# Favourite Historical TV Shows and Movies



## BenSt (Mar 21, 2014)

I'm a member of a History forum and on there a members asked about favourite historical television shows and movies.  I came up with my list, because like most of you I'm a geek, and I am very curious what the answers might be on here.  Anyone care to add theirs?

Here are mine:


Rome -  The epic series about the trials and tribulations of Rome as it  transitions from Republic to Empire.  Still one of my favourite series.

Cadfael - Fantastic whodunnit series from Medieval England, starring Sir Derek Jacobi as the Monk Cadfael.

Vikings - One of the hottest series right now, loosely chronicling the Vikings, it also helps that Travis Fimmel is a hottie.

Pillars of the Earth & World Without End (although the books are far superior, I still quite enjoyed the two series).

The Black Death  - Starring Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne as a soldier and monk who go in  search of a town untouched by the Black Death.  It's fantasy although  set in a shitoric time, but it's a very powerful movie.  Sean bean is a  Game of Thrones alumni, and starred in Black Death with Klarice van  Houten who plays Melisandre in GOT, just an interesting 'who knows who'  thing I noticed.

The Lion in Winter  - Someone else also posted this, but I recently had a chance to see the  1968 original (starring Peter O'Toole and Kathrine Hepburn)after having  watched the second 2003 miniseries starring Patrick Stewart and Glenn  Close.  My lord, Glenn Close as Eleanor was outstanding.  Although it's  based on fictionalized play, the costumes in the miniseries won several  awards, and the series is just powerful.

The_Conclave 
-  A Canadian-German co-production chronicling the Vatican Conclave of  1458.  Starring Brian Blessed, and a host of great Canadian actors.

The Borgias - HBO series about the Borgia Pope Alexander and his family.  I tried getting into the other series, Borgia, but couldn't get into it.

I want to put down The White Queen, but as fun as it is, and as fun as it is to watch Max Irons, it's mostly for entertainment I would say.

The_Tudors 
 - Major HBO series
Elizabeth I (Miniseries) - Great BBC miniseries from 2005 starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth.
The Virgin Queen - A second, longer miniseries starring Ann-Marie MacDuff as Queen Bess.
Elizabeth &   


 Elizabeth:_The_Golden_Age 
 - The duo of films starring Cate Blanchett

Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot - Miniseries about Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, King James VI & I.
The Devil's Whore - Miniseries about the regicide of Charles I, and the English civil war.
Charles_II:_The_Power_and_The_Passion 
 - Miniseries about Charles II.

The_Madness_of_King_George 
 - Regarding King George's mental state, starring Nigel Hawthorne.

Catherine the Great - Starring Catherine Zeta Jones, outlining the rise and life of Catherine the Great.

Casanova (Miniseries) - Starring Peter O'Toole and David Tennant, written by Russel T Davies (who is a GEM) and who revived Doctor Who.

The_Young_Victoria 
- Biopic about Victoria's youth.

Mrs. Brown  - Starring Dame Judi Dench, Billy Connolly and Geoffrey Palmer, looking  at the relationship between Queen Victoria and her Scottish groom John  Brown.  Unrelated to the very popular series, Mrs. Brown's Boys.

Tea_with_Mussolini 
  - Starring Dames Maggie Smith & Judi Dench, and Cher about a group  of British and American women's experiances during World War 2 in Italy.

Kundun 
 &   


 Seven_Years_in_Tibet 
  - Two films of around the same time chronicling the invasion and  occupation of Tibet, and the young life of His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso,  the XIII Dalai Lama.

Call_the_Midwife 
-  A lovely light drama about Midwives in East London in the 1950s, the  storylines typically deal with medical, social, and emotional issues  related to the era.  Starring Jenny Aguttar, Pam Ferris, Miranda Hart,  as well as Vanessa Redgrave.

This_Is_England 
- Series of movies set in 1980s working class UK.



