Rome did what Game of Thrones did — and often better

When Rome launched in 2005 it arrived as one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, shot on a massive outdoor recreation of the ancient city at Cinecittà. It offered a sprawling cast of richly flawed heroes, epic stakes, elaborate sets, animated opening titles and the blood, guts and sex that Game of Thrones would later deploy; when Thrones arrived half a decade later it followed many of Rome’s footsteps with a similar puzzle wheel of plotting, shocking betrayals and Shakespearean swears.

The series begins with the dissolution of the first triumvirate and Julius Caesar’s seizure of power, and it treats historical figures as messy, ambitious people. Ciarán Hinds plays Caesar, James Purefoy is a brawling, hedonistic Mark Antony, Tobias Menzies brings pathos to Brutus and Lyndsey Marshal appears as Cleopatra.

Polly Walker’s Attia schemes her way from widow to mother of the Emperor, and does it with far more relish than a certain royal schemer from Westeros.

Italy, Rome

rome, thrones, cinecittà, julius caesar, mark antony, brutus, cleopatra, attia, polly walker, tv series