List of films set in ancient Rome

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

The Roman Kingdom

Duel of the Titans (1961) – based on the legend of Romulus and Remus with Steve Reeves as Romulus and Gordon Scott as Remus
Romulus and the Sabines
Duel of Champions (1961) – with Alan Ladd as Horatius and Robert Keith as Tullus Hostilius
Le vergini di Roma (1961) – Franch-Italian film (directed by Carlo Luigi Bragaglia and Vittorio Cottafavi), including characters of Etruscan king Porsenna and Mucius Scaevola
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1962) – about the The Rape of the Sabine Women
Hero of Rome (1964) – with Gordon Scott as Gaius Mucius Scaevola

Roman Republic

Early Roman Republic

Coriolanus: Hero without a Country (1963) – with Gordon Scott as Gaius Marcius Coriolanus
Brennus, Enemy of Rome (1963) – about the Battle of the Allia and sack of Rome in 387 BC, with Gordon Scott as Brennus
The Centurion (1961) – about the Battle of Corinth (146 BC), with John Drew Barrymore as Diaeus
Episode four: Revolution (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about of the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus

Second Punic War

Hannibal (1959) – a great Italian post-war production about Hannibal's (starring Victor Mature) campaign in Italy including the Battle of Cannae
Hannibal – Rome's Worst Nightmare (2006) – TV docudrama with Alexander Siddig as Hannibal
Siege of Syracuse (1960) – about the siege of Syracuse, with Rossano Brazzi as Archimides
Cartagine in fiamme (1960) – after the novel by Emilio Salgari, dir. by Carmine Gallone
Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (1937) – about the career of Scipio Africanus up to his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama
Cabiria (1914) – a monumental Italian production (dir. by Giovanni Pastrone, after the screenplay by Gabriele d'Annunzio), touching on Hannibal's campaign in Italy, the siege of Syracuse and Battle of Zama, featuring such characters as Masinissa
Jupiter's Darling (1955) – with Howard Keel as Hannibal and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus

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) – 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)

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar (1914) – a silent film, directed by Enrico Guazzoni
Julius Caesar (1953) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and Liberators' civil war, with Marlon Brando as Mark Antony and John Gielgud as Cassius (dir. by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Julius Caesar (1970) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and Liberators' civil war
Caesar the Conqueror (1962) – an Italian film about career of Julius Caesar and his Gallic Wars (dir. by Tanio Boccia)
Druids (2001) – the career of Vercingetorix
Julius Caesar (TV miniseries) (2002)
Empire (2005)
Rome (2005) – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and Liberators' civil war
Episode one: Caesar (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about Gallic Wars and civil war led by Julius Caesar

Cleopatra

Cléopâtre (1899) – French film made by Georges Méliès, the earliest known version considered to be lost, retrieved 2005
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 VII (dir. by Cecil B. DeMille)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) – with Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra VII 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
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 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
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) – a Belgian-French animated film (dir. by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo)

The Roman Empire

1st century BC

Empire (TV series) (2005)
Imperium: Augustus

The Life of Jesus Christ

Ben-Hur (2003) – animated version (the fourth in all) of the novel by Lew Wallace
Ben-Hur (1907) – the first known version (15-minute long), dir. by Sidney Olcott
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) – silent film dir. by Fred Niblo, starring Ramon Novarro; this film is noteworthy for its color segments and for the female nudity in the parade sequence
Ben-Hur (1959) – a monumental Hollywood production directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston; partly set in Rome
Ben Hur (2010) – miniseries by Steve Shill
King of Kings (1927)
King of Kings (1961)
La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ (1903) – the French Pathé-production (dir. by Ferdinand Zecca) [also known as La Passion de Nôtre-Seigneur Jésus Christ]
Passion of the Christ (2004) – dir. by Mel Gibson, with James Caviezel as Jesus Christ ; recorded in original languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin)
Pontius Pilate (1961) – with Jean Marais as Pontius Pilate
The Life of Brian (1979) – dir. by Terry Jones

Reigns of Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius

Agrippina (1910) – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
Messalina (1924) – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
Messalina, venere imperatrice (1960) – dir. by Vittorio Cottafavi, with Belinda Lee as Messalina
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)
The Inquiry (2006) – with Max von Sydow as Tiberius
Caligula (1979) – with Malcolm McDowell as Caligula (dir. by Tinto Brass)
Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) – sequel to The Robe (dir. Delmer Daves)
I, Claudius (1937, never completed) – with Charles Laughton as Claudius
I, Claudius (BBC TV series) (1976) – with Derek Jacobi as Claudius
Barabbas (1953) – Swedish version (dir. by Alf Sjöberg), the first based on the novel by Pär Lagerkvist
Barabbas (1961) – American version, dir. by Richard Fleischer, starring Anthony Quinn