British Comedies/Dramedies
Up, Pompeii!  - A hilarious classic set in Pompeii before the eruption, with such  notable characters as Senator Ludicros Sextus and his daughter Erotica.
Blackadder 
 - A classic spanning many different eras
_Let Them Eat Cake_ - Pre-Revolution Versailles
_ Hunderby 
 - _By the fabulous Julia Davis, set in 19th century England._
A Young Doctor's Notebook_ - A very, very dark Dramedy set in Pre-Revolution Russia starring Daniel Radcliffe
Up_the_Women 
 - A comedy created by Jessica Hynes about a group of Suffragettes in 1910s England.
_Hi-De-Hi_ - 80's series set in a Holiday Camp in 1950s.
_You Rang M'Lord? - _Same cast as Hi-De-Hi, but set as a spoof of _Upstairs, Downstairs._
_Allo'Allo'_ - Epic comedy set in occupied France

The Carry On Films, most notably_ Carry On Henry._


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## Stephen Palmer (Mar 22, 2014)

Not quite the same thing, but one of my all-time favourite tv programmes was _Tales From The Green Valley_ which was a real enactment of an Elizabethan farm, done month-by-month. With Ronald Hutton!


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## thaddeus6th (Mar 22, 2014)

Apart from Blackadder and 'Allo 'Allo I don't think I've seen any of them beyond snippets.

I tried watching the Borgias (currently on 10pm Sunday on Pick), but the first two episodes left me rather disinterested, so I stopped.


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## Jo Zebedee (Mar 22, 2014)

I liked Cassanovo, but mainly to ogle David Tennant. 

I loved Robin of Sherwood ( the Praed Robin) when I was a kid. Might have been mainly to ogle Michael Praed, though. A theme is emerging...


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## svalbard (Mar 22, 2014)

I second *Robin of Sherwood*. The theme music was brilliant for this series. *Rome* was great.  Really enjoyed *The Borgias*. Irons was brilliantly over the top. 

There was a TV series back in the late 70's or early 80's about King Arthur(not Arthur of the Britons) that I vaguely remember watching and thinking where are all the knights in shining armour and isn't this interesting. Could be a BBC production.

Movies...*Alexander* was pretty good in parts, but disappointed as a whole. Val Kilmer made an excellent Philip of Macedon.


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## Gramm838 (Mar 22, 2014)

Vikings, available on Lovefilm Instant, is pretty good and apparently quite historically accurate as well


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## BenSt (Mar 22, 2014)

Stephen Palmer said:


> Not quite the same thing, but one of my all-time favourite tv programmes was _Tales From The Green Valley_ which was a real enactment of an Elizabethan farm, done month-by-month. With Ronald Hutton!



There's a whole host of amazing history documentaries that Ruth Goodman came out with... including good old Ronald Hutton many times.  He came out with a series of his own, 'Professor Hutton's Curiosities' where he goes about to different museums and showcase his favourite peculiar items.



thaddeus6th said:


> Apart from Blackadder and 'Allo 'Allo I don't think I've seen any of them beyond snippets.
> 
> I highly recommend all of them.  It's kind of interesting though how many people worked on some of these medieval type shows and movies, who then went on to work on medieval type fantasy like Game of Thrones.
> 
> I tried watching the Borgias (currently on 10pm Sunday on Pick), but the first two episodes left me rather disinterested, so I stopped.



I have to take it episode by episode, if I just sit down and watch one after the other it's too much for me.



springs said:


> I liked Cassanovo, but mainly to ogle David Tennant.



Oh I know, he's quite fit isn't he?




svalbard said:


> I second *Robin of Sherwood*. The theme music was brilliant for this series. *Rome* was great.  Really enjoyed *The Borgias*. Irons was brilliantly over the top.
> 
> There was a TV series back in the late 70's or early 80's about King Arthur(not Arthur of the Britons) that I vaguely remember watching and thinking where are all the knights in shining armour and isn't this interesting. Could be a BBC production.
> 
> Movies...*Alexander* was pretty good in parts, but disappointed as a whole. Val Kilmer made an excellent Philip of Macedon.



