Set in the Times of Ancient Rome
Films set during the Roman Republic/Empire that range from decent to great, or ones I haven't seen that look like they may be worth checking out.
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- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.This silent film taking place during the Punic Wars was the first film to use a moving camera.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyAnthony MannStarsRobert TaylorDeborah KerrLeo GennAfter fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.Enjoyed it even though I'm not religious. Worth it at least just to watch Peter Ustinov's Nero.
- DirectorChester ErskineNicholas RayStarsJean SimmonsVictor MatureAlan YoungStory of a Christian in ancient Rome who befriends a lion.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLouis CalhernMarlon BrandoJames MasonThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsVictor MatureSusan HaywardMichael RennieIn first-century Rome, Christian slave Demetrius is sent to fight in the gladiatorial arena and Emperor Caligula seeks Jesus' robe for its alleged magical powers.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsJeff ChandlerJack PalanceLudmilla TchérinaWith the Roman Empire divided, Attila the Hun hopes to conquer. In his way are a brave centurion, a beautiful princess...and Christianity.Jack Palance plays Attila the Hun.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsEsther WilliamsHoward KeelMarge ChampionFabius loves his beautiful but vulnerable city, Rome, and he also loves his beautiful but invulnerable fiancée, Amytis. Fascinated by the tales she has heard about Hannibal, who is about to attack Rome, Amytis is driven by curiosity to the edge of his camp. Captured, she makes a last request of the indifferent Hannibal...that he spare the city. She offers to lead him to a hilltop where she can prove that taking the city is not worth the trouble. Hannibal goes with her, even though she has to cup her hand under his chin and float him across a river as he can't swim. Before long, Hannibal is doing more surveying of Amytis than of Rome. And Fabius finds he can defend neither his city nor his fiancée against the advances of Hannibal. Especially after he has his elephants painted bright colors because Amythis thinks gray is drab.Underrated musical set in Ancient Rome.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen BoydAfter a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsAnthony QuinnSilvana ManganoArthur KennedyGovernor Pontius Pilate gave the populace a choice to spare either Barabbas, a criminal, or Jesus, condemned as a heretic, from crucifixion. The masses chose Barrabas, and he is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsSteve ReevesJacques SernasGianna Maria CanaleDuring the power struggle between Caesar and Crassus, a Roman centurion, who is the lost son of Spartacus, is dispatched to Crassus' camp to observe his movements and keep Caesar informed.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczRouben MamoulianStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonRex HarrisonQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsSophia LorenStephen BoydAlec GuinnessThe death of Marcus Aurelius leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor's son, Commodus, demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakAndrew MartonSergiu NicolaescuStarsLaurence HarveyOrson WellesSylva KoscinaCethegus, leader of the Roman nobility, travels to Bizantium and its leader Justinian, in an attempt to raise an army to march on the Goths under Narses. Cethegus would like to set the two sides to war against each other, that his own forces might take control at the outcome.German film where Emperor Justinian is played by Orson Welles.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMartin PotterHiram KellerMax BornA series of disjointed mythical tales set in first-century Rome.The best in my opinion. Based on Satyricon, an actual novel from Ancient Rome and made by one of the best filmmakers of all time, Federico Fellini. Beautiful film that accurately captures the feeling of the world of Ancient Rome.
- StarsDerek JacobiJohn HurtSiân PhillipsThe personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
- DirectorTinto BrassStarsMalcolm McDowellPeter O'TooleHelen MirrenA dramatization of the ascent to Caesar and subsequent reign of Caligula, one of the most notorious leaders of ancient Rome. We see his ambition, his scheming, his perversion and decadence, his brutality and his lunacy.Quite overlooked and underrated because of all of the controversy. The newer blu-ray release of this movie has all of the straight up pornographic parts that were inserted post-production by the producer taken out, so it is essentially the director's cut. Just to be warned, it does still have a lot of sex, violence and nudity though. The film may be very unsettling, but it is a pretty accurate portrayal of how Rome was at the time.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseMichael PalinBorn on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsRussell CroweJoaquin PhoenixConnie NielsenA former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
- StarsJeremy SistoRichard HarrisChristopher WalkenTwenty-year-old Julius Caeser flees Rome for his life during the reign of Sulla, but through skill and ambition rises four decades later to become Rome's supreme dictator.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsRachel WeiszMax MinghellaOscar IsaacA historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress, the philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.