History Trivia / Rome

* EditedForSyndication: Due to an entire plethora of laws and regulations, when TVP, the Polish national broadcaster, bought the series, they faced a choice: air it no sooner than 11 PM and thus get a fraction of the audience ''or'' [[Bowdlerise heavily trim down]] all the violence, tits and debauchery - aka the reason the series was famous and bought in the first place. The execs decided to... do both, with the censored version running in the prime time slot, usually a good 5-10 minutes shorter ''and'' the actual full episode being aired past 11 PM, which ''also'' had different dialogue tracks recorded. This was also jokingly compared by Poles with the equally infamous ''Series/IClaudius'', which caused all sorts of headaches to censors back in the commie period.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: In a cast where most of the actors are Northern Europeans who speak English, (a Germanic language), actress Chiara Mastalli , literally the only one born and raised in Rome plays a Germanic slave.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally, there were plans for five full seasons. If not for the cancellation, the second and following seasons could have depicted history with the same eye for details as the first one. To quote creator Bruno Heller:
--> "The second [season] was going to end with the death of Brutus. Third and fourth season would be set in Egypt. Fifth was going to be the rise of the messiah in Palestine. But because we got the heads-up that the second season would be it, I telescoped the third and fourth season into the second one, which accounts for the blazing speed we go through history near the end."
* WordOfGod: According to the creators, Vorenus [[spoiler:survives his wound in the series finale, and goes into hiding with his family somewhere in Germania.]] A feature-length movie that started out from this point was in the works, but apparently succumbed to DevelopmentHell.

* FanNickname: Atia of the Julii: "[[Series/TheOC Julii Cooper]]".

* FakeNationality: Most of the actors are British or Irish. Not a single Italian in sight for the Romans, nor Greeks for the Ptolemys. This is a bit lampshaded in one scene where Vorenus is called a ginger and must protest that while he looks Gaulish, he's a true-blooded Roman. Oddly enough, the few Italian actors present don't play Italians, instead playing 'barbarian' characters who, genetically and culturally, were far more related to the Britons. Chiara Mastalli (who is ''actually'' Roman) plays Eirene, a German slave from beyond the Rhine, while Giovanni Calcagno plays Vercingetorix, a chieftain of the Gauls.

** Writer Bruno Heller learned that HBO cancelled the show when he was halfway into writing the second season. The result: ~15 years of history compressed into 8 episodes, plus a subplot with Timon and his brother that goes absolutely nowhere (since then HBO execs admitted that the cancellation was probably not a good idea).
** When the series first aired the BBC edited the first three episodes down to just two, without director (and executive producer) Michael Apted's knowledge. The official reason given was that the BBC felt British viewers were [[ViewersAreGeniuses already familiar with Roman history]] and so a lot of the background information was unnecessary. Apted believed the ''real'' reason for the cuts was [[SexSells sex + violence = ratings]] (and given the BBC later screened all four seasons of ''Series/TheTudors'' - a series not acclaimed for its fidelity to British historical truth[[note]](compare to the self-same BBC pulling ''Series/TheRatPatrol'' after six episodes in the '60s)[[/note]] - Apted may have been right).

* ReferencedBy: As a CastingGag, ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' features Creator/KevinMcKidd, Creator/RayStevenson, and Creator/TobiasMenzies as [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorians]], with [=McKidd=] and Stevenson's characters being archenemies and all three being allied with the Empire (initially for [=McKidd=]'s character, anyways). Additionally, Menzies' character is named Tiber, [[MeaningfulName for the river that ran through Rome]].

* ReferencedBy: ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' [[ActorAllusion features]] Creator/KevinMcKidd, Creator/RayStevenson, and Creator/TobiasMenzies as [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorians]], with [=McKidd=] and Stevenson's characters being archenemies. Additionally, Menzies' character is named Tiber, [[MeaningfulName for the river that ran through Rome]].

* WordOfGod: According to the creators, Vorenus [[spoiler: survives his wound in the series finale, and goes into hiding with his family somewhere in Germania.]] A feature-length movie that started out from this point was in the works, but apparently succumbed to DevelopmentHell.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: In a cast where most of the actors are Northern Europeans who speak English ,(a Germanic language), actress Chiara Mastalli , literally the only one born and raised in Rome plays a Germanic slave.