List of films set in ancient Rome

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This article lists films set in the city of Rome during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, or the Roman Empire. The films only partly set in Rome are so noted.

The founding of Rome[]

Films set during the founding of Rome include:

  • Duel of the Titans (1961) – based on the legend of Romulus and Remus with Steve Reeves as Romulus and Gordon Scott as Remus
  • The Avenger (1962) – based on Virgil's Aeneid with Steve Reeves as Aeneas: a story of the hero leading escaped survivors of the Trojan War to new land in Italy.
  • The First King (2019) – in archaic Latin; directed by Matteo Rovere

The Roman Kingdom[]

Reign of Romulus[]

Reign of Tullus Hostilius[]

The Roman Republic[]

Early Roman Republic[]

Second Punic War[]

Third Punic War[]

  • Cartagine in fiamme (1960) – after the novel by Emilio Salgari, dir. by Carmine Gallone

2nd century BC[]

  • Scipio the African (1971) – about the later life of Scipio; directed by Luigi Magni, with Marcello Mastroianni as Scipio the African, Silvana Mangano as Aemilia Tertia and Vittorio Gassman as Cato the Elder
  • The Centurion (1961) – about the Battle of Corinth (146 BC), with John Drew Barrymore as Diaeus
  • Revolution (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode Four) (2006) – docudrama about of the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus

Third Servile War[]

  • Spartak (1926) – an early Soviet production (dir. by Ertugrul Muhsin-Bey), based on the novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli [now lost]
  • Spartaco (1953) – dir. by Riccardo Freda
  • Spartacus (1960) – with Kirk Douglas as Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as Marcus Licinius Crassus (dir. by Stanley Kubrick)
  • Il figlio di Spartacus (1962) – unofficial Italian sequel to Spartacus directed by Sergio Corbucci
  • Spartacus (2004) – with Goran Visnjic as Spartacus (dir. by Robert Dornheim)
  • Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010) – with Andy Whitfield as Spartacus, Manu Bennett as Crixus, Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, John Hannah as Lentulus Batiatus, and Craig Parker as Gaius Claudius Glaber
  • Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) – prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The plot of Gods of the Arena follows Lentulus Batiatus's (John Hannah) life as a lanista, and Gannicus's (Dustin Clare) time as a gladiator
  • Spartacus: Vengeance (2012) – sequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, with Liam McIntyre replacing Andy Whitfield as Spartacus, after Whitfield's unexpected death in 2011
  • Spartacus: War of the Damned (2013) – the third (final) season of the series

Julius Caesar[]

  • Gaius Julius Caesar (1914) – a silent film, directed by Enrico Guazzoni
  • Caesar Against the Pirates (1962) – a tale of Caesar being caught by pirates and asking for help to get back to Rome
  • Caesar the Conqueror (1962) – an Italian film about the career of Julius Caesar and his Gallic Wars (directed by Tanio Boccia)
  • The Giants of Rome (1964) – Italian-French adventure film set in the Roman warfare against Vercingetorix (directed by Antonio Margheriti), with Richard Harrison as Claudius Marcellus
  • Julius Caesar (1950)(directed by David Bradley). This is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play
  • Julius Caesar (1953) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war, with Marlon Brando as Mark Antony and John Gielgud as Gaius Cassius Longinus (directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz). This is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play
  • Julius Caesar (1970) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war
  • Druids (2001) – the life and career of Vercingetorix (starring Christopher Lambert), a Gallic adversary of Rome in the film of Jacques Dorfmann
  • Julius Caesar (2002)
  • Empire (2005)
  • Rome (2005) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war
  • Caesar (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode One) (2006) – docudrama about the Gallic Wars and Caesar's Civil War
  • Roman Empire: Reign of Blood (2018) – five episode Documentary/drama series produced by Netflix about the life and reign of Julius Caesar

Cleopatra[]

  • Cléopâtre (1899) – French film made by Georges Méliès, the earliest known version considered to be lost, retrieved 2005
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1908) – a film starring Maurice Costello and Florence Lawrence
  • Cléopâtre (1910) – French film by Henri Andréani and Ferdinand Zecca
  • Cléopâtre (1912) – new silent version after the play of Victorien Sardou (dir. by Charles L. Gaskill)
  • Marcantonio e Cleopatra (1913) – Italian production from the era of the silent film, directed by Enrico Guazzoni
  • Cleopatra (1917) – American film with Theda Bara as Cleopatra (dir. by J. Gordon Edwards)
  • Cleopatra (1928) – the second American version (dir. by Roy William Neill)
  • Cleopatra (1934) – with Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra (dir. by Cecil B. DeMille)
  • Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) – with Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra and Claude Rains as Julius Caesar (dir. by Gabriel Pascal), after the play by G. B. Shaw
  • Le legioni di Cleopatra (1959)[1] – Italian film directed by Vittorio Cottafavi
  • Serpent of the Nile (1953) – directed by William Castle with Rhonda Fleming as Cleopatra
  • A Queen for Caesar (1962) – Italian film, starring Pascale Petit (dir. by Piero Pierotti and Victor Tourjansky)
  • Cleopatra (1963) – including the Battle of Actium and the Final War of the Roman Republic, with Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Mark Antony and Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar (dir. by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
  • Carry On Cleo (1964) – a parody of J. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra with Sid James as Mark Antony (dir. by Gerald Thomas), set in the reign of Julius Caesar
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1972) – a film starring Charlton Heston and Hildegarde Neil
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1974) – a television version of a Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1981) – a television version produced as part of the BBC Television Shakespeare starring Colin Blakely and Jane Lapotaire
  • Cleopatra (1999) – with Leonor Varela as Cleopatra and Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar (dir. by Franc Roddam), based on the book by Margaret George
  • Asterix and Cleopatra (1968) – Belgian-French animated film (dir. by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo), as well as Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) a French/Italian film based on the same source, Goscinny and Uderzo's 1963 comic-book Asterix and Cleopatra.
  • The Cleopatras (1983) – BBC TV 8-episode series on the latter part of the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty (dir. by John Frankau)
  • Cleopatra (2007) – Brazilian film with Alessandra Negrini as Cleopatra and Miguel Falabella as Julius Caesar (directed by Júlio Bressane)

The Roman Empire[]

1st century BC[]

  • Imperium: Augustus (2003)
  • Empire (TV series) (2005)
  • Rome (2005–2007) – 22-episode TV series, a joint British-American-Italian production on Rome's transition from Republic to Empire (dir. by Michael Apted)

The Life of Jesus[]

Main article: List of actors who have played Jesus
  • (1903) – French Pathé production (dir. by Ferdinand Zecca) [second version (1907) as Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ]
  • Ben-Hur (1907) – the first known version (15-minute long) adapted from the famous Lew Wallace's novel, dir. by Sidney Olcott
  • (1914) - French Pathé remake (dir. by )
  • Intolerance (1916) – silent film told in several time-periods with a segment set in 27 AD leading to the Crucifixion
  • Three Ages (1923) – a parody of Intolerance also with its own Roman section
  • Ben-Hur (1925) – silent film dir. by Fred Niblo, starring Ramon Novarro (the picture noteworthy for its color segments and for the female nudity in the parade sequence)
  • King of Kings (1927)
  • Golgotha (1935)
  • Ben-Hur (1959) – a monumental Hollywood production directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston; partly set in Rome
  • King of Kings (1961)
  • Pontius Pilate (1962) – with Jean Marais as Pontius Pilate
  • The Life of Brian (1979) – dir. by Terry Jones
  • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) – dir. by Martin Scorsese, with Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ
  • The Gospel of John (2003)
  • Ben-Hur (2003) – animated version (the fourth in all) of the novel by Lew Wallace
  • The Passion of the Christ (2004) – dir. by Mel Gibson, with Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ; recorded in original languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin)
  • Ben Hur (2010) – miniseries by Steve Shill
  • Ben-Hur (2016) – new American version in 3-D directed by Timur Bekmambetov with Jack Huston as Ben-Hur
  • Risen (2016) – a biblical drama dir. by Kevin Reynolds with Cliff Curtis featuring Yeshua (Jesus Christ)
  • The Chosen (2017) - a series about the life of Jesus through the eyes of his followers

Reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius[]

  • Agrippina (1910) – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
  • Messalina (1924) – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
  • I, Claudius (1937, never completed) – with Charles Laughton as Claudius. This is an adaptation of Robert Graves's novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God".
  • The Affairs of Messalina (1951) – with María Félix as Messalina
  • Barabbas (1953) – Swedish version (dir. by Alf Sjöberg), the first based on the novel by Pär Lagerkvist
  • The Robe (1953) – based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, with Richard Burton as Marcellus and Jean Simmons as Diana (dir. by Henry Koster)
  • Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) – sequel to The Robe (dir. Delmer Daves)
  • Messalina, venere imperatrice (1960) – dir. by Vittorio Cottafavi, with Belinda Lee as Messalina
  • Barabbas (1961) – American version, dir. by Richard Fleischer, starring Anthony Quinn
  • Massacre in the Black Forest (1967) – about the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (dir. by Ferdinando Baldi)
  • The Caesars (TV series) (1968) – 6 episodes: Augustus; Germanicus; Tiberius; Sejanus; Caligula; Claudius
  • I, Claudius (BBC TV series) (1976) – with Derek Jacobi as Claudius (an adaptation of Robert Graves's novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God").
  • Caligula (1979) – with Malcolm McDowell as Caligula (dir. by Tinto Brass)
  • Los cántabros (1980) – about the Cantabrian wars with Paul Naschy (also director) as Marcus Agrippa
  • The Inquiry (2006) – with Max von Sydow as Tiberius
  • Barabbas (2012) – the latest version based on the Lagerkvist's book, dir. by Roger Young, starring Billy Zane
  • Britannia (2018) – British TV series of a fictional account of the Roman conquest of Britain.
  • Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019) - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

