'' is a critically acclaimed
Historical Drama , produced for
Television by
HBO and the
BBC . The show's first season originally aired on
HBO between
August 28 th and
November 20 th,
2005 , and subsequently broadcast on
BBC Two in the
UK between
November 2 nd, 2005 and
January 4 th, 2006.
For the status of ''Rome'' on other networks see
Broadcasting ''.
HBO has announced plans to produce a second season for release in early
2007 .
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The series is a
Historical Drama depicting the period of history surrounding the violent transformation of the
Roman Republic into the
Roman Empire ; a change driven by the class struggle between
Patrician and
Plebeian (in
Latin the ''patricii'' and the ''plebeii''), the decay of political institutions, and the actions of ambitious men.
While showing the lives of the rich, powerful, and "historically significant", the show's perspective is centered around the lives, fortunes, families, and acquaintances of two Roman soldiers:
Lucius Vorenus and
Titus Pullo , the only two "regular soldiers" mentioned in Caesar's ''
Commentarii De Bello Gallico ''.
The .
While unsubstantiated by an official
Press Release ,
Bruno Heller remarked in an interview that he would prefer the second season to concern the power struggle between
Octavian and
Mark Antony following Caesar's assassination.
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as
Titus Pullo (left) and
Kevin McKidd as
Lucius Vorenus (right), seen in the episode
"Pharsalus" .]]
In budget to the production of twelve 1-hour episodes, with HBO contributing $85 million USD, and the BBC contributing an additional $15 million USD.
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Between March . It was a massive undertaking, with an international crew of 350, and more than 50 local Italian interns.
The series was launched in the ).
BBC Two premiered ''Rome'' in the United Kingdom on
November 2 ,
2005 , attracting 6.6 million viewers (27%). The season has also gone into international syndication, being broadcast in many countries around the globe, in several languages (see
Broadcasting ).
The series' first season also garnered critical acclaim, with
Golden Globe nominations for ''Best Series'' and ''Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama'' for
Polly Walker 's portrayal of
Atia Of The Julii . Fans of the series have praised it for well written episodes, strong cast, and interesting characters. ''Rome'' is also noted for a more historically accurate portrayal of Roman society, as opposed to traditional
Hollywood depictions like those found in such movies as
Ridley Scott 's ''
Gladiator ''.
On , one of the series creators, has also alluded to the possibility of a third season based solely on the span of history that he would like to portray in the series
However, comments by HBO chairman, Chris Albrecht, raised possible doubts about the return of the series [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/arts/television/17hbo.html?8hpib , due to the series' high production costs, and concerns that an 18-month delay between seasons may cause ''Rome'''s current audience to lose interest.
Since then there has been evidence in the press indicating that the rumors of a second season cancellation may not be true.
Tvguide.com's weekly columunist Michael Ausiello (in his (
Titus Pullo ) has made comments in an interview [http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/4/movies/12688812&sec=movies] that he has been signed to a five year contract for the project.
After the final episode that went out on BBC Two on
January 4 2006 , the continuity announcer stated that Rome would return for a new series "next year".
On March 27, 2006,
Variety reported that season 2 would begin production on April 10, 2006.
On April 20th, 2006, according to Entertainment News
{Link without Title} , the series begun production on its ten-episode second season, as was reportedly announced by Carolyn Strauss, president, HBO Entertainment. Filming of the new episodes will continue at Rome's Cinecittà Studios through October 2006, with debut set for 2007.
''See also:
Minor Characters Of Rome ,
Character Appearances In Rome ''
Additional, episode specific, or ''very'' minor characters may be listed on the
Specific Episode page.
† ''Note:'' Episodes #1–3 were re-edited into 2 episodes for their BBC broadcast. See ''
The BBC Editing Controversy ''.
†† ''Note:'' Episodes #11 and 12 were shown as one feature-length (1:30) episode from 21:00 to 22:30 PM on
January 4 th,
2006 during its original BBC broadcast.
While no details have yet been released,
HBO has announced plans for a second season. Principal photography shooting is scheduled to begin in 2006, and the second season is slated to air in 2007. (See
Series Overview and
Series History ).
