HBO and the BBC, 2005–2007 · shot at Cinecittà · set in the last years of the Republic
The real places of the civil wars, and the Forum that played them
Julius Caesarplayed by Ciarán Hinds
Pompeyplayed by Kenneth Cranham
Ciceroplayed by David Bamber
Mark Antonyplayed by James Purefoy
Cleopatraplayed by Lyndsey Marshal
Octavianplayed by Max Pirkis and Simon Woods
Rome was killed on a date everyone still knows. Count Roman dates back to the real places, then walk the fibreglass Forum at Cinecittà that played them.
Kalends, Nones and Ides
Romans named a day by counting back to the next of three fixed days: the Kalends on the 1st, the Nones on the 5th and the Ides on the 13th, or the 7th and 15th in March, May, July and October. They counted both ends. Before Caesar’s reform those four months had 31 days and the rest 29.
ante diem IV Idus Ianuarias
the fourth day before the Ides of January, 49 BC. The month is Ianuarius: January, before the reform, 29 days.
ante diem IV Idus Ianuarias: tap the day of January, before the reform you think it is.
Commentaries on the Gallic War, Book 5, chapter 44
Caesar’s Commentaries, Book 5, chapter 44, tell of two rival centurions, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo; almost all of their adventures in the series are fictional.
Two rival centurions inside a winter camp under attack, 54 BC. Who goes over the rampart first?
In the series Vorenus is played by Kevin McKidd and Pullo by Ray Stevenson; unlike the real centurions, they serve in the 13th Legion.
Nobody knows where the camp stood; it is named here, not pinned.
Cinecittà, Via Tuscolana
A five-acre backlot and six soundstages at Cinecittà made up what Broadcast called the world’s largest standing set. The set’s main material was fibreglass; its brickwork was cast from moulds of real Roman bricks.
The scenic contractor describes a 1:1 Forum of more than two hectares; Joseph Bennett told Broadcast that three sides of the Forum were built at reduced scale.
The Basilica Julia
A two-storey arcade of round arches and red faux-marble columns, like the Basilica Julia front the scenic contractor describes.
The Ancient Rome set is built on the backlot in 2004–2005, of galvanised steel frames, fibreglass panels on a polystyrene core, plaster ashlar, oil-marbled red columns and faux travertine.
In a break in filming, Bennett’s team add layers of plaster and sow grass between the cobbles; he says the longer the set stands, the more realistic its patina.
Rome is shot on 35mm over 14 months by eight directors and a crew of 350; one scene uses 750 extras.
A fire at Cinecittà destroys a significant part of the set, after the second season has finished filming.
Part of the set is used late in 2007 by Doctor Who for “The Fires of Pompeii”.
The set is kept rather than taken down, readapted for the Augustan age for Domina, and the Basilica Julia is restored over five months.
Cinecittà runs guided visits to the Ancient Rome set on weekends and holidays, including English tours at 11:30 on 31 October, 14 November and 28 November 2026.
The look of the city is pushed towards a busy modern developing metropolis such as Mumbai, and dirtied up. David Milch first meant to set his next HBO series in ancient Rome; with Rome already in development, he set it in Deadwood instead. The Deadwood World tells that side.
The set can be seen only on a guided visit with Cinecittà’s education department, on weekends and holidays; book through visit@cinecitta.it. The studios are at the Cinecittà metro stop.
Via Tuscolana 1055, Rome · Saturdays, Sundays and holidays · Cinecittà si Mostra + set visit €15, under 26 and over 65 €13 · booking advised at visit@cinecitta.it
The set built for Rome, with the Basilica Julia, the Curia, the Rostra and the Temple of Venus, seen only with a guide from Cinecittà’s education department, together with Cinecittà si Mostra.
See the calendar
The Roman Forum
Bennett moved the Temple of Jupiter down from its hillside for the set. On the real Forum, the rostra stood above the circular altar that marked the site of Caesar’s cremation.
Curia Iulia
Caesar began a new Senate house in 44 BC; the work was interrupted by his murder and finished by Augustus in 29 BC.
