Here are some good films on Rome which I like (in no particular order):

1. Spartacus

2. Ben Hur

3. Quo Vadis

4. The Robe

5. Demetrius and the gladiators (?)

6. Gladiator

7. The Fall of the Roman Empire [ same Emperor as 6 but different story - Stephen Boyd turns in a good performance as Maximus, the honorable Roman.]

That's it... I can't even name 10 off the top of my head, I mean reasonably good films, not the tons of Italian productions which I have seen but can't remember. Some of them had good scenes, but didn't stand up as a movie.

If anyone can remember any good ones I've missed and complete the list, would appreciate it.

And, btw, check out my novel, which should be worth a few good laughs, as there are many amusing incidents throughout the book.





Some comments on my list of movies with ancient Rome as a theme :

I have only one favorite film, because of what it represents and the time it was set in, which was the culmination of the mass exploitation of slaves - from farms, to gladiatorial combat, to household work, to pleasure slaves [ or body slaves ]. I heard they even had slaves dedicated to a particular part of the body, ranging from nosehair to other .... [ you can imagine the rest without me going into details]. The Romans are brutal and crucify 6,000 slaves along the via Appia, the road leading to Capua, where Spartacus was formerly working as a gladiator (read slave) in a school run by a Roman knight or merchant.

The film stands out, particularly for performances by Olivier, Laughton and Peter Ustinov. There is a Tony Curtis / Olivier scene there which was infamous and cut for many years but a harmless scene by today's standards.