Starting off, remember that, while it's more accurate than most things portraying Rome in cinema, HBO's Rome is still highly inaccurate all over the place - as a random example, a primus pilus like Varus would be an extraordinarily wealthy individual, making about 100 times the salary of his friend Pullo. I could keep going from there, but that would be getting off topic - going to sources that talk about the times!

• Start off with Adrian Goldsworthy's books, most especially Caesar: Life of a Colossus. That book is essentially my Bible of the Late Republic (the era that Rome is set in), and, while it not only details the life of Caesar (as the title might suggest), it also tells you about the people around him, the society in which he lived, why things happened the way they happened, etc. It's the most comprehensive book I've ever found that discusses that era, and it's the best starting point you can find. I would suggest not reading primary sources to start with - without the added context, they just start to get confusing and/or misleading.

• After you finish with that one, you'll have a very good idea on how things worked, but you might be curious about more detail on certain things. Again, Goldsworthy is an amazing writer to look at, because his books aren't only easy to read (a HUGE bonus for obvious reasons), but they're also extremely well sourced and very accessible. For more detail on the Roman army, check out his The Complete Roman Army. For a thorough history of Rome based on the lives of her generals, check out In the Name of Rome (Which is FAR more awesome to read than my description suggests). If you're looking for the Punic Wars - basically, the prequel to Life of a Colossus - check out his The Fall of Carthage. The man's prolific!

• But going outside his topics, he alone can't cover everything. That's what other books are for! A book that gives a great, in-depth look at architecture and society in Rome is The World of Pompeii, which offers not only sections on things like women, slaves, baths, housing, and eating out, but also has some rather awesome maps and diagrams that show what these places actually looked like!

• For even more on the Roman military, check out Dando-Collins' The Legions of Rome. If you get it on Kindle, the cost is heavily mitigated, but there's a good amount of fantastic information in there, including a chart that details pay in the Roman world and what that money could buy you.

• For education in the Roman world, I'd recommend a slightly heftier read. It's a book that you'd be best off finding in your school library or via Inter-Library Loan, but it's really worth it. Education in Ancient Rome basically covers all of your needs on that front, teaching you tons of stuff that you didn't even know you wanted to know.

Unfortunately, you'd have to talk to one of our other experts regarding the Ptolemaic dynasty, but I can tell you straight off that HBO's depiction of them was pretty awful. Hope that helps out a bit :)

Though the production values are vastly different, I enjoyed the PBS series 'I Claudius' after watching Rome.

There's some continuity between the series. Rome dramatizes Augustus' rise to power, Claudius begins in the waning years of his reign.

Mike Duncan's the history or Rome podcast is fantastic. He generally does a good job letting you know what sources he's using and why they may be accurate or not which I loved as well.