Just finished watching the finale yesterday after going through season 3 in 3 days. I was somewhat put off by the way our heroes treated their prisoners but the final two episodes made me forget all of that. The finale was just the perfect sendoff to our heroes which is so hard to do correctly. I hated the way Braveheart ended even if it was historically accurate. who want's their hero to die like that?
What I have to say is that the entire series also had phenomenal casting. the Australian showbiz industry sure has a lot of good actors and actresses who wouldn't have gotten noticed if not for this series.
Gorgeous women like Viva Blanca, Gwendoline Taylor, etc.
Notable actors who had prominent genre roles like Craig Parker (Haldir in LOTR), Lucy Lawless, (Xena), Jaime Murray (Dexter), Anna Hutchison (Cabin in the Woods), Peter Mensah (300), John Hannah (the Mummy)
Even actors who seem to channeling other famous actors/media personalities: Caesar (Brad Pitt), Tiberius (David Archuleta), Varinius (Peter O'Toole), Heracleo (Alice Cooper), etc.
At least, I haven't finished Gods of the Arena yet so I still have something to look forward to. Continuing the series with Caesar and Crassus wouldn't be the same. They're the villains of the series and it's hard to side with them. besides, that would be retreading what was done before in Rome which was a phenomenal series in it's own right.