History YMMV / Rome

** The show presents one for Brutus. Instead of a [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar righteous crusader]] who kills Caesar out of a sense of duty, he's a MommasBoy with an OedipusComplex who gets duped into killing Caesar (his [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate father]], and his mom's lover, and possibly his biological father) because of a petty family feud that he wants nothing to do with.

* FoeYay: Antony flirts with almost everyone, including the people he threatens. With Brutus, in particular, he often seems to veer into pigtail pulling territory. If only the show had included the historical account of him wrapping Brutus's dead body in his purple mantle...

** In 1998, James Purefoy and Creator/KevinMcKidd starred together in a gay romantic comedy titled ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126810/?ref_=rvi_tt Bedrooms and Hallways]]''. Which makes it hilarious to see Vorenus being summoned to speak with Antony while he (Antony) is being cleaned with oil, buck naked, with [[MaleFrontalNudity everything on display]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: The [[LaserGuidedKarma Laser-Guided Karmic]] DeathByIrony of Brutus, stabbed by several soldiers of Caesar's old legion in the same time, as he stands in the middle of them, like Caesar. Aeschylus' anvil [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped needed to be dropped]] : "By the sword you did your work, and by the sword you die".

** Vorenus also fits.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The fact that Vorenus and Pullo owe loyalty to two different masters (Antony and Octavian respectively) appears to be leading up to an epic battle where they'll be forced to fight each other. This never happens.

* MagnificentBastard: Gaius Julius Caesar conquers the entire land of Gaul, while masterfully manipulating the Roman senate into declaring him a criminal to give him an excuse to march on Rome, scattering the Senate and seizing ultimate power while acting humble to continue winning the love of the populace. Caesar continues a series of masterful political maneuvers to entrench himself while maintaining the loyalty of his soldiers and closest allies, even rewarding a veteran for defying his explicit orders when the man's actions win favor with the crowd, securing himself a trusted bodyguard in the process. In almost every moment, Caesar continues to show how he is the true master of Rome and is seen as almost divine even before his assassination.

* AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWGAYzQFss "Triumph"]], played during the triumphal marches of Julius Caesar and Octavian, will make you want to become a conqueror yourself.

** In 1999, James Purefoy and Creator/KevinMcKidd starred together in a gay romantic comedy titled ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126810/?ref_=rvi_tt Bedrooms and Hallways]]''. Which makes it hilarious to see Vorenus being summoned to speak with Antony while he (Antony) is being cleaned with oil, buck naked, with [[MaleFrontalNudity everything on display]].

* MagnificentBastard:
** Caesar manages to not just subdue the entire nation of Gaul, but spin that victory into the Senate trying to effectively excommunicate him.. which was ''exactly what he wanted'' as an excuse to march on Rome. Once there, he bribes the priests to say the gods are on his side, establishes a benevolent dictatorship, and forgives most of his enemies, all to undermine their position.
** Mark Antony is less politically savvy, but even more audacious. First episode, when given a half talent (50 pounds) of gold for a certain mission, he distributes half to a lower officer and tells him "There's a quarter talent there, for bribes and such," stealing the rest. When in Rome, he pretty much openly threatens anyone who disagrees with him or Caesar. But in polite terms:
---> '''Mark Antony:'''I ''shall'' be a good politician... even if it kills me. Or if it kills anyone else, for that matter.
** Servilia, after Caesar dumped her, went on revenge rampage--not against him, but mostly against the key woman in his household. She infiltrated Atia's house to try to kill her, tried to turn her children against her, and [[spoiler: committed suicide in front of Atia as part of a death curse.]]
** Atia, albeit much less clever than she thinks she is, loves manipulating anyone she can, from her enemies to her children, without remorse.
** In the second season, Octavian beats them all, manipulating every other faction to, successively, destroy his political enemies in Rome, have Brutus and Cassius killed for conspiring together in the death of his late father Caesar, then shaming both his mother Atia and Marc Antony in one move before reassigning Marc Antony to Egypt, and finally getting rid of both Antony and Cleopatra to secure Egypt and become Rome's first Princeps to end the civil wars for good.

** Case in point, Caesar's demand that the Egyptians pay back "Seventeen thousand thousand ''drachma''" is a bit more impressive if you know he's demanding the equivalent of six hundred and fifty million dollars, in cash.