Rome makes the parallel stories of the Optimates and Centurian, now Prefect, Vorenus and Legionnaire Pullo a perfect vehicle for comparing the travails of different classes their love lives, social lives, how they treated the servants, how they practiced their faiths, how they fought. And midst the struggle for mastery of Rome, we see the struggle of more common folk just to make a living. And with Atia, I think Livia (as depicted in I Claudius) and Messalina have met their match. And what about that dissolute Mark Anthony? We can already see Actium in his face. Thanks to Max Pirkis's brilliant portrayal, we can already see the no-nonsense pragmatism, ruthlessness and brilliance that will propel this boy into becoming the greatest despot in history. Was he a great populist, trying to champion the people against the Optimates, or was he an ambitious demagogue, who was using the Roman mobs to attain the imperium? Hinds depicts this complexity perfectly, while projecting a steely will that is shared by Caesar's emerging protégé, Octavian. Julius Caesar was perhaps the most complex 'great' figure in history. So far, every player has been terrific, in particular Ciarán Hinds as Caesar and Max Pirkis as Octavian. I've been a Roman history buff ever since my own high school triumvirate of Caesar, Cicero and Virgil, and I say that this historical fiction is both exciting AND quite accurate with the important stuff. I agree with another reviewer, that quibbles about historical inaccuracies, such as accents or how old so-and-so should be, are silly pedantry. I Claudius was maybe the best miniseries ever.

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