Rome (TV Series) - Cast

Cast

• Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus (Season 1 and 2) – A staunch, traditional Roman officer who struggles to balance his personal beliefs, his duty to his superiors, and the needs of his family and friends. The basis for this character is the historical Roman soldier of the same name, who is briefly mentioned in Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico 5.44.
• Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo (Season 1 and 2) – A friendly, upbeat, devil-may-care soldier with the morals of a pirate, the appetites of a hedonist, and a total lack of personal responsibility, who discovers hidden ideals and integrity within himself. The basis for this character also comes from Caesar's De Bello Gallico 5.44 and Commentarii de Bello Civili 3.67 (if he is the same as Titus Pulleio).
• Ciarán Hinds as Julius Caesar (Season 1) – Caesar is ambitious but his aims and motives are often kept ambiguous to further complicate the plot and test the personal loyalties of the other characters. He advertises himself as a reformer who sides with the Plebians, even though he is himself a Patrician. He is also merciful to his beaten enemies, genuinely distressed by their deaths and relieved at their willingness to make peace where a more vindictive individual would have simply killed them.
• Kenneth Cranham as Pompey Magnus (Season 1) – A legendary general, past the days of his prime, who tries to recapture the glories of his youth as well as to do what is right for the Republic. The real Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus was a Roman general and politician who was as ambitious as Caesar and just as unorthodox in his youth. He chose to ally himself with the optimates in opposing Caesar and supporting the traditional Roman Republic.
• Polly Walker as Atia of the Julii (Season 1 and 2) – The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia. She is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator. Her family connections and sexual liaisons have brought her into contact with some of the most powerful individuals in Rome, making her a highly influential figure in Roman society. Atia is very loosely based on the historical figure Atia Balba Caesonia about whom little detail is known. Rome Historical Consultant Jonathan Stamp identifies the historical figure Clodia as the primary basis for the character of Atia.
• James Purefoy as Mark Antony (Season 1 and 2) – A very popular and cunning Roman general and politician and a close supporter of Julius Caesar in season 1. In season 2, he fights against the power hungry and unaccomplished Octavian.
• Tobias Menzies as Marcus Junius Brutus (Season 1 and 2) – Portrayed as a young man torn between what he believes is right, and his loyalty and love of a man who has been like a father to him. The real Marcus Junius Brutus was the most famous of Julius Caesar's assassins, and one of the key figures in the civil wars that followed the assassination.
• Lindsay Duncan as Servilia of the Junii (Season 1 and 2) – The mother of Marcus Junius Brutus, lover of the married Julius Caesar, and enemy of Atia of the Julii. Servilia is depicted as a sophisticated and regal Roman matron who follows her heart to her detriment, betrayed by love, and hungering for revenge. She slowly becomes as cruel as those whom she would destroy. Servilia is loosely based on the historical personage of Servilia Caepionis, mother of Marcus Junius Brutus, and famous lover of Julius Caesar.
• Indira Varma as Niobe (Season 1) – A beautiful woman devoted to her family. Niobe is a proud Plebeian from a large clan. After marrying Lucius Vorenus and giving birth to their two daughters, she functioned as a single parent when Lucius went off to war.
• Max Pirkis (season 1 and early 2) and Simon Woods (season 2) as Gaius Octavian – Portrayed as a shrewd, if somewhat cold, young man, with an understanding of the world, people, philosophy, and politics that go well beyond his years. Despite this he is very power hungry and uses the accomplishments of others that he is related to in order to further his political career. The basis for this character is the early life of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.
• Nicholas Woodeson as Posca (Season 1 and 2) – A Greek slave of Julius Caesar, yet also his friend, aide-de-camp, and confidante in most things personal and professional. As a slave, he will seldom receive credit, but it appears that many of the more simple and elegant solutions to Caesar's problems come from the mind of Posca. Posca is freed and given a stipend in Caesar's will at the start of the second season. He throws his support behind Antony in later episodes, but later strategically defects to Octavian. In the second episode of the second season, Mark Antony refers to him as a Greek, which is in keeping with his highly educated and influential position for a slave.
• Kerry Condon as Octavia of the Julii (Season 1 and 2) – The character is based on the Roman matron Octavia Thurina Minor, sister of Roman Emperor Augustus, born to one of the most powerful families in Rome, the Julii. Octavia is the only daughter and elder child of Atia of the Julii, who is the niece of Gaius Julius Caesar. In season 2 she marries Mark Antony. In real life she married Antony (newly a widower) in 40 BC as part of the Pact of Brundisium, having been ordered by the Senate to set aside the mandatory ten month term of widowhood after the death of her first husband Claudius Marcellus.
• Rick Warden as Quintus Pompey (Season 1 and 2) – The son of Pompey. There is no basis for this character, but the character may be meant to represent the younger of Pompey's historical sons Sextus Pompeius.
• Karl Johnson as Porcius Cato (Season 1) – An extreme traditionalist, against political and social decay, and a staunch defender of the Roman Republic. The real Cato the Younger was a Roman orator, author, and politician who committed suicide to avoid living under Caesar's tyranny.
• David Bamber as Marcus Tullius Cicero (Season 1 and 2) – A moderate politician and scholar, who is challenged with trying to save the traditional Republic from the ambitions of the various characters on the show. The real Cicero was a Roman politician, writer, and orator.
• Lee Boardman as Timon (Season 1 and 2) – A Roman-Jew, depicted as a "hired sword" – from bodyguard to assassin – for Atia of the Julii, from whom he is quite willing to take her body in lieu of coin.