Rome

Series Similar to Rome

If you enjoyed Rome, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

   2011 · Drama, Action, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Action profile, highly rated (8.4).

   The mini-series features the bloody history of the House of Batiatus and the city of Capua before the arrival of Spartacus. Quintus Lentulus Batiatus becomes a lanista (manager) when he takes over his father's ludus of gladiators. He has ambitions of stepping out of his father's shadow by seeking recognition for his own name and achieving further greatness for his house. By his side stands his beautiful wife Lucretia who will help her husband achieve his ambitions, whatever the cost. Batiatus puts all his fortunes on the man who will gain him fame and glory. That would be his best gladiator, the Celt, Gannicus, a skilled warrior who wields dual swords with deadly purpose. Those who oppose Batiatus and his future champion(s) of Capua do so at their own peril.Purchased as an undisciplined and disheveled recruit in the first episode, Crixus the Gaul endures mockery and threats of death to become the champion after Gannicus. As Batiatus fends off repeated attempts by his professional rival Tullius to obtain Gannicus, his relationships with his father Titus and friend Solonius begin to suffer the strain of his relentless ambition. Former champion, Oenomaus, reluctantly becomes Doctore, while Syrian recruits Ashur and Dagan try to prove themselves worthy of being gladiators. Veteran gladiators Barca and Gannicus note the rising star of Crixus, as the machinations of Batiatus and Lucretia end in tragedy for several members of the household. Against all of this, the city's splendid new arena nears completion and with it the opening games that will make slaves into gods. When the arena opens, Batiatus' gladiators prevail in the contest. Gannicus again proves himself to be the champion of Capua and a god of the arena. By virtue of his win against Solonius' gladiators, he gains his freedom and Crixus becomes the new champion.

2. Spartacus

   2010 · Drama, Action, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Action profile, highly rated (8.5).

   Betrayed by his country. Beaten into slavery. Reborn as a warrior. Spartacus is a graphic and visceral account of Rome's most famous gladiator. When he is separated from the love of his life, Spartacus is forced into the gruesome and bloodthirsty arena, where a grisly death is primetime entertainment. Spartacus must fight for survival, befriend his enemies and play politics in this new world of corruption, violence, sex and fame. He will be seduced by power and tormented by vengeance. But his passion will give him the strength to prevail over every obstacle, in this modern and uninhibited tale of death, honour and endurance.

3. The Tudors

   2007 · Drama, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, highly rated (8).

   Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in this original, history-based drama series as the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.

4. Marco Polo

   2014 · Drama, Action, Adventure · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8).

   In a world replete with greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, Marco Polo is based on the famed explorer's adventures in Kublai Khan's court in 13th century China.

5. The Borgias

   2011 · Drama, Romance, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile.

   This expansive drama series stars Oscar winner Jeremy Irons in his Golden Globe-nominated role as Pope Alexander VI, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the infamous Borgia dynasty, who builds an empire by bribing, buying and muscling his way into the papacy.

6. Versailles

   2015 · Drama, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, hidden gem.

   Versailles, 1667. Louis XIV was 28 years old. To rise to the heights of the nobility and wield its absolute power, he launched the construction of Versailles... it proved to be a snare. Louis XIV is a young King haunted by childhood trauma, the Fronde civil, a rebellion of the nobility against his father, Louis XIII... It will prove be a strategic policy out of the ordinary, manipulative, Machiavellian, and he will "invent" Versailles for the nobles of Paris, to keep them under control, and gradually transform the castle into a golden prison. But how will Louis live as the greatest King in the world?Historical fiction of the court figures and the more humble villagers, guiding us in a world of betrayals and secrets, politicking and declarations of love.

7. Black Sails

   2014 · Drama, Action, Adventure · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8.4).

   1715. The Golden Age of Piracy. New Providence Island is a lawless territory, controlled by history's most notorious pirate captains. The most feared is Captain Flint.As the British Navy returns to redeem their land and exterminate Flint and his crew, another side of him emerges. Captain Flint aligns himself with Eleanor Guthrie, daughter of the local kingpin, to hunt the ultimate prize and ensure their survival.Many opponents stand in their way: rival captains, jealous of Flint's power; Eleanor's ambitious and intrusive father; and a young sailor recently recruited onto Flint's crew, John Silver, who constantly undermines his captain's agenda.

8. Vikings

   2013 · Drama, Action, History · ended

   Recommended for similar Action profile, highly rated (8.6).

   Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore - and raid - the distant shores across the ocean.

9. Peaky Blinders

   2013 · Drama, Crime, History · returning

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, highly rated (8.5).

   An epic gangster drama set in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham.

10. Chernobyl

    2019 · Drama, History · ended

    Recommended for similar Drama profile, highly rated (8.9), also on HBO.

    Chernobyl dramatizes the true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history and tells of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster. The miniseries focuses on the heartbreaking scope of the nuclear plant disaster that occurred in Ukraine in April 1986, revealing how and why it happened and telling the shocking, remarkable stories of the heroes who fought and fell.