Jeremy Irons stars Rodrigo Borgia, the scheming patriarch of the plutocrat family that ruled Renaissance Italy. Jeremy Irons stars as Rodrigo Borgia, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the Borgia family who ascends to the highest circles of power within Renaissance-era Italy. The series begins as the family\'s patriarch Rodrigo becomes Pope, propelling him, his two Machiavellian sons Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, to become the most powerful and influential family of the Italian Renaissance.