HBO's Rome - A Stunning Series

By Owain Williams

Recently, I started rewatching HBO’s Rome. That this series is generally considered one of the best historical television series ever created is without questions, and it is certainly used as a comparison to any and all subsequent series. While it has its downsides, such as the propensity of leather armour – save for a few scenes – and the flawed portrayal of Cleopatra, there is so much to admire about the series, and it is clear that a lot of thought and care went into making it.

In addition to the use of leather armour – why couldn’t they paint the generals’ cuirasses white? – Roman legionaries all wear red, which is a debatable point, especially in the Roman Republic. That said, there is no lack of colour and variety in the wider costumes. Not only that, but we actually see one character, Atia, picking out a wig from several on offer.

Yet the costumes, as well as the set design, of HBO’s Rome have been talked about before. What really stood out to me was the depiction of interpersonal relationships in series and the sheer plurality of experiences on the screen. We see political elites chewing the scenery in an attempt to appear haughty and dignified. We see elite Roman women paying one another backhanded compliments, placing them firmly in the political atmosphere of the late Republic. We see the various forms of master-slave relationships, from dismissive to intimate and even violent – one of the first things Octavian does is casually strike an enslaved woman. Additionally, we also briefly see relationships between enslaved people, even those of different households, and how their demeanour changes when they speak to one another versus interacting with their masters.

One element that really wowed me, and which inspired me to write this praise piece, was Servilia’s creation of a curse tablet and the incantation that went along with it. Magic in the ancient world is a sadly understudied area, and often at odds with the more popular image of ancient Greeks and Romans being dignified and detached. So, to see it portrayed so clearly in the show was a joy. Even though the scene is but a few moments, it really encapsulates the strong historical grounding the series had.

Even when it was released, the series had garnered enough attention to warrant an academic study, with two books featuring the work of various Roman historians being published since it was released – one book for each series. I would love to take a look at these books. I am sure they are filled with insights, highlighting such minor details that are easy to miss. Anne McCullough’s chapter ‘Livia, Sadomasochism, and the Anti-Augustan Tradition in Rome’ touches on something I have been thinking about, on and off, for a couple of years – how closely do we adhere to the source material when characterising historical figures when the source material is biased and is unlikely to be an accurate portrayal? For example, as Jane Draycott noted in her biography on Fulvia, the character of Atia is an amalgamation of the historical figures Atia Balbia Caesonia and Fulvia, but her portrayal does neither figure any justice, relying on the likely exaggerated and politicised depiction of Fulvia in the sources (listen to my discussion with Jane Draycott about Fulvia here).

Have you read the academic books on HBO’s Rome? What did you make of them?