Teaching my son about the Roman Empire, I ponder how that 500-year era still has a grip on us today, and the movies and TV series that have brought it to life.
Are movies about the Roman Empire so popular in the US because they remind us of ourselves?
Three memorable ones for me:
- “Gladiator” (2000): In the year 180, the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) throws the Roman Empire into chaos. Maximus (Russell Crowe) is one of the Roman army’s most capable and trusted generals and a key advisor to the emperor. Set to be executed, Maximus escapes.
- Rome (HBO series, 2005-2007): Begins with Caesar’s invasion of Gaul and continues with the rise of the first Emperor Augustus. The series centered on soldiers Pullo and Vorenus, who appeared to die at the end of the series.
- “The Robe” (1953): tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus.
Wikipedia editors have compiled a list of movies set in ancient Rome.
In teaching my son about ancient Rome, drawing on this Wikipedia entry and other sources, I made the following outline:
Roman emperors
* Caesar (44 B.C.) assassinated.
* his nephew Octavius (defeated Antony and Cleopatra, who killed themselves). (31 BC)
* Augustus 27 BC–AD 14
* his nephew Tiberius d. 37 A.D. hated
* Caligula d. 41 A.D. insane
* Cladius (poisoned by his wife/niece in 54 A.D.)
* Nero (committed suicide in 68)
* 3 emperors in 18 months, then
* Vespasian — began construction of Coliseum.
* Titus (d. 81) — dedicated Coliseum in a.d. 80. Titus inaugurated the Coliseum in ad 80
with 100 days of gladiatorial contests, wild-beast hunts, and possibly even staged naval battles.
The emperor’s penchant for throwing lavish public spectacles endeared him to the Roman people.
* Domitian (d. 96) — completed coliseum.
* 5 good emperors (Pax Romana). 100 years.
* Commodus (insane, murdered in 192)
* Severan Dynasty, which lasted from 193 until 235, when last one was assassinated. Troubled.
Crisis of the Third Century. Empire nearly collapsed.
Diocletian, who reigned from 284 until 305, saved the empire but
split it up into Western and Eastern parts.
This was solidified (after a power struggle) by Emperor Constantine.
In 313, he declared Christianity the religion of the Roman empire.
Civil War ensued.
Combats between gladiators in the Colosseum were abolished in ad 404,
and the last recorded fight between animals was held there in ad 523.
The western roman empire fell in 476 when German mercenaries
deposed the last emperor, Romulus Augustus, and declared a King of Italy.
The first performances held in the Colosseum in more than 1,500 years occurred during the year 2000,
when the Greek National Theater performed three tragedies by the ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles,
beginning with Oedipus Rex.
The Empire contributed many things to the world, such as
- a calendar with leap years,
- the institutions of Christianity and
- aspects of modern neo-classicistic architecture and Byzantine architecture.
The Wikipedia entry concludes:
The extensive system of roads that was constructed by the Roman Army lasts to this day.
Because of this network of roads, the time necessary to travel between destinations in Europe
did not decrease until the 19th century, when steam power was invented.
Even modern astrology comes to us directly from the Romans.The Roman Empire also contributed its form of government, which influences various constitutions
including those of most European countries and many former European colonies.In the United States, for example, the framers of the Constitution remarked,
in creating the Presidency, that they wanted to inaugurate an “Augustan Age”.
The modern world also inherited legal thinking from Roman law, fully codified in Late Antiquity.
Governing a vast territory, the Romans developed the science of public administration
to an extent never before conceived or necessary, creating an extensive civil service
and formalised methods of tax collection.
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