 " The Stolen Eagle " is the series premiere of the British @-@ American historical drama television series Rome . Written by series creator Bruno Heller and directed by Michael Apted , the episode first aired in the United States on Home Box Office ( HBO ) on August 28 , 2005 , and on the BBC in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 2 . Rome was given a budget of $ 100 million , making it the largest amount both networks had ever spent on a series . Heller centered the series ' narrative on the perspectives of two common soldiers , similar to <unk> and Guildenstern from Shakespeare 's Hamlet . Apted shot the episode at <unk> , the Roman studio where the epic films Ben @-@ <unk> and Cleopatra were filmed . On the set , realism and authenticity were emphasized more than grandiosity , with depictions of a cosmopolitan city of all social classes . 
