Big Screen Rome

Front Cover
John Wiley & Sons, 2009 M02 9 - 288 pages

Big Screen Rome is the first systematic survey of the most important and popular films from the past half century that reconstruct the image of Roman antiquity.

  • The first systematic survey of the most important and popular recent films about Roman antiquity.
  • Shows how cinema explores, reinvents and celebrates the spectacle of ancient Rome.
  • Films discussed in depth include Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator and Terry Jones's Monty Python's Life of Brian.
  • Contributes to discussions about the ongoing relevance of the classical world.
  • Shows how contemporary film-makers use recreations of ancient history as commentaries on contemporary society.
  • Structured in a way that makes it suitable for course use, and features issues for discussion and analysis, and reference to further bibliographic resources.
  • Written in an energetic and engaging style.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction
1
Chapter 1 Quo Vadis 1951
7
Chapter 2 The Robe 1953
34
Chapter 3 BenHur 1959
59
Chapter 4 Spartacus 1960
89
Chapter 5 Cleopatra 1963
121
Chapter 6 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum 1966
159
Chapter 7 Monty Pythons Life of Brian 1979
176
Chapter 8 History of the World Part I 1981 The Roman Empire Sequence
194
Chapter 9 Gladiator 2000
207
Bibliography
257
Index
262
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2009)

Monica Silveira Cyrino is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of In Pandora’s Jar: Lovesickness in Early Greek Poetry (1995) and a contributor to Martin Winkler’s Gladiator: Film and History (Blackwell Publishing, 2004). She has appeared as an academic consultant on the television show “History vs. Hollywood” on The History Channel. She was awarded the American Philological Association’s national teaching award in classics (1998-99).

Bibliographic information