows the events of Rome through their eyes.  Both men are more than capable actors,and they both have since gone on to bigger and hopefully better things, with McKidd playing “Journeyman” on the new network show, and Ray Stevenson is set to play the new Punisher avenger in the comic series movies.