Accuracy of HBO Series: Rome (would like opinions before buy

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

Well the word on the street is the PS3 will drop significantly in price come next month. If it drops so much as $100.00 or more than I'm picking one up just for the Blu-ray player. I think in the long run HD is going to be the winner here, but Blu-ray does look pretty sweet.

Then of course I'll be getting the series (though I own it already and can't get enough of it). I really wish they would do a series based on the reign of Octavian.

Now what bugged me about the show was the mix of this and that. Here you have a shot from Gaul... and what do they throw into the mix, a curved (Republican) scutum and straight edged (Imperial) scutum.



But my understanding of the era is that the Republican was used then phased out as the Augustan came into use. So anyone viewing the show without much knowledge would be confused. You then have stuff like the helmet which appears to me as an Imperial Italic helmet modified... but in the wrong era?



I think soldiers even carried the Pompeii style sword in the show, and then there's the yellow, white, etc tunic colors. Lots of confusing mixes of armors, weapons, etc. Makes for better Hollywood than to follow history closely I suppose.

Would be interesting if someone could create a list (a thread dedicated to it) of all the discrepancies from the show. That way the un-educated (like me) wouldn't be so confused by the show. I saw it years ago when it first came out and some of things I saw I thought was correct. Come later to find out they weren't. It seemed much more realistic than say 300 which totally butchered any sense of realism.