... don't get me STARTED on the costumes! Really, with the wealth of information on Roman costume, particularly militaria, it's maddening that shows with otherwise big budgets (and this series has got to have particularly large coffers!) don't bother to avail themselves of knowledgeable advisors. I had the same issue with Rome's liberal use of Windlass equipment, which can be wildly inaccurate!

I must say, now that I'm getting used to the TIVO-type equiment in my satellite box, I'm enjoying having the power to sprint through the commercials. I had a sense that there were a great deal, but to have slightly more than two hours of content for three hours worth of schedule? Vae!! No wonder there were sweeping generalisations!

I enjoyed the battle of Pharsalus too. Among the enhanced content on Discovery's site are two interactive battle maps: the first of Cannae and the second, of Pharsalus. Since I'm re-reading "War with Hannibal," I particularly enjoyed the former.