List of films set in ancient Rome

The founding of Rome

• Duel of the Titans – based on the legend of Romulus and Remus with Steve Reeves as Romulus and Gordon Scott as Remus
• The Avenger – based on Virgil's The Aeneid with Steve Reeves as Aeneas: a story of the hero leading escaped survivors of the Trojan War to new land in Italy.
• - in archaic Latin; directed by Matteo Rovere

  The Roman Kingdom

Reign of [Romulus]

• Romulus and the Sabines
• The Rape of the Sabine Women – about the Rape of the Sabine Women

  Reign of [Tullus Hostilius]

• Duel of Champions – with Alan Ladd as Horatius and Robert Keith as Tullus Hostilius

  The Roman Republic

Early Roman Republic

• Le vergini di Roma – French-Italian film, including characters of Etruscan king Porsenna and Mucius Scaevola
• Hero of Rome – with Gordon Scott as Gaius Mucius Scaevola
• – with Gordon Scott as Gaius Marcius Coriolanus
• Brennus, Enemy of Rome – about the Battle of the Allia and sack of Rome in 387 BC, with Gordon Scott as Brennus
• Coriolanus – adaptation of Shakespeare's play, dir. by Ralph Fiennes

  [Second Punic War]

• Cabiria – a monumental Italian production, touching on Hannibal's campaign in Italy, the siege of Syracuse and Battle of Zama, featuring such characters as Masinissa
• – about the career of Scipio Africanus up to his defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama
• Jupiter's Darling – with Howard Keel as Hannibal and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus
• Hannibal – Italian post-war production about Hannibal's campaign in Italy including the Battle of Cannae. Stars Victor Mature.
• L'Assedio di Siracusa – on the siege of Syracuse, with Rossano Brazzi as Archimides
• Hannibal – TV docudrama directed by Edward Bazalgette, with Alexander Siddig as Hannibal

  [Third Punic War]

• Cartagine in fiamme – after the novel by Emilio Salgari, dir. by Carmine Gallone

  2nd century BC

• The Centurion – about the Battle of Corinth, with John Drew Barrymore as Diaeus
• Revolution – docudrama about of the reforms of Tiberius Gracchus

  [Third Servile War]

• Spartak – an early Soviet production, based on the novel by Raffaello Giovagnoli
• Sins of Rome – dir. by Riccardo Freda
• Spartacus – with Kirk Douglas as Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as Marcus Licinius Crassus
• Il figlio di Spartacus – unofficial Italian sequel to Spartacus directed by Sergio Corbucci
• Spartacus – with Goran Visnjic as Spartacus
• ' – with Andy Whitfield as Spartacus, Manu Bennett as Crixus, Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, John Hannah as Lentulus Batiatus, and Craig Parker as Gaius Claudius Glaber
• ' – prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The plot of Gods of the Arena follows Lentulus Batiatus's life as a lanista, and Gannicus's time as a gladiator
• ' – sequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, with Liam McIntyre replacing Andy Whitfield as Spartacus, after Whitfield's unexpected death in 2011
• ' – the third season of the series

  [Julius Caesar]

• Gaius Julius Caesar – a silent film, directed by Enrico Guazzoni
• Caesar Against the Pirates – a tale of Caesar being caught by pirates and asking for help to get back to Rome
• Caesar the Conqueror – an Italian film about the career of Julius Caesar and his Gallic Wars
• The Giants of Rome – Italian-French adventure film set in the Roman warfare against Vercingetorix, with Richard Harrison as Claudius Marcellus
• Julius Caesar. This is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play
• Julius Caesar – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war, with Marlon Brando as Mark Antony and John Gielgud as Gaius Cassius Longinus. This is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play
• Julius Caesar – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war
• Druids – the life and career of Vercingetorix, a Gallic adversary of Rome in the film of Jacques Dorfmann
• Julius Caesar
• Empire
• Rome – deals with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Liberators' civil war
• Caesar – docudrama about the Gallic Wars and Caesar's Civil War
• – five episode Documentary/drama series produced by Netflix about the life and reign of Julius Caesar

  Cleopatra

• Cléopâtre – French film made by Georges Méliès, the earliest known version considered to be lost, retrieved 2005
• Antony and Cleopatra – a film starring Maurice Costello and Florence Lawrence
• Cléopâtre – French film by Henri Andréani and Ferdinand Zecca
• Cléopâtre – new silent version after the play of Victorien Sardou
• Marcantonio e Cleopatra – Italian production from the era of the silent film, directed by Enrico Guazzoni
• Cleopatra – American film with Theda Bara as Cleopatra
• Cleopatra – the second American version
• Cleopatra – with Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra
• Caesar and Cleopatra – with Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra and Claude Rains as Julius Caesar, after the play by G. B. Shaw
• Le legioni di Cleopatra – Italian film directed by Vittorio Cottafavi
• Serpent of the Nile – directed by William Castle with Rhonda Fleming as Cleopatra
• A Queen for Caesar – Italian film, starring Pascale Petit
• Cleopatra – including the Battle of Actium and the Final War of the Roman Republic, with Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Mark Antony and Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar
• Carry On Cleo – a parody of J. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra with Sid James as Mark Antony, set in the reign of Julius Caesar
• Antony and Cleopatra – a film starring Charlton Heston and Hildegarde Neil
• Antony and Cleopatra – a television version of a Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman
• Antony and Cleopatra – a television version produced as part of the BBC Television Shakespeare starring Colin Blakely and Jane Lapotaire
• Cleopatra – with Leonor Varela as Cleopatra and Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar, based on the book by Margaret George
• Asterix and Cleopatra – Belgian-French animated film, as well as a French/Italian film based on the same source, Goscinny and Uderzo's 1963 comic-book Asterix and Cleopatra.
• The Cleopatras – BBC TV 8-episode series on the latter part of the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty
• Cleopatra – Brazilian film with Alessandra Negrini as Cleopatra and Miguel Falabella as Julius Caesar

  The Roman Empire

1st century BC

• Empire
• Rome – 22-episode TV series, a joint British-American-Italian production on Rome's transition from Republic to Empire

  The Life of [Jesus]

• La vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ – the French Pathé-production
• Ben-Hur – the first known version adapted from the famous Lew Wallace's novel, dir. by Sidney Olcott
• Intolerance – silent film told in several time-periods with a segment set in 27 AD leading to the Crucifixion
• Three Ages – a parody of Intolerance also with its own Roman section
• – silent film dir. by Fred Niblo, starring Ramon Novarro
• King of Kings
• Golgotha
• Ben-Hur – a monumental Hollywood production directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston; partly set in Rome
• King of Kings
• Pontius Pilate – with Jean Marais as Pontius Pilate
• The Life of Brian – dir. by Terry Jones
• The Last Temptation of Christ – dir. by Martin Scorsese, with Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ
• The Gospel of John
• Ben-Hur – animated version of the novel by Lew Wallace
• Passion of the Christ – dir. by Mel Gibson, with Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ ; recorded in original languages
• Ben Hur – miniseries by Steve Shill
• Ben-Hur – new American version directed by Timur Bekmambetov with Jack Huston as Ben-Hur
• Risen – a biblical drama dir. by Kevin Reynolds with Cliff Curtis featuring Yeshua

  Reigns of [Augustus], [Tiberius], [Caligula] and [Claudius]

• Agrippina – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
• Messalina – directed by Enrico Guazzoni
• I, Claudius – with Charles Laughton as Claudius. This is an adaptation of Robert Graves's novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God".
• The Affairs of Messalina – with María Félix as Messalina
• Barabbas – Swedish version, the first based on the novel by Pär Lagerkvist
• The Robe – based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, with Richard Burton as Marcellus and Jean Simmons as Diana
• Demetrius and the Gladiators – sequel to The Robe
• Messalina, venere imperatrice – dir. by Vittorio Cottafavi, with Belinda Lee as Messalina
• Barabbas – American version, dir. by Richard Fleischer, starring Anthony Quinn
• Massacre in the Black Forest – about the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
• The Caesars – 6 episodes: Augustus; Germanicus; Tiberius; Sejanus; Caligula; Claudius
• I, Claudius – with Derek Jacobi as Claudius.
• Caligula – with Malcolm McDowell as Caligula
• Los cántabros – about the Cantabrian wars with Paul Naschy as Marcus Agrippa
• The Inquiry – with Max von Sydow as Tiberius
• Barabbas – the latest version based on the Lagerkvist's book, dir. by Roger Young, starring Billy Zane
• Britannia – British TV series of a fictional account of the Roman conquest of Britain.
• '' - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

  Reign of [Nero]

• Quo Vadis – the earliest adaptation made by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca
• Quo Vadis – the second silent version directed by Enrico Guazzoni
• Quo Vadis – Italian production directed by Georg Jacoby and Gabriellino D'Annunzio, with Emil Jannings as Nero
• The Sign of the Cross – with Charles Laughton as Nero
• Fiddlers Three – British production, starring Tommy Trinder, Sonnie Hale and Francis L. Sullivan as the Emperor Nero.
• Quo Vadis – American production with Peter Ustinov as Nero
• The Silver Chalice – starring Paul Newman
• The Romans – classic Doctor Who season 2 ep. 4
• Fellini Satyricon – fantasy drama loosely based on Petronius's work
• Satyricon – fantasy drama based on Petronius's work
• Quo Vadis – TV miniseries directed by Franco Rossi
• Quo Vadis – Polish superproduction directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
• Quo Vadis – TV six-part series following the main Polish production
• Nero – AKA "Imperium: Nero", part of the Imperium series. Directed by Paul Marcus
• Nero – docudrama about reign of Nero
• '' - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

  [Boudica]'s Revolt

• The Viking Queen – film loosely based on the revolt of Boudica
• Warrior Queen – TV series about the revolt of Boudica
• Boudica – film about the revolt of Boudica
• '' - Satiric Children's Film based on the Boudica Revolt