I remember seeing that King Arthur one, but I can't even think what it was called.  Alexander was a good movie, not one of my favourites, but still good.



Gramm838 said:


> Vikings, available on Lovefilm Instant, is pretty good and apparently quite historically accurate as well



Parts of it are, some parts are very sensationalized...but man some of those vikings look good!


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## Stephen Palmer (Mar 22, 2014)

Ronald Hutton is just the greatest.


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## BenSt (Mar 22, 2014)

He's such a quirky man!  Quite a character.  The Pagans (some of them) aren't major fans, but one cannot deny his serious scholarship.


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## alchemist (Mar 22, 2014)

I enjoyed Rome (what happened the second series?) but went off The Tudors after a while. And of course Blackadder is a classic.

The only film that stood out in my mind was Master and Commander. Apart from being a cracking action film, the sense of time and place was very well done.


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## ralphkern (Mar 23, 2014)

I loved Spartacus, it is highly stylized, especially the first series but then the third one just shows you how far TV has come, damn near a movie quality finale.

Apparently they are making a new series that covers the rise of Ceaser (well the triumvirate) which would be interesting as often the viewer or reader is simply 'parachuted in' when Ceaser is already the emperor in terms of seeing him in action. I would like to see, even fictionalized, his earlier career. 

Apparently Spartacus, at least structurally in terms of events is fairly accurate, albeit they have to make some assumptions about the Slave armies reasons for splitting etc. Also Spartacus, Crixus and Onameyous (sic) operated more as a triumvirate themselves rather than one being the clear leader. 

Although, sadly for the ladies, gladiators in real life were apparently called 'Barleymen' as they were fed a lot of barley in an effort to fatten them up. No rippling six packs, it was all flab to protect their bodies... they would have looked closer to Sumo wrestlers than Spartans...


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## thaddeus6th (Mar 23, 2014)

I wonder if such a programme would show Caesar's period as the Queen of Bithynia.

I've read the same about gladiators. Fat bleeds well, helping to put on a good show, and provides a bit of extra protection.


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## ralphkern (Mar 23, 2014)

One can only hope. It has the scope to be quite awash buckling though, like when he was taken prisoner by pirates and got offended when they didn't demand enough ransom for him.


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## Aquilonian (Mar 29, 2014)

BenSt said:


> (Ronald Hutton is) Quite a character.  The Pagans (some of them) aren't major fans, but one cannot deny his serious scholarship.



Well I'm a pagan who has great respect for Ronald Hutton. I think he's generally well-thought-of among British pagans. The opposition to him, in some quarters, seems to be because he insists on evidence and doesn't collude with individuals and groups who just make up their own history. Even then he's polite about it. Holding to the truth should be the most fundamental ethic of a historian, and it's good pagan ethics too for that matter. 

If all other religions had had their own Ronald Huttons to record their early years while the main protagonists were still alive (or not long dead) we would be much more enlightened generally.


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## Aquilonian (Mar 29, 2014)

Robin of Sherwood is my very personal number 1, simply because it played a big part in opening my mind to Paganism, at a time (1984) when I was still a born-again Christian. Specifically the episode about Herne the Hunter. 

As drama, and for its historical realism, I'd nominate "Rome".

Best history-related series (though not strictly speaking history) was a series called "Living in the Past" which was shown (only once) in the 1970s. It was a bit like Castaway but with normal people, and focused on the practicalities of replicating life in the Celtic Iron Age period, crop growing, animal husbandry, blacksmithing, etc. Absolutely fascinating. Because the aim was education and practical research rather than "Big Brother" style "entertainment", they deliberately recruited only established stable couples. Their only concession to modern life was they let them continue using the contraceptive pill. 

