Although one must congratulate the makers for the width of subjects covered and the cooperation of so many resounding names, this series is of decidedly less quality than other history documentary series I know. Especially since the views offered on the various events in the history of the Roman empire never go beyond the conventional views and, moreover, portray the non-Roman peoples almost exclusively from the point of view of Roman writers. Who, as we know, were heavily biased towards Rome and less than honest about those whom they saw as barbarians and thus inferior. For instance, the episode about the conquest of Britain painted a picture of the Britons which I can only call a caricature. If we are to believe the images in this episode, Britons in the first century AD were indeed the primitive savages that the Romans asserted they were. While we know from the research done by various British archaeologists and historians that Brittannia at the time of the Roman conquest actually harboured an advanced civilisation. (By the way - how on earth can an ancient Briton like Caradog/Caratacus carry about such a huge mediaeval sword of a kind that didn't come along until the high Middle Ages?) Furthermore, the episode about Constantine the Great painted him as a full-fledged Christian convert after the battle of the Milvian Bridge, while in reality this was a much longer process. Constantine actually dedicated his Milvian Bridge victory to Sol Invictus, so he was still pretty much a pagan at that moment. And then we see him receiving the Eucharist, while he did not get baptised until he lay on his death bed - and back then it was simply unthinkable for a non-baptised person to receive the Eucharist, be he emperor or no. In brief: kudos for the extensive scope of the series, but the implementation leaves much to be desired.
Review of Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire
