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. 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 The 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

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

Duel of Champions (1961) – with Alan Ladd as Horatius and Robert Keith as Tullus Hostilius

The Roman Republic

Early Roman Republic

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
Coriolanus (2011) – adaptation of Shakespeare's play, dir. by Ralph Fiennes (also starring)

Second Punic War

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
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

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

2nd century BC

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]
Sins of Rome (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) – 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

La vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (1903) – the 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
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
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 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)

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

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 – 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
Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019) - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

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
Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019) - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

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! (BBC TV Series) (1969–1970)
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

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

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 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

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)
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)

The Fighting Gladiators, or Fabiola (1949) – 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

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

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)