They were there for a full year I think, and it was a life-changing experience for all concerned, they all stayed in close contact and several of their grown-up children participated in a similar series about 30 years later, which I didn't see. There's a good book based on the series, produced not long after. 

Very interesting info about the gladiators. Surely they can't have been all that fat though, as the extra weight would have reduced mobility and stamina? Also, surely a sword would slide through layers of fat quite easily?


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## ralphkern (Mar 30, 2014)

Sorry to burst your bubble. They were apparently a bit more rotund than we are used to. Plus the fat made for a better spectacle.

But bear in mind consider  in weight lifting , for example, the athletes are very bulky and flabby... And also stronger. Weightlifting is often confused with body building which is all about aesthetics (although they are, due to their sport far stronger than the norm)

Take a look at this, you might be surprised (they're Olympians so one can say they are pretty much the top if their game)

Can you guess the sport by the shape of the Olympian's body? | Mail Online

Ps apologies it's from the daily mail....


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## SevenStars (Apr 2, 2014)

Rome was very good as was The Borgias.  Blackadder and Casanova were both fabulous.

Movies, The Madness of King George, both Elizabeth movies starring Kate Blanchett, Anne of a Thousand Days.

I recall watching a BBC production about Elizabeth the First starring Glenda Jackson; I think it was called Elizabeth R.  Another good BBC production was The Borgias in the early 80's, Adlfo Celi played Pope Alexander and Oliver Cotton delivered a suitably sinister portrayal of Cesare Borgia.


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 2, 2014)

I started watching the Borgias but stopped after two episodes. It just didn't grab me.

Oh, and, though old, I, Claudius is fantastic.


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## SevenStars (Apr 2, 2014)

Thaddeus which series of The Borgias did you try?

I Claudius, definitely an oldie but Jacobi at his best.


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 2, 2014)

The first, it's being repeated on Pick at 10pm Sundays (I think). The characters really didn't grab me.

I, Claudius has a great range of superb characters. Augustus, Livia, Sejanus, Caligula are all fantastic. Livia's my favourite. Seeing Brian Blessed without a beard and Patrick Stewart with hair is bloody weird, though.


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## Gramm838 (Apr 3, 2014)

Ah yes, I Clavdivs, as my Dad used to call it (that's how it was spelled on the opening credits, I think)


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## Aquilonian (Apr 12, 2014)

ralphkern said:


> ... in weight lifting , for example, the athletes are very bulky and flabby... And also stronger. Weightlifting is often confused with body building which is all about aesthetics (although they are, due to their sport far stronger than the norm)
> 
> Take a look at this, you might be surprised (they're Olympians so one can say they are pretty much the top if their game)
> 
> Can you guess the sport by the shape of the Olympian's body? | Mail Online



Very interesting set of pics. Two points spring to mind. 

Firstly, that the human form appears much more variable than many other animals, despite that we're all the same species and can interbreed. 

Secondly, that these athletes are highly specialised, and in many cases probably not well-adapted to more normal productive activities, and in Darwinian terms not necessary "fit".


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 12, 2014)

Aquilonian, it's worth mentioning that extreme variance of dogs. All domestic dogs are a single species but their degree of differentiation is enormous.

Also, humans don't have as much of a succeed or die lifestyle as most animals, so we have the opportunity to become superfit or very fat, or starve ourselves to death for cultural reasons, whereas every other animal (just about) is simply trying to survive.


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## paranoid marvin (Apr 12, 2014)

The Caesars (ITV in B&W)
I Claudius
Elizabeth R
Henry VIII (BBC)
The Shadow of the Tower
The Sharpe series
By The Sword Divided
Cadfael
Secret Army
Colditz (tv series)
Enemy At The Door
Das Boot
Culloden

Also good historical films

Amadeus
Waterloo
Excalibur
Braveheart


Not all historically accurate, but I enjoy them all.