Reign of Nero

Quo Vadis (1901) – the earliest adaptation made by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca
Quo Vadis (1912) – the second silent version directed by Enrico Guazzoni
Quo Vadis (1925) – Italian production directed by Georg Jacoby and Gabriellino D'Annunzio, with Emil Jannings as Nero
Quo Vadis (1951) – with Peter Ustinov as Nero (dir. by Mervyn LeRoy)
Quo Vadis (1985) – TV miniseries directed by Franco Rossi
Quo Vadis (2001) – a Polish superproduction directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Quo Vadis (2002) – TV six-part series following the main Polish production
The Sign of the Cross (1932) – with Charles Laughton as Nero
Satyricon (1969) – fantasy drama loosely based on Petronius's work (dir. by Federico Fellini)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) – a fleeting reference to the emperor is made when the gladiatorial trainer in the Colosseum wants his hulking student to drive his next victim "straight into Nero's box"
Nero (film) (2005)
Episode two: Nero (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about reign of Nero

Boudica's Revolt

The Viking Queen (1967) – film loosely based on the revolt of Boudica
Warrior Queen (1978) – TV series about the revolt of Boudica
Boudica (2003) – film about the revolt of Boudica

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii (1913) – a silent film directed by Mario Caserini and Elioterio Rudolfi
The Last Days Of Pompeii (1935)
Les Derniers jours de Pompeii (1950) – French film (dir. by Paolo Moffa)
The Last Days Of Pompeii (1959)
The Last Days of Pompeii (TV miniseries) (1984) – ABC-TV miniseries
Pompeii: The Last Day (2003)
The Fires of Pompeii (2008) – new Dr Who series 4 ep. 2
Up Pompeii (1971)
Up Pompeii! – set in 79 AD, yet anachronistically shows Nero still reigning 10 years after his death (BBC TV Series) (1969–1975)
Roman Mysteries (TV series)

Flavian Dynasty

Masada (miniseries) (1985) – miniseries about the siege of Masada in the First Jewish-Roman War
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

Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death – BBC Television docudrama which tells the true story of Verus, a gladiator who fought at the Colosseum in Rome,in reign of Titus

Episode three: Rebellion (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about First Jewish–Roman War
Roman Mysteries (TV series)

85-110 AD

The Dacians (1967) – Romanian film about Domitian's Dacian War, with Pierre Brice as Septimius Severus (dir. by Sergiu Nicolaescu)
The Column (1968) – Romanian film about Trajan's Dacian Wars (dir. by Mircea Dragan)

Reign of Hadrian

The Eagle (2011) – adaption of the novel The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
Centurion(2010)- A Roman action film based on the massacre of the Ninth Legion

Reign of Antoninus Pius

Androcles and the Lion (1952) – set in 161 AD, after the play by George Bernard Shaw

Reign of Commodus

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) – latter half set in Rome, with Christopher Plummer as Commodus (dir. by Anthony Mann)
Gladiator (2000) – latter half set in Rome, partly a remake of The Fall of the Roman Empire (dir. by Ridley Scott)

260-272 AD

Sign of the Gladiator (1959) – about the Palmyrene Empire of queen Zenobia (starring Anita Ekberg) and its re-annexation back to Rome

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)

Constantine and the Cross (1962) – up to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312, with Cornel Wilde as Constantine the Great
The Fighting Gladiators, or Fabiola (1949) – Italian film with Michèle Morgan
Episode five: Constantine (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire in reign of Roman Emperor Constantine

Attila the Hun

Attila (1954) – with Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun and Sophia Loren as Justa Grata Honoria
Attila (2001) – a joint American-Lithuanian production with Gerard Butler as Attila the Hun (dir. by Dick Lowry)
Sign of the Pagan (1955) – with Jack Palance as Attila the Hun

Late Empire

Thais (1983) – Polish film (dir. by Ryszard Ber), after a story by Anatole France on an episode from the life of the 4th-century Alexandria
Agora (2009) – Spanish film (dir. by Alejandro Amenàbar) with Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, a female philosopher and savant from Alexandria
Kampf um Rom I (1968) – about 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 German production
King Arthur (film) (2004)
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
Restless Heart (film) (2012) – a film about Augustine of Hippo
476 A.D. (2013) – a film about Romulus Augustus's deposition by Odoaker, the chieftain of the Ostrogoths, and the end of the Roman Empire
Episode six: The Fall of Rome (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire) – docudrama about sack of Rome by Alaric

Undated

Roman Scandals (1933) – Eddie Cantor's dream sequence
History of the World, Part I (1981) – the section "The Roman Empire" of this broad satire is set in Rome