Newly-Reviewed Programs
TV on DVD
All Shows: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

2006-07 Midseason
2006 Fall Season
2006 Summer Season
2005-06 Midseason
2005 Fall Season
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss TV In Our Forums

Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib 76
HBO, 2/22

1/2 Hour News Hour, The 14
Fox News Channel, 2/18

Longford 88
HBO, 2/17

State Within, The 68
BBC America, 2/17

49th Annual Grammy Awards 41
CBS, 2/11

Black Donnellys, The 54
NBC, Monday

Rules Of Engagement 28
CBS, Monday

Rome
Season 2
SERIES: HBO, Sunday 9:00p (60 minutes)


9.0

based on 18 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 35 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Starring Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, Tobias Menzies, Lindsay Duncan, Max Pirkis, and Kerry Condon

The second and final season of this joint production of HBO and the BBC picks up where season one left off: in the ancient Roman Empire, immediately after the death of Julius Caesar.

GENRE(S):	Drama
CREATED BY:	John Milius William Macdonald Bruno Heller
FIRST AIR DATE:	January 14, 2007

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

Turns like this take the series further into Aaron Spelling territory than it ever was, an idea that may offend those who can't let go of the notion that HBO is supposed to be better than regular TV.

Variety

This splendidly acted melodrama delivers a bloody good time barreling toward oblivion, delivering enough political intrigue, violence and sex to slake even the most debauched viewing appetites.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

Though every detail of this lush Roman epic feels palpably authentic, history lessons don’t loom overly large; what’s most enjoyable about it is how deftly it mixes soap opera with senatorial debates.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

"Rome" is smart, dirty fun.

New York Post Linda Stasi

What the series gains this season by giving us more history and more compelling storylines, it loses by repeating some of its, er, epic mistakes. Again, no battle scenes - some of the most important in all of history - are shown.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

"Rome" treats viewers as long-term fans of deep terrain. To follow "Rome," it is required you keep up. If you do, you may be rewarded with a fine tale, proper acting and a better-told history lesson.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

There's a danger that visitors to Rome may contract a mild case of Naughty Classy Cable Fatigue.

Washington Post Tom Shales

The production is nothing if not rich, awash in muted hues, populated with rivetingly complex characters and yet disappointingly low on spectacle.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

By the way, I don't mean the word "trash" as an insult. I enjoy well-made, quick-witted trash, and if you do, too, then you will find "Rome" as irresistible as ever.

Hollywood Reporter Ray Richmond

It remains a wholly impressive piece of work, stylish and graphic and bold in equal measure while at the same time greatly lacking a cohesive focus.

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

As in season 1, the acting is rich and lusty, with no costume-drama fustiness. [15 Jan 2007, p.33]

USA Today Robert Bianco

With each episode, the show seems to move further from real life and the real Rome and off into some sex-crazed, soap-opera fantasy version of a place that has never, thankfully, existed before or since.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

“Rome” is engaging even if it isn’t a swords-and-sandals version of “The Sopranos,” as HBO had hoped.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

HBO's most obtuse, impenetrable series.

The New Yorker Tad Friend

The notion that the Empire ran on pillow talk and poison--the Great Woman theory of history-was also at the heart of the BBC’s 1976 "I, Claudius," but "Rome," with its spitting catfights, is closer in spirit to "Dynasty."

TV Guide Matt Roush

It's like Deadwood in togas, a violent and bawdy tapestry of a vanished civilization.

Salon Heather Havrilesky

The second season of "Rome" feels more than a little claustrophobic, and operates on a much smaller scale than might be anticipated for such an epic production.

Slant Magazine Len Sousa

If only the creators sought fit to put as much detail into their character development as their history, the show might have earned itself a third season.

The average user rating for this tv show is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I still have yet to see any haters present a logical argument of why this show is not outstanding. I just wish it wasn't finished after 2 seasons

Grace C gave it a10:
Best show on television. There are admittedly too many moments of soapoperaishness, but the show wouldn't be as interesting if it were pure history. Either way, Rome sticks by history pretty closely, much more closely than most other historical dramas on TV or in movies do!

Michael C gave it a10:
Smart and fun

Rikene F gave it a10:
Best show on tv...

steve s gave it a10:
If you are a history buff, as I am, this show is pure pleasure. The fact that the cast is made up of quality British actors lends a certain class to the historical production. I can't think of a more fun show on TV today.

Aaron Y gave it a2:
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...and I gave this series a real chance...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

peter d gave it a10:
A TV classic, a level (but just a level) lower than I Claudius, this is a gem that for some unknown (to me) reason has not caught on with the intellegentia. Bravo! A memorable show, and educational too.

Rome Season 2 SERIES: HBO, Sunday 9:00p (60 minutes)

Rome
Season 2
SERIES: HBO, Sunday 9:00p (60 minutes)