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The Worst Episodes of Rome

Every episode of Rome ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Rome!

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A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Rome Season 1 Episode 1 - The Stolen Eagle
    8.0/10(3817 votes)

    #1 - The Stolen Eagle

    S1:E1

    Eager to return to Rome after eight long years of war, Gaius Julius Caesar ends his campaign with a resounding triumph in Gaul, and news of a shattering personal loss at home. In Rome, Caesar's old friend Pompey is counselled by the Senate, who worry about Caesar's growing popularity. Two soldiers are enlisted to find the army's stolen gold standard. Atia is careful to play both sides of an escalating power struggle.

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writers:Michael Apted, Bruno Heller

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  2. Rome Season 1 Episode 3 - An Owl in a Thornbush
    8.0/10(3053 votes)

    #2 - An Owl in a Thornbush

    S1:E3

    With Caesar quickly advancing toward Rome, Pompey begins ordering a retreat and forces his citizens to pick sides. Timon is forced to do Atia's dirty work and Vorenus cannot understand why no one is resisting while on a scouting mission.

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writers:Michael Apted, Bruno Heller

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  3. Rome Season 1 Episode 4 - Stealing From Saturn
    8.0/10(3206 votes)

    #3 - Stealing From Saturn

    S1:E4

    As Pompey "maneuvers" outside the city, Caesar seeks to consolidate his hold on Rome. Atia throws a party to welcome Caesar home, while Vorenus throws one of his own to usher in his new life as a citizen businessman. Pullo's run of luck continues when he delivers Quintus Pompey to Caesar, who in turn returns Quintus to his father's camp, with an offer of truce he knows Pompey will never accept.

    Director:Julian Farino
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  4. Rome Season 1 Episode 6 - Egeria
    8.0/10(2820 votes)

    #4 - Egeria

    S1:E6

    When Caeser finds himself outnumbered by Pompey's legions, he asks Antony to join the fight. Marc Antony is having fun in his new political life while he ponders a counter-offer from Pompey. Atia urges Octavian to take another step toward manhood. Vorenus and Niobe try to bring passion back to their marriage.

    Director:Alan Poul
    Writers:John Milius, Bruno Heller

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  5. Rome Season 1 Episode 5 - The Ram Has Touched the Wall
    8.1/10(2925 votes)

    #5 - The Ram Has Touched the Wall

    S1:E5

    Caesar weighs Pompey's counteroffer against Antony's recommendation to chase down Pompey's vulnerable army. Vorenus is forced to reconsider his career choices after a series of business setbacks leave him with little income to support his family. A jealous Atia concocts a clever scheme to separate Caesar from Servilia. Pullo is recruited to tutor Octavian in the art of soldiering, but ends up learning a lesson or two from the boy.

    Director:Allen Coulter
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  6. Rome Season 2 Episode 3 - These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero
    8.1/10(2448 votes)

    #6 - These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero

    S2:E3

    Brutus and Cassius struggle to raise foreign armies to oppose the Cesarean party. Mark Antony's plans to change his post-consul proconsular governorship from Macedonia to Gaul are derailed when Cicero delivers an in-absentia message to the Senate, and throws his support behind Octavian. Vorenus struggles to contain an all-out gang war in the Aventine Collegium, of his own making, that he blames on Pullo. In the house of the Julii, Octavia passes the hours in a drug induced daze, while a duplicitous youth named Duro, planted amongst the Julii by Servilia, looks for the chance to set a deadly plan in motion.

    Director:Alan Poul
    Writer:Scott Buck

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  7. Rome Season 2 Episode 7 - Death Mask
    8.1/10(2366 votes)

    #7 - Death Mask

    S2:E7

    Antony's nature reasserts itself, and challenges his alliance with Octavian. Timon and Levi set themselves against Herod's plans. Servilia's public displays of grief leave Atia unsettled. Gaia uses Pullo's punishment as a weapon against him. His daughter's sudden interest in business matters arouses Vorenus' suspicions. Posca gets married.

    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:Scott Buck

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  8. Rome Season 1 Episode 2 - How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic
    8.2/10(3300 votes)

    #8 - How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic

    S1:E2

    Anointed People's Tribune by Caesar, Mark Antony returns to Rome with Octavian's liberators, Vorenus and Pullo. After being feted by a grateful Atia, Vorenus heads home to his family, for the first time in eight years, while Pullo heads for the brothels. Pompey drafts an ultimatum stripping the general of his power.

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writers:Michael Apted, Bruno Heller

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  9. Rome Season 1 Episode 9 - Utica
    8.2/10(2705 votes)

    #9 - Utica

    S1:E9

    With Scipio and Cato defeated, Caesar returns home to a hero's welcome. Vorenus and Pullo's showdown with local thug Erastes gets an unexpected reprieve from Caesar. Servilia's plan to use Octavia to unearth a secret about Caesar backfires.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Alexandra Cunningham

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  10. Rome Season 2 Episode 5 - Heroes of the Republic
    8.2/10(2376 votes)

    #10 - Heroes of the Republic

    S2:E5

    Despite Pullo's advice, Vorenus and his family return to the Collegium with his family who is reunited, and cleansed of their ordeal. Octavian is denied a triumph and urges Cicero to endorse his bid to be made Consul in exchange for an agreement to allow Cicero to veto his actions. Octavian takes both Cicero and the Senate by surprise with his first Consular act. Vorenus attempts' to make peace with Memmio and Cotta create suspicions that he has gone soft.

    Director:Alik Sakharov
    Writer:Mere Smith

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  11. Rome Season 1 Episode 10 - Triumph
    8.3/10(2680 votes)

    #11 - Triumph

    S1:E10

    Unanimously proclaimed Dictator by the Senate, Caesar pronounces the war over, and prepares for five days of feasting and games honoring his "triumph." No longer an enlisted soldier, Pullo eyes a pastoral future with Eirene, while Vorenus runs for municipal magistrate, with Posca's help. Meanwhile, Octavian retrieves Octavia from her self-imposed exile. And Servilia invites a revenge-minded Quintus Pompey into her home, to Brutus' dismay.

    Director:Alan Taylor
    Writer:Adrian Hodges

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  12. Rome Season 1 Episode 7 - Pharsalus
    8.4/10(2814 votes)

    #12 - Pharsalus

    S1:E7

    Pompey attacks an outnumbered Caesar. Vorenus and Pullo are stranded at sea. Atia continues to seek out Servilla's friendship in order to ensure her protection, while Octavia and Servilla's bond grows.

    Director:Tim Van Patten
    Writer:David Frankel

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  13. Rome Season 1 Episode 8 - Caesarion
    8.4/10(2837 votes)

    #13 - Caesarion

    S1:E8

    Having pursued Pompey into Egypt, Caesar arrives in Alexandria and meets the boy king Ptolemy XIII, who offers the general a surprise gift. Vorenus and Pullo play liberators again, freeing Ptolemy's incarcerated sister, Cleopatra. Caesar seeks payment from Egypt for past debts, and ends up forging a strategic union to ensure his legacy.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:William J. MacDonald, Steve Shill

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  14. Rome Season 2 Episode 2 - Son of Hades
    8.4/10(2537 votes)

    #14 - Son of Hades

    S2:E2

    Cleopatra arrives in Rome to pay her homage to Caesar, and to seek legitimization for Caesarion. Egypt's queen causes further complications between Anthony and Atia, who still struggles with Servilia. Timon's brother arrives from Jerusalem. The death of Erastes throws the underworld, and Rome's river commerce into chaos, and Pullo and Vorenus step into the gap. Octavian and Anthony begin a long and bitter rivalry with a dispute over Caesar's will and sharing of power.