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## Gramm838 (Apr 12, 2014)

I would not include the Sharpe Series on TV - Scooby Doo trees!


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## JoanDrake (Apr 16, 2014)

springs said:


> I liked Cassanovo, but mainly to ogle David Tennant.
> 
> I loved Robin of Sherwood ( the Praed Robin) when I was a kid. Might have been mainly to ogle Michael Praed, though. A theme is emerging...





I really didn't find Michael Praed all that. However, the show was the strangest mixture of Celtic Fantasy and fairly accurate Medieval History I'd ever seen and yes, the music was great. It really founded its own genre


Another strange combo I've seen just recently is the anime Durarara, which combines Irish mythlogy with Japanese cyberpunk and is an engaging romance to boot.


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## SirSamuelVimes (Apr 16, 2014)

I really enjoyed Gettysburg and Gods and Generals.  I felt they were both refreshingly historically accurate compared to most historical movies.


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## Boneman (Apr 23, 2014)

Sharpe. Scooby-doo trees?


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## paranoid marvin (Apr 23, 2014)

JoanDrake said:


> I really didn't find Michael Praed all that. However, the show was the strangest mixture of Celtic Fantasy and fairly accurate Medieval History I'd ever seen and yes, the music was great. It really founded its own genre
> 
> 
> Another strange combo I've seen just recently is the anime Durarara, which combines Irish mythlogy with Japanese cyberpunk and is an engaging romance to boot.



What was even better about ROS was the relationship between Gisburne and Nottingham - hilarious. Some great cameos in there as well.


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## Gramm838 (Apr 24, 2014)

Boneman said:


> Sharpe. Scooby-doo trees?



Next time you watch the TV series - if you do - watch the extras in the background...they go round and round throughout the shot, just like the trees in Scooby Doo


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## chongjasmine (Sep 8, 2014)

Mine is three kingdoms, a series about the three kingdoms period in China.


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## farntfar (Sep 8, 2014)

ClauClau was good, largely due to an excellent cast.

What about A Man for all seasons with Paul Scofield as Thomas More.


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## Foxbat (Sep 8, 2014)

Fall Of Eagles is definitely my favourite historical TV series.


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## Juliana (Sep 8, 2014)

I don't know if it's strictly historical or just 'set in the past', but I adore Dangerous Liaisons... (The '88 movie with John Malkovich)


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## Michael Colton (Sep 8, 2014)

Considering how much I enjoy history and fiction set in other periods, I have never found much television or film of that sort that I enjoyed. I enjoyed _The Tudors_ for its entertainment value, obviously not for its handling of history (which was terrible). Other than that, I would say the film _Capote_ did a masterful job - but I would not call it 'historical,' just set a while ago.


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## Tirellan (Sep 13, 2014)

I'm a big fan of the series of TV recreations of Life on a farm in different periods. Life on a Monastery Farm was, I think, the most recent. Meticuously researched.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Sep 13, 2014)

I watched _I, Claudius_ and _By The Sword Divided_, very eager each week for the next episode.   Also (which no one has mentioned) _The First Churchills_.

For _The Lion in Winter_, I much preferred the movie to the television version. OK, the acting was perhaps a little over the top, but what can you expect of Peter O' Toole?

I'm not sure whether this one counts because the main character isn't historical, but Charles II is a major character so I'll mention it:.  _Restoration_ is one of my favorite movies.


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## Ray McCarthy (Sep 14, 2014)

*Mix of Fact & Fiction*
Cadfael
Civilisation (Kenneth Clarke) I can't imagine the BBC let anyone have these opinions today.
A Man for all Seasons (Bolt)
Most of the Dramatisations of Jane Austin
Folye's War (very accurately done)
Some of the Archaeology stuff, I forget what the TV series was called. 
I'm sure there was other TV Series & Films. I know I've seen ones on Troy, Elisabeth I of England (the current one being I of Scotland), Shakespeare etc. We have DVDs of them somewhere.

