This is a fantastic series. Don't get put off by the reviewers who are upset that it isn't like Spartacus (TV show, not movie). Of course it isn't. Spartacus is a TV show isn't history. Domina is history. Livia lived in the public eye. There were witnesses. The writers did their research.
The series is historically accurate, more so than most historical dramas. It relies on contemporaneous sources, as well as writers within one-hundred years of when Livia ruled. And rule she did.
Rome was a dysfunctional mess in Augustus' time. They had just come out of civil war, and they had more slaves in Rome than they had citizens. They were living on a house of proverbial cards, and this show is about the end of the empire that was inevitable at the beginning of it.
For Augustus' to maintain power, he needed two things, an enforcer and a brain. Agrippa was the enforcer, and the actor who plays him absolutely nails the role. Bravo. Livia was the brain. Agrippa's quote: "Your wife is the smartest man in Rome" is from history. Augustus, who stayed in his tent during battles, and left it up to Livia to do his dirty work, was a great leader because he had the two people closest to him who made him great. And Livia, who was as brilliant in history as she was ruthless, made both of them possible.
The way Augustus is described in the first episode, BTW, as a gangster, a criminal, is not far from the truth. It was when he got Livia's connection with her patrician family, again, with her ruthlessness, with her understanding of Rome and how to rule, that he became a dictator. She created him, and she kept him in power until he turned on her. More on that later, because we haven't gotten to that episode yet.
Everyone should watch this, especially a scene midway in Season Two when the family is at dinner, all of them with reasons to kill each other, and, in some cases, where they have killed family members.
The moment when Augustus' sister, Octavia, another fantastic performance, greets and welcomes Livia -- who she despises -- back from exile is a study in every dysfunctional family, business, corporation that has ever existed and will exist.
It's why wars happen, why people screw each other over, and it goes on every day with various stakes. Maybe not the rule of Rome or just simply surviving murder as in Augustus' time, but, if you lose your job because of it, it can be just as bad.
Everyone should watch this.
A few responses to some of the unhelpful reviews:
For those who hate the costumes, well, welcome to 1st Century CE Rome. That's what they wore.
For those who don't like that there are black characters, well, black people lived in Rome, and some were slaves who became free. Some because heads of businesses. They had power. Deal with it.
Those actors, btw, nearly steal the show. Deal with that, too, because the posts here complaining about people of color or strong women say more about the reviewer than the show.
Germans, BTW, were brought to Rome in three ways, as slaves, as prisoners to be murdered in a Triumph, or to serve in the Pretorian Guard were white. You see what happens to them. That's accurate, too.
For those who don't like that the lead has a European accent, really? BTW, she's Polish-Italian. Her accent has hints of both. You have a problem with Italian in Rome? Come on. She's a fantastic actress and she chews the scenery (that's an acting compliment) as Livia.
Oh, one last thing. Romans were infamous for swearing. If you don't like the swear words in English, you should try the Latin equivalents. Wow. And, yes, they had the F word. The original Latin is where it comes from. And that's one of the milder words.
If you're going to review a program based on history, look up the history before you write your review. This one is as accurate as F :)
