Rome

Okay, I've just found yet another TV show that I could easily become addicted to, HBO's new series Rome. I was lucky enough to see a preview screening of the first two episodes this past Thursday, and it was excellent. I might have to subscribe to HBO now or find someone who has it to tape it for me.

The cast was superb particularly James Purefoy as Marc Antony, and Ray Stevenson and Kevin McKidd as the two Roman soldiers who unwittingly get involved in the fall of the Roman republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Polly Walker is the mother that no one would ever want to have. The only thing that confused me is why Cato wore dark blue and no shirt compared to all the other members of the senate.

The only thing that bothers me is that critics seem to want to compare Rome to the Sopranos and there really is no comparison, other than the fact that the Sopranos are Italians and Rome deals with Romans (they weren't called Italians yet since Italy wasn't a united country until the 19th century).

Rome is all about power, who has it, who wants, how to get it, how to keep it. There's backstabbing galore, lots of skanky sex, names familiar to anyone who has read Julius Caesar in high school or was forced to take three years of Latin and read Caesar's Gallic Wars in the original (that would be me).

The only show that you can really compare Rome to is the late seventies Masterpiece Theatre presentation of the BBC's, I, Claudius which made a star out of Derek Jacobi and Sian Phillips. Think of Rome as the prequel to I, Claudius since it deals with events that led to Octavian becoming Augustus Caesar.

Who can forget Livia's speech to the Roman gladiators, or John Hurt's performance as Caligula, or Derek Jacobi discovering that his beloved Messalina was nothing but a whore. Like I, Claudius, Rome is filled with British actors that look vaguely familiar to anyone who has spent too much time watching BBC America or Channel 13.

I adored I, Claudius when it was first shown on American television. The program even got me to read Robert Grave's books, I Claudius, and Claudius the God. I can still remember finishing I, Claudius in my room at the Pollack residence halls in Edinburgh where I was staying on my teen tour of the UK.

The only American TV programs that Rome could concievably be compared to are Dynasty and Dallas, soap operas about the power plays and backstabbing among the rich and even richer.

If you don't have HBO, find a friend who does to tape it for you, because you won't want to wait until it comes out on DVD.