Product Description
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Rome: The Complete Series (DVD)
Four hundred years after the founding of the Republic, Rome is
the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of
one million people, epicenter of a sprawling empire. But now, the
city's foundations are crumbling, eaten away by corruption and
excess...And two soldiers unwittingly become entwined in
historical events, their es inexorably tied to the e of
Rome itself. The entire award-winning, critically-accled
series will be available as a gift set, just in time for the
holiday season.
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Family dysfunction. Treachery. Betrayal. Coarse profanity.
Brutal violence. Graphic (and sometimes brutal) sex. No, it's not
The Sopranos, it's Rome, HBO's madly ambitious series that
transfixed viewers with its lavishly ed spectacle and human
dramas of the historical figures and fictional characters. Set in
52 B.C., Rome charts the dramatic shifts in the balance of power
between former friends Pompey Magnus (Kenneth Cranham), leader of
the Senate, and Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds), whose imminent
return after eight years to Rome after conquering the Gauls, has
the ruling class up in arms. At the heart of Rome is the odd
couple friendship between two soldiers who fortuitously become
heroes of the people. Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) is married,
honorable, and steadfast. Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) is an
amoral rogue whose philosophy is best summed up, "I kill my
enemies, take their gold, and enjoy their women." Among Rome's
most compelling subplots is Lucius's strained relationship with
his wife, Niobe (Indira Varma), who is surprised to see her
husband alive (but not as surprised as he is to find her upon his
homecoming with a newborn baby in her arms!). Any viewer
befuddlement over Rome's intrigues and machinations, and
determining who is hero and who is foe, disappears the minute
Golden Globe-nominee Polly Walker appears as Atia, Caesar's
formidable niece and a villainess for the ages. In the first
episode alone, she offers her already married daughter as a bride
to the recently widowed Pompey, and the viewer eagerly awaits to
see what (or who) she'll do next.
Season 2 begins in the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, and
charts the power struggle to fill his sandals between "vulgar
beast" Mark Antony (James Purefoy) and "clever boy" Octavian
(Simon Woods), who is surprisingly named Caesar's sole heir. The
series' most compelling relationship is between fellow soldiers
and unlikely friends, the honorable Lucius Vorenus and Titus
"Violence is the only trade I know" Pullo, who somewhat reverse
roles when Vorenus is overcome with grief in the wake of his
wife's suicide. Season 2 considerably ups the ante in the rivalry
between Atia, who is Antony's mistress, and Servilia (Lindsay
Duncan) with attempted poisonings and ening torture. Another
gripping subplot is Vorenus's estrangement from his children,
who, at the climax of the season opener are presumed slaughtered,
but whose true e may be even more devastating to the her
who cursed them.
Rome is a painstakingly ed production that earned
well-deserved Emmy nominations in such categories as costumes,
set design, and art direction. In writing Rome's epitaph, we come
to praise this series, not to bury it. Although two seasons was
not enough to establish a Rome empire, it stands as one of HBO's
crowning achievements. --Donald Liebenson