    Director:Allen Coulter
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  15. Rome Season 2 Episode 4 - Testudo et Lepus (The Tortoise and the Hare)
    8.4/10(2479 votes)

    #15 - Testudo et Lepus (The Tortoise and the Hare)

    S2:E4

    Pullo races to find Vorenus with news of his family's fate. Servilia's plans to eliminate a rival exact a high price from her. Cicero is astonished when Octavian sends word that his victorious legions are coming home to Rome. In Rome, Timon finally grows weary of Atia's bidding.

    Director:Adam Davidson
    Writer:Todd Ellis Kessler

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  16. Rome Season 2 Episode 8 - A Necessary Fiction
    8.6/10(2404 votes)

    #16 - A Necessary Fiction

    S2:E8

    Octavian proclaims a new era of virtue in Rome, a program that his family and subordinates find impossible to obey. Vorenus is sent on a mission after a missing shipment of gold to discover who mysteriously hijacked it on its way to the Roman treasury. Pullo's loss and rage are channeled against Memmio, Omnipor and their henchmen. Octavian pursues Livia as an "appropriate" bride, and issues Mark Antony an ultimatum he knows he can't refuse.

    Director:Carl Franklin
    Writer:Todd Ellis Kessler

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  17. Rome Season 2 Episode 9 - Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)
    8.6/10(2409 votes)

    #17 - Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)

    S2:E9

    The people of Rome are starving. There have been many grain shortages over the past few months, but things have gotten particularly bad. In hopes of keeping the people from openly rebelling, Octavian sends Atia and Octavia to Alexandria in order to negotiate a deal with Mark Antony, though his real reasons for their trip is soon revealed. Meanwhile, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus must try to keep the peace amongst many of the mercenaries who are in Rome.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Steve Shill, Mere Smith

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  18. Rome Season 2 Episode 1 - Passover
    8.7/10(2769 votes)

    #18 - Passover

    S2:E1

    Things pick up shortly after Caesar's murder. Octavian wants to keep his family from fleeing the city so he devises a plan. News of this makes Antony happy so he tells Brutus. Vorenus mourns Niobe's death but casts aspersions upon his children.

    Director:Tim Van Patten
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  19. Rome Season 2 Episode 6 - Philippi
    8.7/10(2562 votes)

    #19 - Philippi

    S2:E6

    Vorenus receives orders to plunge Rome into a bloodbath the likes that have not been seen since the dictatorship of Sulla. Octavia reveals her secret to Atia, and the armies of the Liberators and the Caesarians clash for the last time, with the fate of Republic in the balance.

    Director:Roger Young
    Writer:Eoghan Mahony

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  20. Rome Season 1 Episode 11 - The Spoils
    8.9/10(3085 votes)

    #20 - The Spoils

    S1:E11

    Vorenus sees to it that veteran soldiers receives severance on behalf of Caesar, and is then invited along with Niobe to one of Atia's parties.

    Director:Mikael Salomon
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  21. Rome Season 2 Episode 10 - De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)
    9.0/10(2839 votes)

    #21 - De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)

    S2:E10

    Following his naval defeat at Actium, Marc Antony returns to Egypt, where he and Cleopatra settle into a world of debauchery. Octavian tries to use Pullo as leverage to Vorenus to gain acess to the palace, but Vorenus stays loyal to Antony. Finally, it is Cleopatra who dupes Antony, saving her own life by sacrificing her honor. Ceasar Augustus triumphs in Rome.

    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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  22. Rome Season 1 Episode 12 - Kalends of February
    9.2/10(3368 votes)

    #22 - Kalends of February

    S1:E12

    Pullo and Vorenus are now heroes in the eyes of the Roman rank and file because of their arena feats. This causes Caesar to bestow rewards to those he might normally punish.

    Director:Alan Taylor
    Writer:Bruno Heller

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Worst Episodes Summary

"The Stolen Eagle" is the worst rated episode of "Rome". It scored 8/10 based on 3817 votes. Directed by Michael Apted and written by Michael Apted, Bruno Heller, it aired on 8/28/2005. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "An Owl in a Thornbush".