Rome - First episode on HBO

I wonder if any of you guys saw the first episode of Rome, on HBO (Sunday, August 28).

I really liked the first episode and I think it has the right look, very accurate in terms of how I imagined the city would look like. HBO seems to have put in a lot of time and effort into this series and I thought the sets / costumes alone are worth the price of admission (in this case, a premium subscription to HBO). I am sure all those who are fascinated by Rome will be delighted with this production, which is much better than the series "Empire", that was recently shown on ABC. Well, I guess the overall quality is so much better than ABC because the BBC is also involved in the production.

I thought the acting was superb and the British actors really flesh out the roles well, especially the women. Atia (mother of the future Augustus - in this series, he's still a young boy - Octavian) is played by Polly Walker and she's an excellent actress. I really liked her performance as well as some of the others in the cast.

Looking forward to the rest of the series as this is one of the most exciting shows to be broadcast yet on cable. HBO pulls no punches and you can expect this to be raw, brutal, sexy, exciting and extremely dramatic.