The Stolen Eagle

Heller centered the series' narrative on the perspectives of two common soldiers, similar to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Meanwhile, Caesar's niece Atia of the Julii (Polly Walker) tries to steer her family on the dangerous path between the growing divisions of power.

In the Gallic countryside, two unlikely allies (Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson) journey to reclaim the stolen standard of the Roman legion.

During the Siege of Alesia in 52 BC, Centurion Lucius Vorenus of the 13th Legion commands his men as Gallic warriors fall on his line.

In the Roman Senate, Cato the Younger moves that Caesar is stripped of his command and recalled to Rome to answer charges of abusing his office and illegal warmongering.

At the theater that night, Metellus Scipio introduces his daughter Cornelia Metella to Pompey as a prospective wife, while Cato warns him that he must ally against Caesar before it is too late.

Later, at a party hosted by Servilia, Brutus confides to Pompey that the loss of the eagle has induced the 13th Legion to plot mutiny against Caesar.

The trio returns in triumph to camp, where a surprised yet grateful Caesar takes the eagle back as proof of Pompey's hostility.

He sends Pompey the head of his slave and informs him of his next move, to winter the 13th Legion at Ravenna on the Italian border, while making it clear that he intends to press his right to the Consulship.

While the storyline detailing its theft was based on fiction, Heller believed that it showed how Caesar could turn "misfortune into opportunity.

"[4] Certain characters were changed from their traditional images; for instance, while Brutus has been portrayed as the noblest Roman, Heller and historical consultant Jonathan Stamp thought it would be interesting to have him forced into his later role through his ancestry.

'"[7] Heller had believed that Hinds would make "a great Caesar" for a long time, and considered the series "extremely lucky" for being able to cast him.

[4] Scottish actor Kevin McKidd, who had never appeared in a television series that necessitated over twelve months of filming, was cast as Lucius Vorenus, one of the lead characters.

According to Heller, while most auditioning actresses assumed that the character was the series' villainess, Walker made "[Atia] bigger than life but completely real ... She could read the phone book with that kind of brio and joy."

[1][11] The season was filmed between March 2004 and July 2005,[2] at locations in or around Rome,[12] and on a set considered "to be the biggest and most expensive ever built for television.

[5]The series begins with opening credits that depict traditional Roman myths, such as Romulus and Remus, the city's foundation mythos.

For inspiration, visual effects and design company A52 explored museums, read the script and researched Roman history.

"[4] He believed that an early scene in which spoils are distributed from a cart in front of Pompey represented the first real sense of how the series would depict city life.

[4] A later scene featuring Cicero the Younger in the Senate proved difficult to film because of a large number of Italian extras who did not speak English.

In the DVD audio commentary, he said that "this is one of those scenes where you need really great assistant directors, because all of these Italian extras who have no idea whatsoever what [Cicero's] saying, so to keep them interested and focused and concentrated on what's going on is a real trick.

[14] Artisans reportedly handmade four thousand costumes using authentic period materials such as cotton, linen, wool, and silk, all of which were hand-dyed on set.

[4] James Madigan, the visual effects supervisor, approached the series as a feature film, observing that "every aspect of the production took meticulous care with every detail, the costumes, the set dressing, the acting, and the attention to historical fact.

[1] HBO implemented an outdoor marketing campaign in major cities and produced movie-style trailers which preceded a number of films in cinemas.

[15] The History Channel broadcast five nights of documentaries featuring the Roman Empire, which were hosted by Stevenson, McKidd, and Varma, a collaboration which was the first of its kind between the two networks.

In July 2005, James Hibberd of Television Week wrote that Rome was viewed "as the network's best shot for adding another literate, must-see drama to its schedule".

Mark A. Perigard of The Boston Herald wrote, "Less perverse than I, Claudius, more entertaining than American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) toga twister Empire, "Rome" gets off to an uneven start.

"[20] Terry Morrow of the Dayton Daily News criticized the premiere, writing that "the opener, like most pilots, is so bogged down with introducing faces and setting up the story that it turns into a long and tedious journey.

"[21] Morrow also said the episode suffered from lacking one "standout, signature character", though he believed that the "flaws in Rome should clear up in time, given HBO's knack for winning dramas.

"[3] Paul English of The Daily Record wrote that "Rome is visually dazzling, full of vim and tantalizingly seductive," adding that "McKidd's growling turn as Ceasar's [sic] footsoldier Lucius Vorenus will undoubtedly propel him into the US major league.

Sword-and-sandals epics have become familiar Hollywood staples ... and those expecting something that takes up where the legendarily decadent BBC/PBS series I, Claudius left off may be in for something of a disappointment.