speaking of anachcronisms...........what about those "cute" little "roman"

la senza-esque string panties? (when Octavia ws stripped) and was the rectangular air strip a common mode of pubic grandeur?

to comment on an aside----it IS a major distraction, these "high roman" english accents...if the dichotomy is meant to be patrician vs pleb...then why are the plebs american accents, with the senate borderline bowie?

After finally watching the season opener on TiVo, as well as having watched last season, I do have to at least partially agree with HH on a few things. I can understand that some things occur off screen--but the funeral orations for Caesar? I guess they might have chickened out on something that Shakespeare basically owns in terms of oratory, but this is a pivotal event in turning the fortunes of the characters (even in the fairly fictionalized world of HBO's Rome) and it happens off camera? I was waiting for it for most of the episode and we just get Antony hanging out with the conspiritors fake apologizing? At that point in history Brutus et al were heading for the hills as their houses burned after Antony turned the crowd against them.

I, Claudius was equally gripping (although moreso in the parts taken from the book I, Claudius than the later episodes that are taken from Claudius the God) and took probably equal liberties with fictionalizing history. I, Claudius the books were marketed as historical fiction not strict history and the same goes for Rome. While the broad brush twists and turns are right (I don't expect anything truly beggaring belief such as the apparent restoration of the republic at the end of Gladiator) there are numerous inaccuracies in what we are told in histories of the time (e.g. Octavian wasn't in Rome for the murder of Caesar, Antony did flee, Atia wasn't a scheming bitch as far as we know, Caesar likely never broke it off with Servilia, etc.).

While Vorenus and Pullo are good ways to draw things down to a lower level than just the senatorial and equestrian classes, I have to admit that the writers take the coincidences a little far with them--finding the treasury, running into Pompey and letting him go, fathering Caesarion(!), etc. just gets a little beyond belief. Admittedly the writers do have Caesar mention how they are the luckiest men in the world, but it still is a little much.

Anyway, I like the series as a whole, but do see HH's point in some of the criticism. Overall, though, it is historical fiction not gospel truth (although so probably were the histories written in the period at least to some degree).

You were duly warned AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ARTICLE.

"Editor's note: Spoiler alert: "Rome" premieres Sunday, Jan. 14. Details of the second season are revealed in this article."

And yes, why do they use British accents? If they used Italian accents, real Italian, the dialogue would be much more open and passionate. Instead of the clipped, controlled British accent.

Still, they should use the money they're wasting on this obvious, mediocre show and bring back Carnivale, a truly epic drama.

And Vorenus, a reasonable enough man with a big heart, actually contemplates killing his dead wife's child in order to protect his honor. As long as the child exists, there's a reminder that his wife cuckolded him. The fact that he was gone for eight years and was presumed dead doesn't seem to factor in Vorenus' equation.

Nice. Thanks for blowing up a major season 2 plot point you sanctimonious jerk.

Havrilesky's question, about why the glories of Rome are not shown despite a $100 million budget, reveal her poor grasp of the time period being depicted. In 44 BC, the year of Caesar's death, Rome was a murky, unglamourous city. It was not until after Augustus defeats Cleopatra and Mark Antony in 31 BC, that the grand building projects of Rome commence, yielding a new forum, circus maximus, etc. In fact, Augustus was embarassed that the capital of the world's greatest empire did not match up to the glories of Alexandria, and other great cities. Havrilesky's question would be analagous to asking why the grand boulevards of Paris (built in the mid-nineteenth century) do not appear in a film adaptation of "A Tale of Two Cities."

I, for one, don't really care that the writers of Rome have chosen to forgo big battle scenes. We don't really need to see it to get what happened. The battles themselves are actually less important than their aftermath. Rome is ultimately a character-driven show, not an action show, although there's plenty of that, but it's used to move the story forward and make a point about the characters and their motivations. The scene with Vorenus and Pullo in the arena in Season 1 is a good example. Vorenus had to redeem himself from his downward moral slide, and saving Pullo in the arena did it for him.

I really like Heather's writing overall, so I'm disappointed she didn't seem to get Rome. Like others, it's claustrophobic on purpose - we don't need to see another CGI vision of HollyRome like in Gladiator because what's going on in the streets and neighborhoods is what the show is about. And, again, the show is ABOUT Vorenus and Pullo, with the bigger events whirling around them.

In the hands of lesser actors the show might have been a failure, but everyone, especially Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson, have been absolutely perfect and have really made Rome something special. The attention to detail regarding the time period certainly makes it real as well.

BTW, I've seen "I, Claudius," and while that show was great, you cannot in any way compare it with Rome.

relationship with "Rome." At the beginning of its first season, she hated it. Then after a few episodes, she loved it. Now, at the beginning of its second (and regretably) last season, she hates it again. Ms. H is an often entertaining and engaging writer. But I have learned to take her judgements as a critic with a certain caution. If she likes something, I will consider giving it a chance. But after reading her first scathing assessment of "Rome" in its first season, and then to be talked into watching it on dvd by my sister, and being blown away by the power of its storytelling, I now know that I cannot use Ms. H as a realiable guide on what not to watch.