While it was being built, the Senate met in the Curia of Pompey, inside the Theatre of Pompey.
What stands today is Diocletian’s rebuilding; its opus sectile floor and coloured marble panels date from then.
In 630 Pope Honorius I made it a church; in 1930–36 it was stripped back to its ancient form.
Inside the Forum, on the same ticket.
Divus Iulius
The temple stands on the site of Caesar’s cremation, on the east side of the Forum’s main square.
Octavian dedicated it to his adoptive father on 18 August 29 BC.
Flowers are left on the remains of the altar every day, and Caesar’s death is marked there on 15 March.
Inside the Forum, on the same ticket; the altar is under a modern roof at the front of the podium.
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
The Fasti Antiates Maiores are painted on a wall at Antium, the only Roman calendar known from before Caesar’s reform.
Caesar’s reform makes 46 BC 445 days long, with three extra months, to bring 1 January back into line with the seasons.
After Caesar’s death the priests, counting inclusively, add the leap day every three years instead of four; Augustus suspends leap days until the calendar is right again.
The painted calendar is found in a crypt near the coast at Anzio.
Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00–18:00, last entry 17:00; closed Mondays and 25 December.
Largo di Villa Peretti 1, Rome · Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–18:00 · last entry 17:00
The Museo Nazionale Romano’s house by Termini, home of the Fasti Antiates Maiores, the painted calendar from before Caesar’s reform.
Plan a visitActium, 2 September 31 BC
Octavian’s fleet defeats Antony and Cleopatra off Actium, the climax of more than a decade of rivalry.
In 29 BC Octavian founded Nicopolis, the City of Victory, across the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf from Actium. On the hill where his own tent had stood he built a memorial, known for the bronze rams taken from captured warships.
The ruins of Nicopolis lie on the road north from Preveza; the campsite memorial is on the hill north of the village of Nicopolis, also called Smyrtoula.
Octavian began it in 28 BC, after Actium and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, in the then empty north of the Campus Martius.
At 300 Roman feet, about 87 metres, across, it is the largest circular tomb known.
It reopened to the public for a time in 2021, then closed from 6 June 2022 while the piazza was rebuilt.
Seen from Piazza Augusto Imperatore. Turismo Roma says it closed from 6 June 2022 for works on the piazza; check before you plan to go in.
The series opens at the siege of Alesia, with Vorenus commanding his men of the 13th Legion; the next day Vercingetorix is made to surrender to Caesar. The siege of Alesia, in September 52 BC, was the climax of Caesar’s Gallic Wars; the site was most probably atop Mont Auxois, above Alise-Sainte-Reine.
Napoleon III has a monumental statue of Vercingetorix raised to mark the end of the excavations.
The museum is open daily from 7 February to 29 November; in November 10:00–17:00. Full price €13.50. Les Laumes-Alésia station is a ten-minute walk.
Alise-Sainte-Reine, Burgundy · Daily until 29 November · November 10:00–17:00 · full price €13.50
The museum of the siege on Mont Auxois, with Millet’s Vercingetorix on the hill above.
Plan a visit12 places to visit in three parts: the Forum, across Rome, and beyond Rome. Cinecittà is the only filming place here; the rest are where the history happened. Quintus Cicero’s winter camp, where Caesar names Vorenus and Pullo, cannot be located and is not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Inside the Parco archeologico del Colosseo: the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum share a ticket booked on ticketing.colosseo.it.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Inside the Forum, on the same ticket.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Inside the Forum, on the same ticket; the altar is under a modern roof at the front of the podium.
Via della Salara Vecchia and Via Sacra, Rome
The Cinecittà set recreated much of the Republic’s Forum.
Inside the Parco archeologico del Colosseo: the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum share a ticket booked on ticketing.colosseo.it.
Roman Forum, by the Arch of Septimius Severus
Caesar began a new Senate house in 44 BC; the work was interrupted by his murder and finished by Augustus in 29 BC.
