New & Forthcoming Ancient World Movies

NEW & FORTHCOMING
ANCIENT WORLD
MOVIES & TV SHOWS:
2019

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Alessandro Borghi plays Romulus in filmmaker Matteo Rovere’s Il Primo Re (Romulus and Remus: The First King), about the legendary twins who founded Rome. The movie opened in Italy January 31, 2019. This is a seldom-seen Rome of thatched huts, not marble columns, and according to the filmmakers the dialogue is entirely “in Proto-Italic language, the ancestor of Latin.” Here’s a trailer.

The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great debuted on National Geographic Channel in March 2019. The real news here is that serious archaeoloical digs are finally taking place in the city of Alexandria. (Previously, most finds have been in the more accessible harbor, not under the densely developed city itself.) The bad news for the people who live in Alexandria is that archaeologist Pepi Papakosta has been given permission to dig just about anywhere in one of the city’s largest and most central parks—good-bye green space! The good news is that she might yet find something significant. What does she uncover in this episode? Spoiler alert: not the tomb of Alexander. Home page here.

The Next Pompeii premiered February 20, 2019 on the PBS series Nova. “In the shadow of Italy’s Vesuvius, a lesser-known volcano rumbles: Campi Flegrei. An eruption could endanger the millions of residents of the city of Naples. Scientists gain new insights into what happened in nearby Pompeii, and dig into the unique geology of Campi Flegrei. Can an innovative eruption warning system prevent Naples becoming the next Pompeii?” Watch or read transcript here.

Coming in 2020 and Beyond…


Romanian filmmaker Octavian Repede, director of the beautifully-shot 2018 feature 141 A.D Mission in Dacia (faceebook page; streaming at Amazon Prime), is at work on a follow-up. Here’s a teaser trailer for 141 A.D The Unknown Story of Centurion Marcus Scaevola.

Will there be a TV series about The Caesars, with a pilot written by Viking and Tudors creator Michael Hirst (above) and Martin Scorsese somewhere in the mix? You can read a Guardian article about the project here, which yields this curious passage: Hirst “says his dramas are not documentaries but the details are rooted in history: ‘Just like Shakespeare’s history plays, they only start with some historical facts, then the drama takes over. You can’t have both.’” Seriously?

A new TV series is in the works about Cleopatra, but it sounds like a “tale o’ crap.” (That's an anagram). From the press release: “After being exiled as a young woman, Cleopatra decides to stand up against the patriarchy and fight back for her freedom.” You go, girl! “This tale will follow her rise and transition to becoming the first, last and only female pharaoh.” I guess none of the preceding Ptolemaic queens count, not to mention good old Hatshepsut. More details here. (Pictured above: another sassy Cleo, this one envisioned by Sid Meier’s Civilization VI game.)

Gertrude Stein Matisse Picasso SFMOMA modern art
From the introduction to Seneca: Four Tragedies and Octavia, by E. F. Watling:

Cicero, at the festival celebrating the opening of Rome’s first permanent theatre, complained of the pathetic performances of old-fashioned actors past their prime, and of the spectacular ostentation which had been imposed on the old tragedies: “Who wants to see six hundred mules in Clytaemnestra or three hundred goblets in The Trojan Horse, or a battle between fully equipped armies of horse and foot?”

What would Cicero have made of 300?

From Achilles to Zeus: Stephen Moss, film writer for The Guardian, offers an A-Z guide to Ancient World movies. His spot-on entry for the letter S: “Slaves: Notable by their absence in films about Sparta, even though they were the bedrock of Spartan society. Presumably acknowledgment of Sparta’s large slave population would sit oddly with a portrayal of a heroic society that valued freedom...” Click here to read the entire alphabet.