This document discusses representations of the fall of the Roman Empire in film and popular culture. It analyzes films like Ben-Hur, Quo Vadis, and The Fall of the Roman Empire to see how they depict the decline of Rome and draw parallels with contemporary societies. The document also examines how literature, video games, and other media have interpreted and reused the narrative of Rome's collapse over time, revealing perspectives about the contexts in which they were created. While not accurate historical accounts, these cultural works provide insights into how different eras have viewed and learned from Rome's rise and fall.

1. Dr Jamie Wood
University of Manchester
WEEK 1: THE FALL OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE ON FILM

2. Aims of today’s session
 To consider some modern representations/
interpretations of the end of the Roman Empire
 To think about the role that these depictions play in
popular perceptions of the Roman Empire
 To consider what this can tell us about
 (a) fall of Rome
 (b) the contexts in which interpretation/ representation
takes place
 To think about how cinema relates to other cultural
representations of the fall of Rome

3. Medieval visions of Rome
 Successor kingdoms
 Victory over Rome (e.g.
Visigoths)
 Common descent and peaceful
succession to Rome (e.g.
Franks)
 Institutional memories
 Medieval Papacy: the Roman
church as successor of empire
 Imperial successors
 Holy Roman Empire (800): a re-
founded empire
 Continuity in Byzantium

4. Renaissance and Reformation
 Renaissance:
 self-conception/
representation as period of
rebirth of classical learning
 1453:
 Fall of Constantinople to
the Turks
 Reformation:
 Papacy and Holy Roman
Emperor take on key role
in counter-reform
movement
 Personal identity:
 Writers such as Erasmus &
Luther cultivate
connections to church
fathers writing under later Fall of Constantinople (painted 1499)
empire (e.g. Jerome &
Augustine)

5. 18th & 19th Century
 The Grand Tour
 Emerging nation states in western Europe trace their origins to the post-
Roman kingdoms; so end of Roman rule is important
 International empires look to Roman Empire as example (and try to learn
from it)
 E.g. Training elites to govern the empire
 Roman Republic and foundations of American Republic (see Winkler)

6. In art and
literature
 18th century: history-writing in
independent Naples
emphasise oppression of
Rome
 Melissa Calaresu, ‘Images of Antonio Canaletto (1697-1768), detail from
Ancient Rome in Late Rome: a Caprice View with Ruins based on the
Eighteenth-Century Neapolitan Forum (c. 1730)
Historiography’, Journal of the
History of Ideas 58.4 (1997), 641-
661
 19th century: literary focus on
decadence and the decline of
nations (including Roman
Empire)
 Wolfdietrich Rasch, ‘Literary
Decadence Artistic
Representations of Decay’,
Journal of Contemporary History
17.1 (1982), 201-218 Karl Briullov, Sacco di Roma 455 (1833-36)

7. Discussion of articles
1. Winkler, ‘The Roman Empire in American Cinema after 1945’
2. Cyrino, ‘Gladiator and Contemporary American Society’
3. Winkler, ‘Cinema and the Fall of Rome’
 Think about the following questions:
 What are the key points of your article?
 Can you think of any problems with your article?
 What does your article tell us about modern
interpretations of the Roman Empire and/or its fall?
 Is this approach to the study of the ancient world valid?
Why? What is its value and what are the risks?

8. Ben Hur (i)
 1959
 Set in reign of Tiberius
 Rich Jewish citizen betrayed by
childhood friend and new Roman
tribune, Messala, after refusing to
submit the names of dissenting
Jews
 Sold as a slave, eventually
becomes a charioteer and defeats
Messala, who dies in race
 Ben Hur is saved by
Jesus, witnesses his
crucifixion, which solidifies his
conversion
 Compares the military regime of
the Roman Empire with that of
Nazi Germany
 Rome presented as a master-
race, arrogant and destined to fall

9. Ben Hur (ii)

10. Quo Vadis (i)
 1951
 Set in Rome, from 64–68, under Nero
 Main subjects: emergence of
Christianity and the corruption of the
empire
 Characters and events depicted are a
mixture of historical and fictional
 Story of Roman military
commander, Marcus Vinicius, who
returns from the wars and falls in love
with a devout Christian, Lygia, and
becomes intrigued by her religion
 Their love story is told against the
broader background of early
Christianity and its persecution by Nero
and his (failed) attempts to blame the
Christians for the fire of Rome

11. Quo Vadis (ii)
 Parallel between decadent
militaristic Roman Empire with the
fascist powers of 1930s and 1940s
 Crowd size and granting of triumph
to Vinicius, who would not have
qualified for one , are anachronistic
(and not in the original novel)
 The triumph begins with children
beating drums; followed by masses
of uniformed soldiers: compare
with scenes at 8:35 of Why we fight
 Mention made of Roman origin of
Fascist Italy’s fasces
 Rome as the “evil empire”
archetype

12. The fall of Rome...
 The Fall of the Roman
Empire (1964)
 Agora (2009)
• What are the main themes
of these trailers?
• What factors do they
suggest are responsible for
the fall of Rome?

13. The birth of Britain...
2004
• What are the main similarities and
2007
differences between these trailers?
• Who is made responsible for the
fall of Rome?
• What do the trailers suggest
happened next?

14. A cultural phenomenon
 NOVELS. Gore Vidal, Julian (1964):
historical novel based in primary
sources; impact of Christianity on
empire; Christianity and politics;
blames Christians for murder of
Julian
 VIDEO GAMES. Rome: Total War –
Barbarian Invasions (2005): eastern
and western empire; senate no
longer powerful; barbarians; hordes;
religious tension between
Christians, pagans, Zoroastrians

15. Parallelism: Rome and America

16. The decline of America

17. Discussion
 What periods/ geographical-political areas
are particularly interested in this topic?
 What can these depictions tell us about the
fall of Rome?
 What else can they tell us?

18. Conclusion
 Reception
 Evokes strong responses
 Highly stereotyped visions of what
actually happened
 2 strands:
 A model to learn from and emulate
 A negative example: an evil empire
 Particularly important for thinking
about the fate of nations and empires
 Utility
 Not very useful for telling us what happened in antiquity
 But possibly useful for thinking about the topic in different
ways or bringing us back to traditional interpretations
 And definitely useful for what it tells us about periods in which
such re-imaginings took (and still take) place