# Rome **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072 "2008-12-20T15:33:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/1 "2008-12-20T15:33:45Z")
So if you missed it the first time around and are too cheap to buy the DVD’s… Rome is starting up again tonight with Season 1 on HBO. I have season 1 & 2 on my Christmas list but I’m tuning in anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/2 "2008-12-20T15:43:02Z")
It recently ran on HBO on-demand. Watching it for the second time was even better than the first time around. Rome has to be in contention for the best series ever produced for TV. I would just sit there after every episode and marvel at how well done it was. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/3 "2008-12-20T16:09:50Z")
Count me in as someone who’ll be recording the show. HBO Zone has been rerunning Deadwood, and it’s just as good, if not better, the second time around. I look forward to each episode as much as I do a new episode of _The Office_. I imagine watching Rome will be the same. Kind of like rereading a old favorite book. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/4 "2008-12-20T16:15:41Z")
I’ve been watching the Deadwood reruns as well- great show although I thought the last few episodes lagged. I wished they had done more with Seth Bullock in the final season, seems all he did was hang around and look mopey (not that he didn’t have good excuses for it). Rome was solid all the way through- even when they upgraded Octavian, which made me squirm, it worked out perfectly. And there are so many great performances- the actors that play Titus & Pullo, Caesar and especially Marc Anthony. (Ray Stevenson, Kevin McKidd, Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy) are outstanding. In a way, I’m glad it only lasted two seasons, before it could start to sink in quality. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/5 "2008-12-20T16:38:29Z")
It’s apparently not on the HD channels. I’m not sure I could enjoy it without the wide-screen panorama, and the high def detail of the nose-hair close-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/6 "2008-12-20T21:06:36Z")
I love Pullo’s curses. It’s hotter than Vulcan’s dick! She’d better fuck like Helen of Troy with her ass on Fire. I’m a simple man, I like to kill my enemies, spend their gold, abuse their women. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/7 "2008-12-20T21:08:47Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > It’s apparently not on the HD channels. I’m not sure I could enjoy it without the wide-screen panorama, and the high def detail of the nose-hair close-ups. It’s comments like this that make me think twice about getting a High Def TV. Wide screen would be cool, but I’m not sure about nose hairs. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/8 "2008-12-20T21:12:26Z")
Did Rome end when it was supposed to or was it cut short like Deadwood? I wanted it to keep going. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/9 "2008-12-20T21:14:00Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Did Rome end when it was supposed to or was it cut short like Deadwood? I wanted it to keep going. They ran out of history. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/10 "2008-12-20T21:27:13Z")
I think it pretty much came full circle…otherwise it would have turned into the Octavian show. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/11 "2008-12-20T21:32:37Z")
No, the ending was rushed (supposedly because the budget was so much they couldn’t do a third season). And after they wrapped, there was a fire in Rome that destroyed most of the sets. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/12 "2008-12-20T21:52:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And after they wrapped, there was a fire in Rome that destroyed most of the sets. Was the next season going to be about Nero? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/13 "2008-12-20T22:58:52Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > It’s comments like this that make me think twice about getting a High Def TV. Wide screen would be cool, but I’m not sure about nose hairs. Please don’t be put off. I just use the term “nose hair close-up” to convey generically the sense of detail. It can be much more pleasant things — like nipple blisters, toenail cuticles, and cracked teeth. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/14 "2008-12-20T23:11:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > No, the ending was rushed (supposedly because the budget was so much they couldn’t do a third season). And after they wrapped, there was a fire in Rome that destroyed most of the sets. The ending did wrap up one of the most important story lines, so it was satisfying. Unless you’re a student of Roman history, I suppose. And we have a lot of those here. I learned a lot in the _Rome_ threads. All of which I’ve forgotten, so I’m looking forward to the repeats. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/15 "2008-12-20T23:33:55Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > It’s apparently not on the HD channels. I’m not sure I could enjoy it without the wide-screen panorama, and the high def detail of the nose-hair close-ups. It’s on HBO2 HD. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/16 "2008-12-21T00:59:23Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I learned a lot in the _Rome_ threads. All of which I’ve forgotten, so I’m looking forward to the repeats. 🙂 You didn’t learn much about the events depicted because the show wasn’t very historically faithful. You probably did get a good flavour of what Rome as a society was like though, which to me is the more important bit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/17 "2008-12-21T03:05:32Z")
Exactly. I learned the history from the threads here, and got the flavor from the show. **Especially** the way the Romans treated their slaves. That was unlike anything I’ve seen before, and quite different from TV and movies about slavery in the U.S. I don’t know if the “look” was authentic, but the sets all looked lived in, especially Vorenus’ home. And the taverns and whorehouses and the streets, and the food and the clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/18 "2008-12-21T03:57:21Z")
“thirteenth!” ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/19 "2008-12-22T16:38:40Z")
I loved it to death. My only criticism would be that I found it difficult to root for anyone one in particular as they were all total bastards. It would be great if they did follow up series about the succeeding emperors. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072/20 "2008-12-22T16:40:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It recently ran on HBO on-demand. Watching it for the second time was even better than the first time around. Rome has to be in contention for the best series ever produced for TV. I would just sit there after every episode and marvel at how well done it was. Same here, I hate the fact that people are too stupid and fickle to catch on, causing it to flop in the ratings. I think it was the best show on HBO too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome/478072.md?page=2)