Some scenes in episodes of the series have been edited for airing on the
BBC in order to remove some of the stronger language which is deemed unacceptable for prime-time viewing on terrestrial British television (specifically the use of the word "
Cunt "). This has been criticised by many, who point to the fact that other HBO programs such as ''
The Sopranos '' and
''Oz'' have been broadcast uncut on British network television. However, ''Rome'' is broadcast at an earlier time than the other two programmes and the BBC was aiming at a more general audience than
Channel 4 was with ''The Sopranos'' and ''Oz''.
In a separate move the BBC also decided to re-edit the first three episodes (all directed by Michael Apted) into two episodes. The BBC claimed that this was because the British audience were more familiar with the history of Rome than their American counterparts and so much of the backstory was unnecessary. However, Apted claims that the purpose was to boost the ratings by increasing the prominence of the scenes of sex and violence. In an interview with ''
The Times ''
{Link without Title} , Apted said:
I'm really pissed off with the BBC for bringing down my first three episodes to two and, in doing so, taking out much of the vital politics. What also makes me very grumpy is that I was told that the cuts had been introduced by the BBC because they thought British viewers already knew the historical background. But all that's happened as far as the viewer is concerned is that it has made Rome hard to follow.
Apted also said that he only found out about the cuts by accident claiming:
I only found out by chance a couple of weeks ago when one of the actors told me.
- ''Rome'' is the first English-language series to be shot entirely in a non-English-speaking country.
- Battle scenes in ''Rome'' depict authentic Roman infantry fighting techniques including the tightly-packed "Roman Wall" of shields, Gladius thrusting techniques above and below the "shield wall", and the rotation of troops on the front lines every 30–45 seconds.
- Prior to filming, Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson trained for over a month, learning authentic Roman fighting techniques from swordmaster Giorgio Antonioni .
- ''Rome'''s five Acres of outdoor "period" sets comprise the largest standing set in the world to date.
- The series used 250 chain mail tunics (each weighing 36 pounds) — as well as 40 leather Cuirass es for Legionary officers.
- ''Rome'''s armor, helmets, and other metal costume elements were handcrafted by metal designer Luca Giampaoli . He hand-made all metal costume elements for the principal actors, although "mass-produced" items (such as legionary armor) was replicated by metalwork companies in India .
- The series required over 4,000 items of wardrobe — designed by Oscar -nominated costume designer April Ferry .
- " The Stolen Eagle " and " How Titus Pullo Brought Down The Republic " used 2,500 items of wardrobe due to the large crowd scenes.
- Approximately 1,250 pairs of period shoes and sandals were made in Bulgaria.
- Leatherwork for the principal actors was done on set by Augusto and Giampaolo Grassi , using the traditional techniques used by their father to create the leatherwork for such classic films as '' Cleopatra ''.
- The series is developed by a mostly British cast and crew.
- The actors' regional British accents were used with effect to enhance the portrayal of the social distinctions of ancient Roman society; however after initial previews, some of the stronger accents were re-dubbed and toned down for American audiences.
- The recreation of the Forum set is about 60% of the size of the original.
- The olive trees in the Sacred Grove of the Forum set are over 200 years old.
- References were taken directly from the ruins of Pompeii , Herculaneum and Ostia Antica to determine the proper colors of the temples, statues, streets, as well as graffiti and street signage.
- Authentic period fabrics — Wool , Linen , Cotton and Silk — were imported from Prato , as well as India , Tunisia and Morocco . Fabrics were purchased in a "raw" state and dyed at the production site.
- As many as 40 horses at one time were used in a scene.
- 750 actors and extras were used for Caesar's "Triumph" scene.
- 55 local extras were cast as "Roman Legionaries" and sent to a two-week boot camp, living in tents, to train as Roman soldiers. "Boot Camp" included military discipline (up at 5am, bed by 9pm), marching, swordsmanship, camp building and dismantling, group training and maneuvers (day and night-time training), and bathing restricted to the local lake without soap at night. 43 of the 55 completed "Boot Camp".
''As of 16/01/2006''
† Broadcast edited or censored episodes.
According to DVD Empire, Season 1 of Rome will be released August 15 2006.
