We’re watching the Rome mini series and it’s amazing. I am certainly not an historian of the ancient world, but I’ve got an understanding of what it was supposed to be like. Sure, I’ve devoured every Asterix story (in more than one language too), read some historical stories and watched a few documentaries of the epoc. From what I’ve learned, I have to say that this TV-series is amazing in its portrayal of life in ancient Rome. Certainly, at times it’s like watching Dallas (political intrigue, families vs each other, matriachs wanting to kill each other, etc) and the British accents can be grating at times, but damn it’s good.
If you have the chance, I totally recommend watching both seasons of this show. It’s got sex, violence and historical accuracy. Run, don’t walk, to get your hands on the DVDs.
I reviewed the entire series — I liked it enough. Quite a few holes historically, but it was more out of adapting TV’s limitations. I would not mind seeing version dealing with the time of Nero however.
Not that that is likely; I heard much of the sets used for the series burned down???
For a second there I thought you were joking (you know, Nero burning down Rome, etc), but no, it’s the real deal:
Set of HBO’s Rome burns
That’s a shame as the sets were incredibly well done – looked amazing on screen.