Beliefnet takes a look at the portrayal of religion in the critically acclaimed HBO series “Rome” (just in time for the beginning of the second season). Though the series tends to play fast and loose with history at times, they do try to portray just how important (and ever-present) religion was in that culture.

“If the past is a foreign country, then ancient religion may be its most exotic locale. The HBO series “Rome,” which returns for its second season on Sunday, is hardly “Fodor’s Guide to Paganism,” but by venturing off some well-worn cinematic paths, the show has given the worship of the gods a generous treatment in a genre dominated by stories of gladiators and the advent of Christ. The creators of the serial drama, which focuses on the power struggles during the last days of the Roman Republic in the first century B.C.E., wanted to portray Roman religion not as a doomed prologue to Christianity but as a vibrant and meaningful part of everyday life.”

The articles references the now-infamous Taurobolium scene, and hints at what might have been if the budget had allowed.

“The show’s creators also had to bow to the pragmatics of TV production in the 21st century. One important and well-known festival was not included in “Rome” largely because it was too costly: The Lupercalia, which traditionally fell on February 15, was a fertility ritual the show scripted and then scrapped. ‘We had Mark Antony rushing through the streets in a wolf skin whipping fertile young women, but it was not to be,” Heller says. “If you’re going to get those rituals right, you need to do them grandly, because that would have been an amazing spectacle and we didn’t want to do it half-assed with a couple of guys running around in circles.’”

Ah, the opportunities lost. While some of the nuance of Religio Romana is lost to the soap-operatic story-lines, “Rome” is still one of the best attempts to portray the “pagan” past. Better by far than the endless films and television specials where Romans are played as decadent agnostics or foils to Christians. I can’t wait to rent these once they come out on DVD.

Tags: Beliefnet, Paganism, Religion, Rome