Rome

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

HBO’s Rome follows two soldiers through the crisis that brings the Roman Republic to an end. Lucius Vorenus is a centurion who prizes discipline; Titus Pullo, a legionary, acts on impulse and repeatedly disrupts the order Vorenus tries to keep. Their contrasting temperaments make them useful witnesses to political upheaval, but their family ties and money troubles keep the story close to ordinary needs. The first season begins during Caesar’s return from Gaul and moves through his contest with Pompey. John Milius, William J. MacDonald and Bruno Heller are credited as the series’ creators; the principal cast includes Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, Tobias Menzies, Kerry Condon, Indira Varma and Ciarán Hinds.

The opening mission begins when Caesar’s golden military standard disappears during battle. Pullo breaks ranks and is sentenced for disobedience, but Vorenus is ordered to lead a search for the standard and releases him to help. Their trail leads to Pompey’s son Quintus and a group holding Atia’s young son Octavian. The pair recover the standard and free Octavian; evidence points back to Pompey’s side, turning a lost emblem into a public sign that Caesar’s opponents have acted against him. The rescue earns the soldiers access to Rome’s political households, although neither man arrives ready for the domestic complications waiting there.

As Caesar’s army advances, Pompey’s supporters withdraw from Rome rather than confront it in the streets, while the city’s citizens are pressed to choose which side they will support. Vorenus and Pullo scout ahead with Caesar’s proclamation, expecting resistance; when they encounter none, Vorenus carries the document to the Senate house and posts it there. He then goes home after years away, where Niobe introduces a boy as their grandson. Pullo is welcomed by Atia, whose son he helped rescue, but he slips back into gambling and drinking. The soldiers have returned to civilian life at different speeds: Vorenus seeks to restore his place in the family, while Pullo’s habits quickly create new trouble.

Vorenus tries to provide for his household by selling enslaved people captured in Gaul, but disease kills nearly all of them and wipes out the expected income. Erastes Fulmen offers paid work collecting debts. Vorenus accepts until the assignment requires him to torture and kill someone; he refuses, leaves Erastes’s protection and returns to Antony’s military service. Meanwhile, Pullo and Octavian investigate Evander’s disappearance. Their questioning exposes Niobe’s relationship with her brother-in-law and the child’s parentage. Pullo kills Evander, then keeps the truth from Vorenus. His attempt to preserve his friend’s household instead traps that household in a secret that cannot remain harmless.

The campaign moves to Greece, where Caesar’s fortunes falter and he calls Antony and the Thirteenth Legion to join him. Vorenus and Pullo set sail, but a shipwreck leaves them stranded and facing an unexpected dilemma. The episode’s political turn is Pompey’s defeat at Pharsalus; the story follows his flight to Egypt, where he is murdered on arrival. When Caesar reaches Alexandria, Ptolemy’s court presents the rival’s head, turning a military victory into a diplomatic insult. The episode links the soldiers’ peril at sea to a conflict whose consequences now reach another kingdom. Their private ordeal unfolds alongside, rather than deciding, the larger military defeat.

In Alexandria, Caesar sends Vorenus and Pullo to retrieve Cleopatra, who has been confined by her brother Ptolemy’s advisers. They find her and bring her back into the contest for the throne. The mission puts them between an imprisoned ruler and the court that wants her kept out of power; extracting her gives Caesar a way to negotiate directly with the sibling who challenges Ptolemy’s authority. Cleopatra asks Vorenus to help her conceive a son who could strengthen her claim; he refuses, and Pullo takes his place. Caesar and Cleopatra form a political alliance, and the birth of Caesarion gives that partnership a visible heir. When the child is shown to the Romans, Vorenus fixes Pullo with a knowing look. The scene raises the possibility that Pullo fathered him, but the episode leaves the claim uncertain rather than confirming it.

After Caesar’s return, the Senate makes him dictator and declares a five-day triumph. Vorenus seeks municipal office while Pullo imagines a future with Eirene, but that relationship has fractured: Eirene and Vorenus reject him after he kills her fiancé in a jealous rage. Pullo then works as an assassin for Erastes Fulmen, who orders him to kill Aufidius Dento, a politician opposed to Caesar. Pullo is caught and refuses to identify his employer. At trial, his guilt is not denied; he is condemned to the arena, kills several gladiators, then appears close to defeat. Vorenus enters and rescues him. Their arena exploits make them popular heroes, while Eirene’s later attempt on Pullo’s life leaves the season with a consequence his redemption cannot erase.