Rome: The Complete Second Season

Unlike Deadwood, HBO's Rome ends on a note likely to satisfy viewers swept up in its lavishly mounted spectacle and captivated by the dramas of both the historical and fictional characters. Season two begins in the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, charting the power struggle to fill his sandals between "vulgar beast" Mark Antony (James Purefoy) and "clever boy" Octavian (Simon Woods), the latter surprisingly named Caesar's sole heir. The series' most compelling relationship remains that of a pair of fellow soldiers and unlikely friends: the honorable Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus "violence is the only trade I know" Pullo (Ray Stevenson), who more or less reverse roles when Vorenus is overcome with bitter grief in the wake of his wife's suicide. The second season also ups the ante in the rivalry between Atia (an Emmy-worthy Polly Walker), who is Antony's mistress, and Servilia (Lindsay Duncan), with attempted poisoning and sickening torture. Another gripping subplot deals with Vorenus' estrangement from his children, presumed slaughtered at the end of the season opener, but whose true fate may be even more devastating to the father who cursed them. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2007 final season, DVD extras include interactive text commentary on all episodes, five audio commentaries, and four featurettes (on the history of the city, a second season “making-of,” and profiles of Octavian, and Antony and Cleopatra). In writing Rome's epitaph, we come to praise this series, not to bury it: although two seasons was not enough to establish a Rome empire, it still stands as one of HBO's crowning achievements. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)