Octavian and Mark Antony are headed for war.

If you're well-versed in the history of the Roman Empire, you already know it doesn't end well for one of them.

But assuredly many of the people who have been watching the excellent HBO dramatic series Rome (shown in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central) don't know much about the actual history of Octavian and Mark Antony -- so we won't spoil it.

Rest assured, though, it takes mere seconds for the winners and losers to be sorted out in the series-ending episode of Rome, which airs on Sunday night.

We're going to miss Rome for many reasons. Among them:

1) Some of the scenes veer close to soft-porn territory. There's nothing wrong with a cheap thrill mixed in with your historical drama, right?

2) It looks great. In fact, there have been suggestions that the massive cost of production is one of the main reasons HBO is pulling the plug.

3) The acting is superb. Special kudos go to James Purefoy, whose portrayal of the troubled, drug-addled, lustful Mark Antony is a deeper, darker version of Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus in Gladiator.

And in the past few episodes of Rome, Lyndsey Marshal's Cleopatra has been a stunning mix of cunning, calculated, seething erotic energy.

4) Did we mention the soft porn?

5) It's just a damn interesting story. The first season of Rome focused on Julius Caesar. The second season has taken place in the aftermath of Caesar's assassination, with Octavian and Mark Antony locked in a power struggle.

Rome doesn't follow history to the letter of the law, opting to play with some of the timelines and characters for dramatic effect. And not every storyline wraps up satisfactorily or believably on Sunday, the prime example being the fate of the annoyingly pompous and whiny boy known as Caesarion.

But suffice to say, Rome -- the series -- ends far better than the actual Roman Empire did.