I'd ignore the who is who at first but treat it as any other show – like if we're really honest it's a soap opera and the costumes are only secondary. (Then if you're interest you can look into the history later but at first I don't think it's really relevant... especially the first episode sets things up as a story of a family, who just happens to be part of Rome's "high society" in the late 1400s
). Maybe you can give it another try without putting the pressure on yourself to want to have the full picture already. I mean, you didn't have that when you started watching "One Tree Hill". And in a way it's not so different, I mean Rodrigo runs the Vatican and Dan a car dealership, Vanozza owns a tavern and Karen a café, but well, potatos, potatoes.
Hm... I do like all sorts of soup.
TPBM has gone clubbing lately?