Reign of Nero[]

Boudica's Revolt[]

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius[]

Flavian Dynasty[]

  • Masada (1981) – TV miniseries about the siege of Masada in the First Jewish-Roman War, dir. by Boris Sagal
  • The Apocalypse (2000) – telefilm about Jesus Christ's last surviving disciple and his writings and visions (dir. by Raffaele Mertes), starring Richard Harris as St John of Patras and Bruce Payne as Domitian
  • Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death (2003) – BBC Television docudrama which tells the true story of Verus, a gladiator fighting at the Colosseum of Rome, during the reign of Titus
  • Rebellion (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode Three) (2006) – docudrama about First Jewish–Roman War
  • Roman Mysteries (2007–2008) – ten-part TV series for youngsters, directed by Paul Marcus

85-110 AD[]

Reign of Hadrian[]

  • The Eagle of the Ninth (1977) – a six-part BBC mini-series, based on the novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, starring Anthony Higgins
  • Centurion (2010) – an action film based on the massacre of the Ninth Legion, directed by Neil Marshall
  • The Eagle (2011) – adaption of the novel The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, directed by Kevin Macdonald

Reign of Antoninus Pius[]

Reign of Commodus[]

  • The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) – latter half set in Rome, with Christopher Plummer as Commodus (dir. by Anthony Mann)
  • The Two Gladiators (1964) – Italian prequel of the next one, dir. by Mario Caiano
  • Gladiator (2000) – latter half set in Rome, partly a remake of The Fall of the Roman Empire (dir. by Ridley Scott)
  • Roman Empire: Reign of Blood (2016) – six episode Documentary/drama series produced by Netflix about the life and reign of Emperor Commodus.

250-272 AD[]

  • Sign of the Gladiator (1959) [known also as Sheba and the Gladiator] – about the Palmyrene Empire of queen Zenobia (starring Anita Ekberg) and its re-annexation back to Rome (dir. by Guido Brignone and Michelangelo Antonioni)
  • The Magnificent Gladiator (1964) – Italian film being a tale of a gladiator from the times of emperor Gallienus (dir. by Alfonso Brescia)

Reign of Diocletian[]

  • Sebastiane (1976) – homoerotical version of the legend of St Sebastian; remarkable also as the first film entirely recorded in Latin

310-315 AD (Age of Constantine)[]

Attila the Hun[]

  • Attila (1954) – with Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun and Sophia Loren as Justa Grata Honoria
  • Sign of the Pagan (1954) – with Jack Palance as Attila the Hun
  • Attila (2001) – a joint American-Lithuanian production with Gerard Butler as Attila the Hun (dir. by Dick Lowry)

Late Empire[]

  • Revenge of the Barbarians (1960) – about the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 AD (dir. by Giuseppe Vari)
  • Kampf um Rom I (1968) – on the struggle in Italy ruled by the Ostrogoths, after the novel by Felix Dahn (dir. by Robert Siodmak)
  • Kampf um Rom II : Der Verrat (1969) – continuation of the (above listed) German production
  • Thais (1984) – Polish film (dir. by Ryszard Ber), after a story by Anatole France on an episode from the life of the 4th-century Alexandria
  • Titus Andronicus (1985) – fictional story of a general in the Roman army, based on the tragedy by William Shakespeare; BBC TV version dir. by Jane Howell
  • Titus (1999) – adaptation by Julie Taymor with Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus
  • King Arthur (2004)
  • The Voyage Home (2004) – based on the poem De reditu suo by Rutilius Claudius Namatianus
  • The Fall of Rome (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode Six) (2006) – docudrama about the sack of Rome by Alaric's Visigoths
  • The Last Legion (2007) – loosely inspired by the 5th-century collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the legendary-fantastic elements from the history of Britain (dir. by Doug Lefler), with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley
  • Agora (2009) – Spanish film (dir. by Alejandro Amenábar) with Rachel Weisz starring as Hypatia, a female philosopher and savant from Alexandria
  • Restless Heart: The Confessions of Saint Augustine (2010) – a biographical film about Augustine of Hippo, dir. by Christian Duguay
  • Decline of an Empire (2014) – about "the Christian saint who defied the Empire" (dir. by Michael Redwood), with Peter O'Toole as Cornelius Gallus (his last film role)

Undated[]

See also[]

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