Although 'Rome' went way overboard in their attempt at gritty realism. There was definitely a lot of mud and dirt around. They tried hard to depict 'the way it really was'. Except it wasn't. In the miniseries, the Forum of Rome looked like a garbage dump. At that time, it was pretty much the center of the Roman world, and even before the Emperors, a very important public gathering space and display venue for monuments and memorials to Roman heroes. Not to mention sacred temples almost beyond counting. The Forum would have been kept very clean at all times. There was a contingent of publicly-owned slaves who kept the Forum swept and cleaned up.
Also, there was a scene in which the main female character, played by Polly Walker, was depicted bathing naked in the blood of a ritual sacrifice. I guess to show that she was an evil, decadent character. In real life, though, her actions would have been considered a stunning blasphemy, and she might have been put to death, or at least placed under house arrest for the rest of her life.
Many of the wealthy, aristocratic characters were shown having sex in full view of the household slaves. This is inaccurate. Romans, despite their decadent reputation, were incredibly prudish about sex. Even the wealthy would have had sex in small, unlit cubicles away from prying eyes. There once was a Roman Senator who declared that he would rather fall on his sword than be seen kissing his wife in public.
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