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As Stevenson notes, Vorenus “doesn’t have the same decisiveness as Pullo. While he works out what steps to take in a situation, Pullo will have already been there, finished the job, and gone off to have a beer.”

That urge to act first and ask questions later led Pullo to commit a horrible act of violence in the first season, when he murdered the fiancé of his beloved Eirene in a fit of jealousy. Says Stevenson, “People were really starting to like Pullo at that point in the story, but I wasn’t there to be liked! I was there to play the truth of the moment. If you bring a modern sensibility to the situation, you miss out on the humanity of it. Pullo was just acting according to what was going on. And that was when his life spiraled out of control.”

Having been saved from death by his friend Vorenus, Pullo finds himself in dramatically changed circumstances in season two of Rome, allowing Stevenson to explore new shades of his character. “If you try to stand still you’ll stagnate. Pullo is experiencing these events, and he’s actually growing and changing. It’s not ‘Tune in next season for the same person.’ That’s thrilling to me.”