The little bit I’ve got to watch of “Rome”, I really like it, but then I have a big interest in that time in history and am fascinated by ancient Roman society and politics - the “Old West” - well not so much.
I really need to catch up on the first season. Is it on DVD yet? Last years episodes aren't available on On Demand.
I’ve been hooked on Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. She takes a few liberties with history but then most novelists do, but her descriptions jive every much with all the more serious historical non-fiction books I’ve read about every-day Roman life. She’s very detailed in her writing.
As for HBO’s the Wire? I live in Baltimore. I work with a wonderful woman who grew up in the “hood” and had the smarts to get out and make a better life for herself.
She told me The Wire is good but as gritty as it is, that’s only half of it.
I enjoyed "I Claudius" by Robert Graves. That was also turned into a mini-series.