Rome: The Complete Series from HBO in its entirety on DVD boxed set from Shopville.

In its first season, Rome introduces its two chief characters: Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) and Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd), a pair of battle-worn soldiers (plucked from Julius Caesar's written account of the Gallic Wars) who watch helplessly as their republic is transformed into an empire.

Their experiences, however challenging and tragic, are intertwined with those of the entire nation, making both warriors fitting Everymen worthy of the attention and screentime they're awarded. As their slippery Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) begins to succumb to his own ego and mounting god complex, he swipes power from the Roman senate, much to the dismay of politicians Porcius Cato (Karl Johnson) and Marcus Tullius Cicero (David Bamber). He also inadvertently sets about the events that will lead to his downfall and inevitable murder.

Elsewhere, Caesar's niece, the cold and manipulative Atia (Polly Walker), uses whatever means necessary to prepare her son Octavian (Max Pirkis) for the throne; Caesar's voice in the senate, Mark Antony (James Purefoy), desperately fights to support his friend and commander; and a moralistic young man named Marcus Brutus (Tobias Menzies), he of Et tu, Brute? fame, finds himself torn between king and country.