Inside the Forum, on the same ticket.
Roman Forum, east side of the main square
The temple stands on the site of Caesar’s cremation, on the east side of the Forum’s main square.
Inside the Forum, on the same ticket; the altar is under a modern roof at the front of the podium.
Nervian territory · not pinned
In 54 BC the Nervii attacked the legion under Quintus Cicero in its winter quarters in their territory. Caesar’s Commentaries, Book 5, chapter 44, name two centurions of that legion: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo.
Nobody knows where the camp stood; it is named here, not pinned.
Stay
A hotel on Via Tor de’ Conti with breakfast on the roof.
Via Tor de’ Conti 25, Rome · Autumn offer from €108 a night
A 78-room hotel on Via Tor de’ Conti in Monti, overlooking the Forum, with breakfast served on its roof garden.
See roomsGo there
The Ancient Rome set with a Cinecittà guide, Largo Argentina, the Palazzo Massimo, the MuséoParc at Alesia, and marketplace tours of the Forum and the studios.
Via Tuscolana 1055, Rome · Saturdays, Sundays and holidays · Cinecittà si Mostra + set visit €15, under 26 and over 65 €13 · booking advised at visit@cinecitta.it
The set built for Rome, with the Basilica Julia, the Curia, the Rostra and the Temple of Venus, seen only with a guide from Cinecittà’s education department, together with Cinecittà si Mostra.
See the calendarLargo di Torre Argentina, Rome · Tuesday–Sunday · winter time 10:00–16:00 · tickets at the Torre del Papito
A step-free walkway among four Republican temples and the base of the Curia of Pompey.
Plan a visitLargo di Villa Peretti 1, Rome · Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–18:00 · last entry 17:00
The Museo Nazionale Romano’s house by Termini, home of the Fasti Antiates Maiores, the painted calendar from before Caesar’s reform.
Plan a visitAlise-Sainte-Reine, Burgundy · Daily until 29 November · November 10:00–17:00 · full price €13.50
The museum of the siege on Mont Auxois, with Millet’s Vercingetorix on the hill above.
Plan a visitRome
Live marketplace results for guided tours of the Forum and the Palatine. None is a Rome series tour as such; check each route.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursRome
Live marketplace results for visits to Cinecittà. Check which include the Ancient Rome set, which can only be seen with a studio guide.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Three English-language visits to the set this autumn, and the MuséoParc’s Caesar exhibition until 29 November 2026.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Caesar’s own account of Gaul, where Vorenus and Pullo appear, and Tom Holland’s history of the Republic’s end.
Julius Caesar, translated by S. A. Handford
Caesar’s own account of the Gallic War, where Vorenus and Pullo appear in Book 5; Penguin Classics.
Find the bookTom Holland
A history of the Republic’s last century, Abacus, 2004.
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Count both ends.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources. Cinecittà is the filming place; the other places are where the history happened, told as history.
13 of 13 places · 40 of 40 Moments
Cinecittà Studios, Via Tuscolana 1055, Rome
Rome begins on HBO on 28 August 2005 with “The Stolen Eagle”, directed by Michael Apted and shot at Cinecittà, where Ben-Hur and Cleopatra were filmed.
Twelve episodes in 2005 and ten in 2007; the last, “De Patre Vostro”, airs on 25 March 2007.
Rome is shot on 35mm over 14 months by eight directors and a crew of 350; one scene uses 750 extras.
The Ancient Rome set is built on the backlot in 2004–2005, of galvanised steel frames, fibreglass panels on a polystyrene core, plaster ashlar, oil-marbled red columns and faux travertine.
In a break in filming, Bennett’s team add layers of plaster and sow grass between the cobbles; he says the longer the set stands, the more realistic its patina.
The look of the city is pushed towards a busy modern developing metropolis such as Mumbai, and dirtied up.
David Milch first meant to set his next HBO series in ancient Rome; with Rome already in development, he set it in Deadwood instead.
A fire at Cinecittà destroys a significant part of the set, after the second season has finished filming.
