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:

Title Release date Notes
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

Title Release date Notes
Romulus and the Sabines 1961
The Rape of the Sabine Women 1962 about the Rape of the Sabine Women (dir. by Richard Pottier)

Reign of Tullus Hostilius

Title Release date Notes
Duel of Champions 1961 with Alan Ladd as Horatius and Robert Keith as Tullus Hostilius

    The Roman Republic

    Early Roman Republic

    Title Release date Notes
    Le vergini di Roma 1961 French-Italian film (directed by Carlo Luigi Bragaglia and Vittorio Cottafavi), including characters of Etruscan king Porsenna and Mucius Scaevola
    Hero of Rome 1964 with Gordon Scott as Gaius Mucius Scaevola (directed by Giorgio Ferroni)
    Coriolanus: Hero without a Country 1964 with Gordon Scott as Gaius Marcius Coriolanus (dir. by Giorgio Ferroni)
    Brennus, Enemy of Rome 1963 about the Battle of the Allia and sack of Rome in 387 BC, with Gordon Scott as Brennus

    Second Punic War

    Title Release date Notes
    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; also the first Maciste film
    Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal 1937 about the career of Scipio Africanus up to his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama
    Jupiter's Darling 1955 with Howard Keel as Hannibal and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus
    Hannibal 1959 Italian post-war production about Hannibal's campaign in Italy including the Battle of Cannae. Stars Victor Mature.
    L'Assedio di Siracusa 1960 on the siege of Syracuse, with Rossano Brazzi as Archimides
    Hannibal 2006 TV docudrama directed by Edward Bazalgette, with Alexander Siddig as Hannibal

    Third Punic War

    Title Release date Notes
    Cartagine in fiamme 1960 after the novel by Emilio Salgari, dir. by Carmine Gallone

    2nd century BC

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Cleopatra

    Title Release date Notes
    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 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

    Title Release date Notes
    Imperium: Augustus 2003
    Empire 2005 TV series
    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)
    Domina 2021– TV series that charts the life and rise of Livia Drusilla, the powerful wife of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.

    The Life of Jesus

    Title Release date Notes
    La vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ 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 novel, dir. by Sidney Olcott
    From the Manger to the Cross 1912 American film shot on location in the Middle East, dir. by Sidney Olcott
    La vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ 1914 French Pathé remake (dir. by Maurice Maître)
    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 starring Buster Keaton 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. It’s quite possibly one of the most infamous films ever made solely for the controversy surrounding the film being considered Blasphemous, though the Pythons themselves have asserted it’s not blasphemous.
    The Last Temptation of Christ 1988 dir. by Martin Scorsese, with Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ
    The Gospel of John 2003 A 3-hr account narrated by Christopher Plummer word-for-word from The Good News Bible.
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    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 1976 BBC TV series 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 2018–2022 British TV series of a fictional account of the Roman conquest of Britain.

    Reign of Nero

    Title Release date Notes
    Quo Vadis 1901 the earliest adaptation made by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca
    Quo Vadis 1913 the second silent version directed by Enrico Guazzoni
    Quo Vadis 1924 Italian production directed by Georg Jacoby and Gabriellino D'Annunzio, with Emil Jannings as Nero
    The Sign of the Cross 1932 with Charles Laughton as Nero
    Fiddlers Three 1944 British production, starring Tommy Trinder, Sonnie Hale and Francis L. Sullivan as the Emperor Nero.
    Quo Vadis 1951 American production with Peter Ustinov as Nero (dir. by Mervyn LeRoy)
    The Silver Chalice 1954 starring Paul Newman (dir. by Victor Saville)
    The Romans 1965 classic Doctor Who season 2 ep. 4
    Fellini Satyricon 1969 fantasy drama loosely based on Petronius's work (dir. by Federico Fellini)
    Satyricon 1969 fantasy drama based on Petronius's work (dir. by Gian Luigi Polidoro)
    Quo Vadis 1985 TV miniseries directed by Franco Rossi
    Quo Vadis 2001 Polish superproduction directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
    Quo Vadis 2002 TV six-part series following the main Polish production
    Nero 2004 AKA "Imperium: Nero", part of the Imperium series. Directed by Paul Marcus
    Nero (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode Two) 2006 docudrama about reign of Nero

    Boudica's Revolt

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    The Last Days of Pompeii 1913 a silent film directed by Mario Caserini and Elioterio Rudolfi
    The Last Days of Pompeii 1935
    The Last Days of Pompeii 1950 French film (dir. by Paolo Moffa)
    The Last Days of Pompeii 1959 dir. by Mario Bonnard & Sergio Leone
    Up Pompeii! 1969–1970 BBC TV Series
    Up Pompeii 1971 set in 79 AD, yet anachronistically shows Nero still reigning 10 years after his death (1971)
    The Last Days of Pompeii (TV miniseries) 1984 ABC-TV miniseries
    Pompeii: The Last Day 2003
    Imperium: Pompeii 2007 part of the Imperium series.
    The Fires of Pompeii 2008 new Doctor Who series 4 ep. 2
    Pompeii 2014 a romantic disaster film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

    Flavian Dynasty

    Title Release date Notes
    Masada 1981 TV miniseries about the siege of Masada in the First Jewish-Roman War, dir. by Boris Sagal
    Age of Treason 1993 A fictitious story about Marcus Didius Falco (played by Bryan Brown), an "informer" (a proto-private investigator) who navigates the tough back alleys of Rome with the help of gigantic ex-gladiator Justus (played by Matthias Hues), to find the killer of a man whose family was close to the newly enthroned Emperor Vespasian.
    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
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    The Dacians 1967 Romanian film about Domitian's Dacian War, with Pierre Brice (dir. by Sergiu Nicolaescu)
    The Column 1968 Romanian film about Trajan's Dacian Wars (dir. by Mircea Dragan)

    Reign of Hadrian

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    Androcles and the Lion 1952 set in 161 AD, after the play by George Bernard Shaw

    Reign of Commodus

    Title Release date Notes
    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)

    250-272 AD

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    Sebastiane 1976 Homoerotical version of the legend of St Sebastian; remarkable also as the first film entirely recorded in Latin. Directed by Derek Jarman.

    310-315 AD (Age of Constantine)

    Title Release date Notes
    The Fighting Gladiators 1949 aka Fabiola Italian film with Michèle Morgan
    Constantine and the Cross 1962 up to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312, with Cornel Wilde as Constantine the Great
    The Fall of Rome 1963 an Italian peplum-film, the story based on persecution of Christians after the death of Emperor Constantine (dir. by Antonio Margheriti)
    Constantine (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire – Episode Five) 2006 docudrama about the rise of Constantine

    Attila the Hun

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    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

    Title Release date Notes
    Roman Scandals 1933 Eddie Cantor's dream sequence.
    A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum 1966 Film version of the Musical Play – inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251-183 B.C.), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria
    The Arena 1974 [also known as Naked Warriors] – a story of two female gladiators from the arena of Brundisium, dir. by Steve Carver
    History of the World, Part I 1981 the section "The Roman Empire" of this broad satire is set in Rome
    Amazons and Gladiators 2001 Australian action/adventure film of Roman times (dir. by Zachary Weintraub)

    See also

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