Best Movies Set in Rome

[Graham Sumner]

I saw a really nice squamata in "Caesar and Cleopatra". It hasn't been released on DVD, afaik.
It's barely watchable for me but I'd buy it since it has some nice costumes (some horrible! ) and sets.

Hi Jaime

It is available in an attractive boxed version in the UK at least. As you say some nice and interesting costumes, plus Duncan please note, spot a fairly accurate looking Ballista in the background of the Pharos scene! Sadly the print is very washed out in places and Vivien Leigh is so pale at times she is almost invisible!

Perhaps of special interest to RAT er's is the fact that both this production and the later early attempt at Liz Taylor's 'Cleopatra', making use of British researchers, went for deep red roman tunics and cloaks while 'Hollywood' productions like 'Quo Vadis' and 'Ben-Hur' went for white tunics and red cloaks. Yet it is 'Hollywood', which often gets the blame for starting the idea that tunics should be red.

However 'The Robe' and it's sequel 'Demetrius and the Gladiators', filmed together sort of bucked this trend with legionaries in blue tunics and dark red cloaks with Praetorians in white tunics and purple red cloaks. As I have pointed out elsewhere this would appear to be based on the book 'The Roman Soldier' by A. Forestier available on Amazon. In particular the Jerusalem legionary uniforms are clearly copied from one of Forestier's paintings, they even have yellow leather pteryges and wool stuffed into their boots as Forestier depicted.

The deep red tunics and cloaks also appear in this book, so perhaps the source material for many films, although the earlier works of Hottenroth and Racinet on historical costumes also played a part.

Graham.