Part of the set is used late in 2007 by Doctor Who for “The Fires of Pompeii”.
The set is kept rather than taken down, readapted for the Augustan age for Domina, and the Basilica Julia is restored over five months.
Cinecittà runs guided visits to the Ancient Rome set on weekends and holidays, including English tours at 11:30 on 31 October, 14 November and 28 November 2026.
Ciarán Hinds plays Julius Caesar, Kenneth Cranham Pompey, David Bamber Cicero, James Purefoy Mark Antony, Lyndsey Marshal Cleopatra, Max Pirkis and Simon Woods Octavian, Polly Walker Atia, Lindsay Duncan Servilia and Indira Varma Niobe.
In the series Vorenus is played by Kevin McKidd and Pullo by Ray Stevenson; unlike the real centurions, they serve in the 13th Legion.
Via della Salara Vecchia and Via Sacra, Rome
Roman Forum, by the Arch of Septimius Severus
Caesar replaces the old Senate house with his own; the work stops at his death and Augustus finishes it.
Pope Honorius I turns the Curia into a church; in the 1930s it is taken back to its ancient form.
Roman Forum, east side of the main square
Caesar is cremated in the Forum; Octavian later builds the temple of the deified Julius on the spot.
Octavian dedicates the Temple of Divus Julius as part of his triple triumph over Antony and Cleopatra.
Flowers are left at the altar daily, with commemorations every 15 March.
Largo di Torre Argentina, Rome
Julius Caesar is killed by a group of senators during a Senate meeting at the Curia of Pompey.
The first season ends with “Kalends of February”, first shown on 20 November 2005.
The sacred area reopens with a walkway that lets visitors among the temples for the first time.
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, Rome
Back from Egypt, Octavian begins his mausoleum, the largest circular tomb known.
Largo di Villa Peretti 1, by Termini station, Rome
The Fasti Antiates Maiores are painted on a wall at Antium, the only Roman calendar known from before Caesar’s reform.
Caesar’s reform makes 46 BC 445 days long, with three extra months, to bring 1 January back into line with the seasons.
After Caesar’s death the priests, counting inclusively, add the leap day every three years instead of four; Augustus suspends leap days until the calendar is right again.
The painted calendar is found in a crypt near the coast at Anzio.
1 Route des Trois Ormeaux, Alise-Sainte-Reine, Burgundy
Caesar besieges Vercingetorix at Alesia; the Gallic chief is surrendered to him.
The series opens at the siege of Alesia, with Vorenus commanding his men of the 13th Legion; the next day Vercingetorix is made to surrender to Caesar.
Napoleon III has a monumental statue of Vercingetorix raised to mark the end of the excavations.
Ponte romano, Savignano sul Rubicone, Emilia-Romagna
Caesar takes the 13th Legion south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul into Italy, on his way to Rome.
Farsala, Thessaly, Greece
Caesar defeats Pompey near Pharsalus in the decisive battle of the civil war.
The seventh episode of the series is called “Pharsalus”, first shown on 9 October 2005.
Archaeological site of Philippi, near Kavala, Greece
Antony and Octavian defeat Brutus and Cassius in two battles west of Philippi, the second on 23 October.
The sixth episode of the second season is called “Philippi”, first shown on 18 February 2007.
Nicopolis, north of Preveza, Greece
Octavian’s fleet defeats Antony and Cleopatra off Actium, the climax of more than a decade of rivalry.
Octavian founds Nicopolis and builds a memorial where his camp had stood, hung with the rams of captured ships.
Somewhere in the territory of the Nervii
Caesar’s Commentaries, Book 5, chapter 44, tell of two rival centurions, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo; almost all of their adventures in the series are fictional.
To outdo Vorenus, Pullo charges out of the camp; a spear pierces his belt so that he cannot draw his sword, and he is surrounded.
Vorenus follows him out and drives the enemy back, then loses his footing on the broken ground.
Pullo comes to his aid, and the two make it back inside the camp to loud applause.
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