ahuvia-kahane Absolutely horrifying in its bare-faced exploitation of graphic sex, violence, language, titillation, voyeurism, etc. All wrapped up in a technically elegant and highly professional cinematigraphic, set-design etc. package. One asks, for example, why bother with Roman history if this is the objective - certainly most of the viewers and fans will not be interested in the fine details of Roman history. Answer - 'History' gives a semblance of 'legitimacy' to what was once the 'top-shelf' in convenience stores. Now viewers can indulge can watch without hiding! One asks, why so much male nudity in relation to female nudity? There is little homoerotic content or interest in the film, and some suggestion of good old homophobia. Why then? Answer: The film is fundamentally sexist. Male nudity attracts female viewing (double the revenue) and provides the thin veneer of 'correctness' (this is a film, supposedly for liberated female viewers too - allowing the to accept otherwise appalling male sexism thourghout the film). This Series is a horrifying social document that shows us the worst that big-budget corporate 'entertainment' can offer. This series is as ugly, as exploitative, as filthy in its values as possible. Technically very well made, of course - vis the many prizes for costume, set design, hairdressing etc. Visual effects are yet another draw-in for commercial audiences.

Madamelejuge I know my review is like 10 years after the show, but I've just bought the DVD, and I kinda wish I didn't!I won't talk about the unnecessary and pointless nudity, I got used to it with the most recent shows now. I've noticed that it was a low budget production from the start, you can see it from the clothes, the jewelry and of course the setting itself, the buildings were far bigger and more glamorous. On the other hand, there were a lot of actors that I liked, the directing was good and the story wasn't bad, so I kept watching it. It's not 100% historically accurate, but so are all the historical based shows nowadays, I watched it then as an ordinary TV show "inspired" by true events. However, we must respect a minimum of accuracy. So when I've reached episodes 7 and 8 of the first season that were in Egypt, I started laughing out loud for the following reasons: There was a mosque in the background (you can see it when Mumbay arrived Egypt in episode 7). So Egyptians believed in a religion that appeared 500 years later ??!!I've actually understood the language spoken by the Egyptians in the episodes (I'm Egyptian btw), it was modern Egyptian, which is mainly Arabic!!! The Arabs didn't invade Egypt until late 400 or early 500 AD, and it took us centuries to use Arabic in our language!! there are a lot of books on ancient Egyptian language used at that time, why not applying it like any other decent show or movie did??? Better yet, just make them speak English like the rest!of course the costumes are not right (Arabic style, really??), the desert was only used for cemeteries and not even to imprison a princess like Cleopatra. We were a rural society, and we still are. We hate the desert, and we still do. Egypt was a great and civilized nation at the time, why is it looking like it's comprised of a couple of nomad tribes? American (or English) stereotypes much, even in historical shows??Last, but not least, with all my due respect to the actress, she's ugly to be Cleopatra. And Cleopatra wasn't so juvenile like that, she was known to be mature comparing to her age.I'll continue watching the show (I wrote this review in the middle of ep. 8, couldn't resist!!) as I bought the DVD

Tweekums The history depicted in 'Rome' may not fully match the known details but given a little dramatic license it is close enough. Over the course of two seasons we see Roman history from the rise of Gaius Julius Caesar to the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra. Much of what we see is shown by looking at events as they impact on two soldiers; officer Lucius Vorenus and rough and ready Legionary Titus Pullo. Over the course of the two seasons this pair manage to be involved in just about every major event of the era! There is also a focus on the household of Julius Caesar's niece, Atia of the Julii, as she schemes to maintain a dominant position in Roman society.This is definitely not a series for the easily offended. We don't get too much in the way of pitched battles, that would have been too expensive, but there is a lot of fairly brutal violence during frequent more small scale skirmishes. There is also quite a lot of sex and nudity, both male and female, as well as language that may offend some viewers. If all this doesn't bother you though this is a gripping series that is exciting and packed with interesting characters. The, mostly British, cast that includes plenty of familiar actors does a really good job; most notably Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson as Vorenus and Pullu, Polly Walker as Atia and James Purefoy as Mark Antony. Ciarán Hinds is also really good as Julius Caesar until his death at the end of the first season and Lyndsey Marshal is memorable as Cleopatra despite only appearing in five episodes. It is a shame that it only lasted two seasons, and because of this the second season does feel a little rushed as the creators pack in so much history that was intended to be spread over a longer time. Overall I'd heartily recommend this to anybody who likes things like 'Game of Thrones'; this may be more grounded in reality but it contains many of the elements that make that show so gripping and popular.

Oldschool Movieman There simply isn't another show this kind that has such attention to detail alongside with as much historical accuracy as you can get whilst keeping the show entertaining. Everything from costumes to detailed sceneries without using cgi. The show also introduces the life of regular Roman citizens in the slums and portraying the crime going on in there. Besides that you also get a glance at how the Roman military worked and how it would have been for a regular Soldier.Here you'll even get a taste of faction politics and a possibility to spectate a couple of large scale battles. All of which happened during the lifetime of Gaius Julius Caesar. Shame that in season 2 they didn't show a very important battle, they just skipped to the part when it was over, most likely because of the budget, which is also the reason why they cancelled this show after making only 2 season with a regret of doing so afterwards.