Rome: Coming to a Small Screen Near You

I am really looking forward to HBO's new series Rome. I missed it Sunday due to continuing hurricane aftermath problems, but am ready to see it tonight. I've always been fascinated with Rome, its origins as a monachy, the turn to democrachy and the fall under dictatorship. We think the USA is old, it is a mere child to the age of Rome when it fell.

What I like is the care they have taken to present Rome as it was, not the fantasy that the movies have created. Gone are the white marble, in is the splendor of colors they decorated their cities with. Gone are groups of men and women in togas, in are the myriad of styles worn in the period the series happens, mid-first century C.E.

As always I will be viewing it in 16x9 and 5.1 Dolby Digital on HBO-HD. As always it will be downconverted to standard definition because I am not buying an HDTV anytime soon.