 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 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Shakespeare 's Hamlet . Apted shot the episode at Cinecittà , the Roman studio where the epic film Ben @-@ Hur and Cleopatra was filmed . On the set , realism and authenticity was emphasized more than grandiosity , with depictions of a cosmopolitan city of all social classes .