Shall we talk a bit about "Rome"?

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I prefer the orignal. He was doing a really good job growing into the role.

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Kid was solid - no question. He was surrounded by good performers, although I think the female actors with whom he shared most scenes were not as strong as the male actors his successor had to compete for screen time. I didn't dislike the new (older) Octavian, but I don't think he was as good, overall.

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Posca

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Kind of the Tyrion of Rome, from a functional standpoint. Very solid actor in this role helped the character immensely.

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I have it behind the Wire, BoB, and Sopranos.

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I do as well, but on the basis of the compromises made to finish it after 2 - not on the strength of the acting, which I think was as good as The Wire and The Sopranos, although the cast didn't have quite the sprawl as those other 2 shows.

Some cast crossovers to GoT, too, but that is limited because McKidd (Lucius), Stevenson (Pullo) and Purefoy (Antony) have a pact to not appear because they accuse GoT of "stealing" there show. They probably consider Menzies, Hinds and Varma traitors.

I read that HBO would only do Rome or GOT because they were both really expensive, so they cancelled Rome.

i liked Rome a lot

Deadwood was originally going to be set in Rome. Once HBO picked up Rome, they changed their pitch from a Roman police procedural to the old west law drama.

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I read that HBO would only do Rome or GOT because they were both really expensive, so they cancelled Rome.

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They pitched the series (GoT) to HBO in early 2006 and development didn't even begin until 2007. They announced the Rome cancellation in July 2006, but the financial concerns for Rome rose to the top before that. People tend to forget that the BBC also was helping financing the project and the show was developed under a two-year contract in conjunction with the BBC. HBO couldn't sustain the show alone, that's how insanely expensive it was.

Now there are a lot of people associated with Rome who are bitter about the money has spent on GoT after cancelling Rome due to finances. IMO it's apple and oranges given the established GoT following off the screen/with the book series.

All that side, I really enjoyed Rome and hoped at one point they'd make a movie.

original Octavian was much better

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a wooden Paul Bettany.

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I was mentally making the exact same comparison.

Loved Rome and hated how they rushed the ending

I was disappointed a bit in the direction they took with Vorenus in Season Two. I know some people liked it, but I always viewed Vorenus as a more conservative, traditional Roman type than a crime boss.

Season One is superior to Season Two because the real-world drama centered on Julius Caesar, one of the most compelling characters in history.

Octavian is also interesting, and an unparalleled genius, but he doesn't have the storyline, or the legendary cut of Julius Caesar.

I thought Max Pirkis did a GREAT job as young Octavian. Older Octavian did a good job, too. But it was a difficult task, to come into the show like that and take over the character's accelerated age. It didn't feel like it was the same character. Close, but not quite.

I rate it after GoT in terms of quality. I haven't seen the Wire or the Sopranos. Yeah, yeah, I know...

Pullo vs. Vorenus? Vorenus. All day, every day.

Posca is fantastic. So is James Purefoy. Kevin McKidd has the intensity just right for a Roman centurion/family leader.

Rome's rewatchability is also off the charts. One of the truly great things about the series.

Lastly, I've spent years studying Roman culture and history, and I have to say that Rome gets a lot of things right about the Romans. It captures their practicality and no-nonsense nature right, (paradoxically) their superstitions, and their complexity. Because we are so removed from that time, we have a tendency as modern people to view the people of the past as one-dimensional simpletons. This is mostly because we just remember the "highlights" about them. Their beliefs, their historical high points, the obvious things about their art and culture. What Rome did so well was they made Romans fully human on-screen. That was really cool. I want to see more of that in historical movies/tv shows.

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People tend to forget that the BBC also was helping financing the project

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Not much. They contributed 15% of the total cost. They did use the set for a couple of Dr Who episodes.

Season 1 of Rome is awesome because the the Pullo Vorenus road show.

Season 2 sucked. Not just because it was rushed. It lacked all of the fun from the first season. Just misery heaped on top of more misery.

I never rewatch season 2. Love to rewatch season 1.