Production notes

William J. MacDonald and John Milius pitched the idea to HBO as a miniseries, but the network made it a full-fledged series. In 2002, HBO and the BBC agreed to co-produce the series, committing a US$100–110 million (£62.7 million) budget to the production of twelve 1-hour episodes, with HBO contributing $85 million, and the BBC contributing $15 million. The BBC contributed £800,000 to every episode of Rome in its first season. Rome is the largest co-produced series with the American film market in the BBC's history. The series also marked the first series on which HBO and the BBC worked together as co-producers, although the two companies had worked together in other roles in earlier series, including Band of Brothers and The Gathering Storm. Tranter from the BBC has said this about the development of Rome: "It felt like something that could have been developed by us, and HBO felt like natural partners for the BBC". On 20 April 2006, Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO announced the development of a second season for Rome. The filmmakers stressed that they wanted to portray Rome as a gritty and realistic city, as opposed to what they call the "Hollyrome" presentation that audiences are used to from other films, with "cleanliness and marble and togas that looked pressed."

Between March 2004 and May 2005, Rome was filmed in co-production with Rai Fiction in the Italian countryside on Cinecittà studios' six sound stages in Rome. A collection of massive sets in Cinecittà studios' back lots comprised an elaborate "period reconstruction" of sections of ancient Rome. It was a huge undertaking, with an international crew of 350, and more than 50 local Italian interns. The production is regarded as one of the most expensive in the history of television. Funding was partly employed to recreate a detailed set featuring a number of Roman Villas, the Forum, and a vast slum area of the ancient city of Rome. A significant part of this set was later destroyed by a fire that burned down a portion of the Cinecittà Studios in 2007. According to HBO, the fire started after they had finished filming the second season. A portion of the set was also used in late 2007 by the crew of the long-running BBC sci-fi drama series Doctor Who, for the fourth-season episode "The Fires of Pompeii". Audio commentary on the Season 1 DVD indicates that many of the background performers used in the series were also their true professional counterparts. One example is that the actor shown in the series working as a butcher on the streets of Rome was in fact a real-life butcher.

In a separate move, the BBC also decided to re-edit the first three episodes (all directed by Michael Apted) into two episodes. The BBC claimed that this was because the British audience were more familiar with the history of Rome than their American counterparts and so much of the history was unnecessary; however, Apted claims that the purpose was to boost the ratings by increasing the prominence of the scenes of sex and violence. In an interview with The Times, Apted said:

I'm really pissed off with the BBC for bringing down my first three episodes to two and, in doing so, taking out much of the vital politics. What also makes me very grumpy is that I was told that the cuts had been introduced by the BBC because they thought British viewers already knew the historical background. But all that's happened as far as the viewer is concerned is that it has made Rome hard to follow.

Apted also said that he only learned of the edits by accident, "...a couple of weeks ago when one of the actors told me". Since then, the original uncut Season 1 episodes aired on UKTV Drama, coincident with the UK broadcast of Season 2 on BBC Two. The Italian broadcast of the series was also marred by controversy. Strong language was removed in the Italian dubbing process; as for the more explicit sex scenes and disturbing violence, they were replaced by "safe" alternative versions shot during production especially for the Italian market. Rai 4 began showing the "complete version" of the series on Italian TV in September 2009.

Composer Jeff Beal was invited to audition for Rome after he completed work on HBO's Carnivàle. The producers sent him a short edit of season 1 episode 7. From that, Beal began writing a demo score. Based on head writer Bruno Heller's desired gritty pre-Christian feel for the series, and HBO's interest in a non-modern sound, Beal chose to compose and record with live instruments from across the ancient Roman world. For each episode, Beal had about two weeks to work: in the first, he composed for – and recorded – the instruments he performed on the soundtrack. In the second week, he incorporated producer's notes, and orchestrated and recorded the other live instrumental sections.

Rome garnered mostly positive reviews. Sean Woods from Rolling Stone called the series "masterful" and "epic", and gave the series 3.5 out of 4. Alessandra Stanley from The New York Times said: "But behind all that gritty squalor the glory that was Rome gets lost", while reviewing season 2. Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly gave season 2 a B and commented on the "spectacular" clothing design. Michael Ventre from Variety magazine was positive towards the series and was intrigued by the "complex" character of Atia of the Julii. James Poniewozik from Time magazine commented on the "slow start" but further stated that the series "draws you" to the ancient city of Rome. Empire magazine reviewer Helen O'Hara said: "Not as good-looking as Gladiator, perhaps, but richer in (reasonably accurate) history and texture", and gave season 1 of Rome four out of five stars. Robert Bianco from USA Today called season 2 "the fall of Rome", commenting that season 2 was not as good as season 1 citing "off-key characterizations and plot absurdities". Linda Stasi from The New York Post called herself a "slave" to the show. Melanie McFarland from Seattle Post-Intelligencer called season 2 "at top of its form" and said it was as good as the former season. Historian Robin Lane Fox, writing in The Guardian, called the series "splendidly ambitious". Eric Neigher from Slant Magazine called season 1 of Rome "good art". Robert Abele from LA Weekly called it the "most lavish dramatic series yet" released by HBO. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 83% based on 36 reviews, with an average score of 8.62/10; the critical consensus reads: "Rome builds slowly, but a laborious start delivers rich rewards in the form of decadent sets, delicious drama and a surprising amount of intimacy". The second season has an approval rating of 89% based on 28 reviews, with an average score of 8.05/10; the critical consensus reads: "Pulp meets prestige in Rome’s sensational second season – though its style sometimes outweighs its substance".

Capping its successful first season, Rome won four Emmy Awards out of eight nominations in 2006, for the episodes "Caesarion", "Triumph", "Kalends of February" and "Stealing from Saturn". The series also won an Art Directors Guild (ADG) in the category "Excellence in Production Design – Single-Camera Television Series" for the pilot episode "The Stolen Eagle". Michael Apted won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in the category "Outstanding Directing – Drama Series, Night" for "The Stolen Eagle". The series itself was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category "Best Television Series – Drama", and Polly Walker who portrayed Atia of the Julii was nominated in the category "Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama". The series was also nominated for three Satellite Awards, two for season 1 and the last for season 2. The pilot episode "The Stolen Eagle" won a Visual Effects Society (VES) award in the category "Outstanding Visual Effects – Broadcast Series". Writers Guild of America (WGA) nominated the series for the category "Best Writing – New Television Series" in 2005. The series was also nominated for four British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA), three in season 1 (2006) and one in season 2 (2008). In 2005, the series was nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award (CAS) in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series" for the episode "The Spoils". The British award ceremony nominated the series for the Royal Television Society (RTS) award in the category "Best Visual Effects – Digital Effects". For season 2 (2007) Alik Sakharov won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, for the episode "Passover".

The series combines historical figures and events from the late Roman Republic with dramatized and fictionalized material. The show is generally told from the perspective of Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, and while they were both real Roman soldiers in the same legion of Caesar's army during the conquest of Gaul, who were briefly mentioned in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, almost all of their adventures in the series are fictional.

Co-creator Bruno Heller has said, "We try to balance between what people expect from previous portrayals and a naturalistic approach ... This series is much more about how the psychology of the characters affects history than simply following the history as we know it". Series Historical Consultant Jonathan Stamp also notes that the show aims for "authenticity" rather than "accuracy":We did everything we could to make these episodes historically authentic, which meant researching and incorporating every kind of detail we could about the way our characters behaved, the way they interacted, how they dressed and gestured, the kind of streets they walked down, the way they conducted their private and public lives. We were not, however, making a documentary. We were striving for authenticity because it enriches the experience of the drama for the viewer.