That is a subject of much debate amongst fans of the series. He has sustained a very serious injury, we see him saying goodbye to his children, and we hear Titus Pullo confirm that he is dead. That would suggest he really is dead.
However, we never saw him actually die on screen, like we did with Mark Anthony. Many people claim that alluding to his death while not actually showing it means he is still alive; most other deaths in the series were shown quite explicitly and in great detail. The alleged reason for keeping Vorenus' death ambiguous is to keep the door open for him to return in a possible Rome movie. Series writer Bruno Heller has actually confirmed that this is the reason for not explicitly showing Vorenus to be dead. Ideas for a movie are plentiful, but it is at this time unknown if it will ever be made, since many of Rome's expensive sets have been destroyed.
If Vorenus is alive, it would mean he made a miraculously recovery. The question remains why Pullo would lie to Octavian about it. Perhaps he did this to protect Vorenus from possible retributions; Vorenus did fight against Octavian and kept loyal to Mark Anthony, an enemy of Rome, until the end. Even though Octavian understood and respected this loyalty, perhaps his subordinates would not, and might want to take revenge on Vorenus. Declaring him dead would ensure the safety of himself and his family.
So time will tell; he is probably dead until the writers decide otherwise.
However, we never saw him actually die on screen, like we did with Mark Anthony. Many people claim that alluding to his death while not actually showing it means he is still alive; most other deaths in the series were shown quite explicitly and in great detail. The alleged reason for keeping Vorenus' death ambiguous is to keep the door open for him to return in a possible Rome movie. Series writer Bruno Heller has actually confirmed that this is the reason for not explicitly showing Vorenus to be dead. Ideas for a movie are plentiful, but it is at this time unknown if it will ever be made, since many of Rome's expensive sets have been destroyed.
If Vorenus is alive, it would mean he made a miraculously recovery. The question remains why Pullo would lie to Octavian about it. Perhaps he did this to protect Vorenus from possible retributions; Vorenus did fight against Octavian and kept loyal to Mark Anthony, an enemy of Rome, until the end. Even though Octavian understood and respected this loyalty, perhaps his subordinates would not, and might want to take revenge on Vorenus. Declaring him dead would ensure the safety of himself and his family.
So time will tell; he is probably dead until the writers decide otherwise.
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