The Best Movies & Shows of Ancient Rome

I've always been a history fanatic, especially when it concerns the ancient Roman civilization. There have been a lot of movies and television shows based on Roman history, some of them are good, some are not.

This list is dedicated to the best hand-picked selection of Roman movies and television shows throughout the decades.

This is a classic, and I'm pretty sure you've seen it before whether you knew it or not. It's been around for several decades now, and it's still considered a classic to this day. It's stars Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, who is a wealthy merchant from Jerusalem. During his travels he encounters friends and many hardships, and even meets Jesus along the way. The film went on to win a record of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The scenery and stages that they made were extremely well done, and I mean that. Just check out the video and look at the background. This is also from what I read the only movie to feature several thousand extras all in a single shot, and that itself has to say something about all that went into this movie.

It's directed by Ridley Scott, and stars Russell Crowe. It was a blockbuster hit and was credited with briefly reviving the historical epic. The story is of a Roman General named, Maximus, who was very loyal to the Roman cause, yet he was betrayed and sentenced to become a gladiator in Rome. The special effects and story are great, and I highly recommend watching this movie. It does have plenty of action, and a healthy amount of drama to keep the story rolling.

The film is only loosely based on historical events. When they were creating the movie they consulted an academic expert with knowledge of Roman history, but later the screenwriters incorporated some historical discrepancies. So I guess you can call the movie, loosely accurate.

This is one that may be under the radar for some people, but still none-the-less a quality movie set during the Roman period. It's time frame runs from 180-192 AD from the last days of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, to the death of his son Commodus. The movie is a fictionalization of historical trends, and set during the period when the Western Roman Empire started to decline (Eastern Roman Empire is known as the Byzantine Empire).

The movie stars some people that you may have heard of, such as Alec Guiness as Marcus Aurelius (he played old Ben Kenobi in Star Wars), and Christopher Plummer (he was in Star Trek Undiscovered Country).

This would be considered one of the best shows concerning Roman life and it's drama during that time period. I highly recommend getting this one, it won numerous awards and was well-loved by it's watchers.

It's set during the 1st Century BC, during ancient Rome's transition from Republic to an Empire. You see Julius Caesar, Octavian (Augustus), Atia of the Julii, and other main characters from that period. It covers the history of Julius Caesar's rise to power, his downfall, the rise of his son Octavian, and to the death of Marc Anthony. It was filmed in various locations, but most notably in Italy. It only has a 2-season run which totals 22 episodes, but that is more than enough to get your fill of Roman history.

It's a BBC award-winning television series that ran back in 1976. It's been a long time since it initially ran, but it's still good! It's a television adaption of Robert Grave's book, I, Claudius. Even though it's old and it does show its age, it's still a cult favorite among fans of the Roman ages.

The story revolves around the central character, named Claudius. He lives during the time period of Augustus Caesar (Octavian), Tiberius Caesar, Caligula, and Nero (Claudius dies, and Nero is the next emperor). He manages to survive the purging of both Tiberius and Caligula's reigns due to them believing that Claudius is a half-wit and wouldn't pose any thread to their reign. Because of this, he's the only one left with enough authority at the end of Caligula's reign to become emperor. It's a bit ironical, since he survived where no one else could due to assassinations and deaths, and becomes emperor even though he believes in the Roman Republic and not that of the Principate (Imperial). Patrick Stewart stars as Sejanus, which surprised me. I didn't know he was in it until I saw him walk into a scene.

Even though the show doesn't have any special effects, and it's a bit aged, it's still rather good to watch. The story in it is superb, and you really see the characters behind the titles, I highly recommend getting this one!