Senatus Populusque Romanus

I recently started watching the HBO series "Rome" and I am utterly in awe. In fact, I am so much in awe, that I am awed by how much in awe I am. Anyway, I have discovered that there are quite a few good shows on HBO, including such great shows as Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but my favorite is definitly Rome.

I am fortunate enough to have all of the existing episodes available for viewing in Comcast's On Demand, so I have seen every thing available up to the current point in the series. I believe this makes me an expert, so I will enlighten you on the premise of the series if you haven't already guessed. Keep in mind that I will most likely misspell several things.

Season 1 begins with Caesar in Gaul, finishing up the war, and Pompey in Rome worrying with the senators over Caesar's ambitions. The show slides around from multiple perspectives. Caesar's of course, along with Pompey and the Senate (mainly Brutus and Cicero), Atia (Caesar's niece), Marc Antony, and two soldiers who were mentioned in the real life Caesar's commentaries on the wars, Lucious Vorenus and Titus Pullo. This is part of the genius in how Rome draws you in, you see Rome and their culture from every perspective - the nobles, the politicians, the rulers, and the comman man. This may also mean you have to watch and episode or two to get really drawn in, as it can take more time to see everyone and have their personalties built, though I admit I was hooked from the opening battle scene.

Season 1 continues on with what we know from history, Caesar's march on Rome and his eventual defeat of Pompey, and also what we don't know, which is mainly the story of the two soldiers, Lucius and Pullo, and how their stories intertwine with Caesar's. The season concludes with the death of Caesar and Season 2 begins with some foresahdowing of the power struggle between Antony and Octavian (Caesar Agustus later).

The only real negative point I have read in any review is the lack of cliffhangers due to the fact that everyone knows what is going to happen next in the story and that this also detracts from it as being a drama. I believe there are two main points against this. One, we pretty much know the story of every single action movie - Girl plays hard to get, hero does some fighting, hero gets girl, more fighting, hero almost dies, hero beats villain against all odds, hero kisses girl and they either live happily ever after or he rides off in the sunset. Yet they are still entertaining because we love to see how things play out. This also brings up the point that the acting in Caesar is phenomenal, I believe every single character as who they are, from the guy with no legs shouting about Caesar's death to the Senator Cato. Their ability to immerse you in the Roman world is probably what draws me to the series so much, but, I digress. My second point of contention is that their is quite a lot of fiction thrown in to create the cliffhangers. Lucius and Pullo's stories, and my desire to find out how they will turn out, are sometimes what would make me sit through yet another hour of an episode. Some characters also have their personality's changed to make the show into more of a drama than just an educational history lesson.

Well, I believe I have spewed on long enough. I would like to say, though, that I often jump around quite a bit in unorganized writing and this may not best represent the series. This is why I urge you to watch it for yourself. I promise you will not be dissapointed.