Rome - Season 1-2 - Complete (HBO) [Blu-ray]

I watched Rome when it first aired on the BBC in 2005 and thought it was amazing. It's been 5 years, now, and I saw it was fairly cheap on Amazon so got it for Christmas. It's only 3 days later and I've already seen most of the first series!

The thing that stands out this time around is just how good Rome was. The fall of the Roman Republic is quite possibly the most tumultuous period in Political history so the writers were always onto a winner when writing a big-budget drama. Watching the drama and violence may seem over-the-top, but practically all the major events and murders depicted here happened. In fact, if anything, despite this being one of the most violent and perverse mainstream dramas broadcast, the writers have shied away from the darker and more indulgent aspects of ancient Rome -- Mark Anthony, for instance, had several gay (as well as countless heterosexual) affairs and used to attend wild parties dressed as a god, in a chariot pulled by lions! (Anthony here, played superbly by James Purefoy, is still outrageous by modern standards, but surely the reality would have been too much to stomach for the BBC).

Where the writers succeed, though, is meshing this story onto strong, utterly-compelling character-driven plotting set within a landscape so fantastically realised that practically every shot takes your breath away. The day-to-day dirty, violent, horny reality of life in ancient cities has surely never been more accurately and beautifully portrayed. The streets of Rome are alive before your eyes, and the characters whose lives you follow through them are equally captivating (the hilarious and brutal story of unlikely friends, Centurion Lucius Vorenus and legionarie Titus Pullo; the family drama of high-society Atia and her children Ovtavia and Octavian (the future emperor Augustus); the political and military careers, the lives and loves of Anthony and Caesar; and supporting plots concerning the plotting against Caesar, the working conditions of Rome, the pagan religions and sacrifices, not to mention the careers and demises of Cato, Cicero and Brutus). As I say, the writers already had writing gold before they even put fingers to keyboard, but the effort they have put in to covering so many of Rome's facets, to also create memorising and loveable characters, has to be lauded as one of the best written dramas of our age.

Rome does have its faults (some historical inaccuracies and -- largely due to the events covered in series one being so powerful -- the second season isn't quite as strong), but there is nothing else like it (if you have been put off watching this from seeing the Tudors, give it a go, I think you will be surprised by the difference). I think I enjoyed Rome more second time around. I guess because it has been and gone and nothing has come close to matching it for sheer extravagance, debauchery and spectacle. I can't wait to watch it on Blue-Ray )

If (as I) you are interested in reading more about Caesar and Rome after viewing this, I'd recommend Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic (which covers the same period as season one) and Caesar: The Life of a Colossus (which is a comprehensive biography of Caesar, and covers his early life and military career in Gaul as well as events after the Rubicon).

This series has everything - great characters, superb acting, wonderful sets. It's just a pity the BBC couldn't sustain the co-funding for more than these two wonderful series (hence time passes more quickly in series two). The series does a great job of painting a picture of Roman life lived by Roman values - values often opposed and in stark contrast to the Judo-Christian ideas most in the West live by today. Hence their attitudes to life, death and sex are completely different. These are alien people in a sense, who lived by a religion (we call myth) that was as alive as Hinduism and Judaism (who were also contemporary). I loved the parallels with India (the way women dress, the idols, the markets and bright colours). I went there in the past and never really considered Rome could have been like those bustling streets in temple towns (particularly in the south). However, this series really helps you see the Romans from a new perspective. That really is some achievement.

Cannot believe I missed this first time around - Excellent.
The photography is spectacular and the acting is superb.
I can't recommend this boxset highly enough.