I am – Hercules!!

It’s an expensive period piece about essentially the same era depicted in “Empire”!

The Hollywood Reporter says:

“… From a production standpoint, "Rome" is simply amazing. … The overall series is no less an accomplishment. Bruno Heller's scripts, while somber much of the time, nonetheless deliver compelling stories and memorable characters. … What makes it particularly engaging in this account is the parallel (and sometimes perpendicular) stories of two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus ([Kevin] McKidd), a gods-fearing, upstanding Centurion, and his subordinate, Titus Pullo ([Ray] Stevenson), a freewheeling, headstrong Legionnaire. … Episode lengths vary from about 40-50 minutes, but invariably leaving you craving more.”

Variety says:

“… an intriguing world that hews closer to "I, Claudius" than "Gladiator," with all the expected pay-cable debauchery. (It's not for the faint of heart). After watching half of the dozen episodes, I'm hooked, with the disclaimer that this ambitious venture requires a no-reading-the-Sunday-paper-while-watching commitment … No trip to ancient Rome would be complete without a healthy dose of sex, which is amply supplied by Caesar's conniving niece Atia (Polly Walker), who beds enough powerful men to practically open her own second front. Literally bathing in blood at one point, she's completely unabashed about pimping out her daughter to further her goals.”

USA Today gives it three and a half stars (out of four) and says:

As extravagant, enticing and chaotic as Rome itself, HBO's latest series boasts all the opulent pleasures that lavish expenditures of time and money can buy. Every detail in its re-creation of ancient Rome may not be correct, but the spirit and the overall picture ring true — and the entertainment value resounds. … Rome is not solely interested in the machinations of the high and mighty. It devotes equal time to the travails of two Roman soldiers: the strict, old-guard centurion Lucius (Kevin McKidd) and his "cheerful brutish" friend Pullo (Ray Stevenson).

Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B” and says:

Rome is not afraid to overdo it. There are clashing swords, flashing robes, and humming markets. There's a bounty of flesh: screwing, bathing, bouncing, writhing. And there's a load of exposition, so much that Rome sometimes feels like it was written by a particularly awful color commentator who won't shut up and let us enjoy the game. … Rome is most entertaining when it laces its wild, ancient antics with winks of the pedestrian: It's amusing to watch poor Octavian forced to join the goat-testes Clean Plate Club under his scolding mother's gaze. But it's simply fantastic when Atia, her house besieged by Pompey's men and her guests ready to commit honor-preserving suicide, whips into Martha Stewart mode. Like a good hostess casually taking drink orders, she wanders among her guests asking who will kill whom. …

Warren Zide’s Collider.com says:

… When I sat down to write this review, I did so after watching the first three episodes, and I came up with a number of issues. I was going to stop there, save the final three and watch them as they aired, but, what can I say, the show had me hooked and I didn’t want to wait. So, I watched the next three and it was as if everything I had complained about the creators had already figured out for themselves. You see, after they shot the first three episodes, they shut down production for a number of months while they “retooled” the show. After watching the first three episodes, the reason for the shutdown was clear. While the second episode was great, all three had issues. …

9 p.m. Sunday. HBO.

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Look! Original casting tapes! Deleted scenes!
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Lost: The Complete First Season on DVD!!