I just watched a couple of great tv series: "The Roman Empire" was a three-part series with each part running about 4 to 6 episodes. The first looked at Commodus, the second at Julius Caesar, and the third Caligula. They are a great blend of historical re-enactment, amazing sets, incredible battle and gladiatorial scenes, and professorial talking heads and voice-overs. A lot of the time you see the principal (the Emperor) acting pensively, staring off into distant lands, or musing his next steps to thwart his enemies. But overall these are well done.
The other series I watched was "Barbarians," a German show about the "Battle of the Teutoburg Forest" in 9 AD.