TV: Rome

Bloody and sexy and undeniably epic, Rome is another win for HBO. It's not Deadwood, or The Sopranos, but it's a tremendous achievement nonetheless. "Not the best HBO has to offer" still means "better than almost anything on television."

The first episode is a little hard to follow, what with the vast cast of characters and all their sinuous political motivations to establish. The pace is just slow enough for you to catch all the details you need, while still sweeping you up in what will apparently be the central story of the series, the clash between Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus. Caesar has been away from Rome for eight years, conquering Gaul ("Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres," don't you know), and has won the hearts of the lower classes with his frequent shipments of war spoils back to the city. Magnus, the Senate leader, is himself of the lower classes, but despite his frequent defenses of his long-time friend Caesar to the Senate, secretly he resents Caesar's popularity with the masses, and plots against him, should he ever return.

Their battle promises to be huge and devastating, but for now it's all intrigue at a distance. I liked the deliberate pace of the episode in setting things in motion, though other reviewers (who have had a chance to see more episodes than I have) complain that the momentum never increases, making the pacing feel ponderous instead. (Though I have to question the attention span of the Slate critic in particular, when she makes such a simple factual error as claiming that in the first episode "a topless woman bathes in bull's blood during a ritual sacrifice." If I must nitpick, I must; the fact is, the woman is wearing a gown -- a flimsy one, but still: not topless. Perhaps it was an honest mistake on the critic's part, but it's a mistake that coincidentally reinforces her stance that the series contains more blood and nudity than she prefers.)

Magnus and Caesar's story is epic in nature, but so far the two of them (especially Caesar) have yet to become real, humanized characters. Of more initial interest is the developing friendship between Centurion Lucius Vorenus and Legionnaire Titus Pullo. At the beginning of the episode, Vorenus has had Pullo flogged and imprisoned, awaiting death, for breaking rank during battle (the hot-headed Pullo went all Braveheart and jumped into the thick of battle rather than remaining in his place in the shield wall). When they are enlisted to retrieve Caesar's personal standard, which has been stolen, they have to come to terms with each other, and their relationship is very interesting, with soldier's duty and loyalty scarcely restraining what begins as disdain (on Vorenus' part) and fierce resentment (on Pullo's).

Also of interest is Caesar's niece, Atia, who is plying her considerable political wiles on Caesar's behalf in Rome. Plying her considerable sexual wiles, as well; of the copious amount of nudity in the debut episode, most of it is Atia's. She even uses her young son, Octavian, as a political pawn, sending him to deliver in person a gift horse (don't look it in the mouth!) to Caesar in honor of his final defeat of the Gauls. My favorite scene in the episode is when Octavian encounters Vorenus and Pullo, and the child shrewdly and sneeringly lays out for them the exact political motivations for both Caesar and Magnus, regarding the stolen standard -- motivations which, as simple soldiers, they had never suspected, nor even considered. It's an incredibly sharp scene, laying the difference between soldier and politician into stark contrast, while defining the political drama for the audience at the same time.

The scale of the series is impressively grand, with vast sets and multitudes of costumed extras filling the backgrounds. But the characters and conflicts keep things on a relatable scale -- especially when involving Atia, or the two soldiers. HBO has got another bona fide winner. Which is almost a shame, considering the multitude of new series I'll be trying to catch in the weeks to come (starting with Prison Break on Fox tonight). Damn you, HBO, for taking another 12 hours out of my life!