  Eruption of [Mount Vesuvius]

• The Last Days of Pompeii – a silent film directed by Mario Caserini and Elioterio Rudolfi
• The Last Days of Pompeii
• The Last Days of Pompeii – French film
• The Last Days of Pompeii – dir. by Mario Bonnard & Sergio Leone
• Up Pompeii!
• Up Pompeii – set in 79 AD, yet anachronistically shows Nero still reigning 10 years after his death
• The Last Days of Pompeii – ABC-TV miniseries
• '
• ', part of the Imperium series.
• The Fires of Pompeii – new Doctor Who series 4 ep. 2
• Pompeii – a romantic disaster film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

  Flavian Dynasty

• Masada – TV miniseries about the siege of Masada in the First Jewish-Roman War, dir. by Boris Sagal
• The Apocalypse – telefilm about Jesus Christ's last surviving disciple and his writings and visions, starring Richard Harris as St John of Patras and Bruce Payne as Domitian
• – BBC Television docudrama which tells the true story of Verus, a gladiator fighting at the Colosseum of Rome, during the reign of Titus
• Rebellion – docudrama about First Jewish–Roman War
• Roman Mysteries – ten-part TV series for youngsters, directed by Paul Marcus

  85-110 AD

• The Dacians – Romanian film about Domitian's Dacian War, with Pierre Brice as Septimius Severus
• The Column – Romanian film about Trajan's Dacian Wars

  Reign of [Hadrian]

• The Eagle of the Ninth – a six-part BBC mini-series, based on the novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, starring Anthony Higgins
• Centurion – an action film based on the massacre of the Ninth Legion, directed by Neil Marshall
• The Eagle – adaption of the novel The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, directed by Kevin Macdonald

  Reign of [Antoninus Pius]

• Androcles and the Lion – set in 161 AD, after the play by George Bernard Shaw

  Reign of [Commodus]

• The Fall of the Roman Empire – latter half set in Rome, with Christopher Plummer as Commodus
• The Two Gladiators – Italian prequel of the next one, dir. by Mario Caiano
• Gladiator – latter half set in Rome, partly a remake of The Fall of the Roman Empire
• – six episode Documentary/drama series produced by Netflix about the life and reign of Emperor Commodus.

  250-272 AD

• Sign of the Gladiator – about the Palmyrene Empire of queen Zenobia and its re-annexation back to Rome
• The Magnificent Gladiator – Italian film being a tale of a gladiator from the times of emperor Gallienus

  Reign of [Diocletian]

• Sebastiane – homoerotical version of the legend of St Sebastian ; remarkable also as the first film entirely recorded in Latin

  310-315 AD (Age of Constantine">Constantine the Great">Constantine)

• The Fighting Gladiators, or Fabiola – Italian film with Michèle Morgan
• Constantine and the Cross – up to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312, with Cornel Wilde as Constantine the Great
• The Fall of Rome – an Italian peplum-film, the story based on persecution of Christians after the death of Emperor Constantine
• Constantine – docudrama about the rise of Constantine

  [Attila the Hun]

• Attila – with Anthony Quinn as Attila the Hun and Sophia Loren as Justa Grata Honoria
• Sign of the Pagan – with Jack Palance as Attila the Hun
• Attila – a joint American-Lithuanian production with Gerard Butler as Attila the Hun

  Late Empire

• Revenge of the Barbarians – about the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 AD
• Kampf um Rom I – on the struggle in Italy ruled by the Ostrogoths, after the novel by Felix Dahn
• Kampf um Rom II : Der Verrat – continuation of the German production
• Thais – Polish film, after a story by Anatole France on an episode from the life of the 4th-century Alexandria
• Titus Andronicus – fictional story of a general in the Roman army, based on the tragedy by William Shakespeare; BBC TV version dir. by Jane Howell
• Titus – adaptation by Julie Taymor with Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus
• King Arthur
• The Voyage Home – based on the poem De reditu suo by Rutilius Claudius Namatianus
• The Fall of Rome – docudrama about the sack of Rome by Alaric's Visigoths
• The Last Legion – loosely inspired by the 5th-century collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the legendary-fantastic elements from the history of Britain, with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley
• Agora – Spanish film with Rachel Weisz starring as Hypatia, a female philosopher and savant from Alexandria
• – a biographical film about Augustine of Hippo, dir. by Christian Duguay
• Decline of an Empire – about "the Christian saint who defied the Empire", with Peter O'Toole as Cornelius Gallus

  Undated

• Roman Scandals – Eddie Cantor's dream sequence.
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Film version of the Musical Play – inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria
• The Arena – a story of two female gladiators from the arena of Brundisium, dir. by Steve Carver
• History of the World, Part I – the section "The Roman Empire" of this broad satire is set in Rome
• Amazons and Gladiators – Australian action/adventure film of Roman times