LOL - here is the primary ROME discussion thread(s), and we've suspected and/or known for some time that Max Pirkis would be phased out of series 2 because he's simply not old enough to carry the Series to its final conclusion in 30 BC (that would mean he would have to look 33 years old, which even as talented a young man as Max could not, I think, do).

Anyway, I'm glad I DID know or I would have fallen over in shock in last night's episode. They're also playing around a bit, because technically the last time you saw Max leaving for Campagnia, it was roughly August, 44 BC, and when you see him again, it's roughly spring, 43 BC. But there really wasn't a good time to "switch out."

If you want to read all the ups and downs of opinion on the subject, check out the HBO Rome Thread.