I did watch "I Claudius", it's not really much more a Historical thing than "A Man for all Seasons" or Shakespeare, It's a drama about nasty people.

Very little on the Hitler History Channel (we can't envisage ever going back to Pay TV, which was originally for Animal Planet, Discovery, History etc)


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## Anne Spackman (Jan 25, 2016)

alchemist said:


> I enjoyed Rome (what happened the second series?) but went off The Tudors after a while. And of course Blackadder is a classic.
> 
> The only film that stood out in my mind was Master and Commander. Apart from being a cracking action film, the sense of time and place was very well done.



Rome was a good mini-series.  I also liked some of the Sharpe films with Sean Bean.


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## aThenian (Jan 25, 2016)

The More Serious Stuff
*
The Gathering Storm*, a biopic about Churchill - superb.
I also thought the Spielberg film *Lincoln* was terrific.
*
Wolf Hall* - the BBC dramatisation of the Hilary Mantel novels.  They are quiet and dark - arguably a bit dull, depends what you think of Mantel really.    

Comedy/Action

*A Knight's Tale* - I love this, very funny movie about jousting, and includes Chaucer as a character.  It's deliberately anachronistic - uses Queen music and Mexican waves for example - but in a clever way, making some good points about Medieval period.
*The Musketeers* - current BBC series.  After a sticky start, it's quite clever on some of the politics/history and the sets look amazing.  A lot of fun.

A Question
I once saw TV film/miniseries - not sure - about a friendship/emnity between *two officers in the Austro-Hungarian Empire'*s army - set nineteenth of early twentieth century - think they were in love with the same women, one of them ended up in prison.  One of them Hungarian background.  Does it ring any bells?  It's really bugging me!


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## Al Jackson (Dec 2, 2018)

BenSt said:


> I'm a member of a History forum and on there a members asked about favourite historical television shows and movies.  I came up with my list, because like most of you I'm a geek, and I am very curious what the answers might be on here.  Anyone care to add theirs?
> 
> Here are mine:
> 
> ...



Comment on Roman history. If one went to the movies between 1950 and 1960 one would have been led  to think the Roman Empire fell in 60 AD!!
Roman Emperors featured (just the big movies)

Quo Vadis is a 1951 Nero

The Robe (film) 1953 Caligula

Demetrius and the Gladiators 1954 Caligula and Claudius

The Silver Chalice is a 1954 Nero

Ben-Hur (1959) Tiberius

(Some New Testament films in there so possible Augustus.)

Thing is to this day I don't think there have been any BIG movies or TV that take place when
Nerva. 
Trajan. 
Hadrian
Antoninus Pius
were Emperor not that I can recall.
We did get Fall of the Roman Empire (actually it did *not* fall then!) and Gladiator that had
Marcus Aurelius and _Commodus_ .....
Rome reached it height between AD 100 and AD 200 and was still at that power between 200 and 300.
It did continue beyond that even when broken into two parts, for some while.
Movies were too focused on old and New Testament 'Rome' .
The pre Empire civil wars and Tiberius to Nero get all the coverage.
On the page Steven Saylor did write Empire a historical novel that had Trajan and Hadrian , seemed he was gong to do more but that never happened.


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## sknox (Dec 4, 2018)

The Fall of the Roman Empire (film) - Wikipedia 
1964

The third century was not kind to the Empire--invasions, civil wars, something like 26 emperors in fifty years, whole provinces breaking away, economic collapse. So bad, in fact, they needed a Diocletian to come along and re-invent it.

And I found this list, which both affirms the general point made by Al Jackson, and fills in on some obscure films.
List of films set in ancient Rome - Wikipedia


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## svalbard (Dec 4, 2018)

sknox said:


> The Fall of the Roman Empire (film) - Wikipedia
> 1964
> 
> The third century was not kind to the Empire--invasions, civil wars, something like 26 emperors in fifty years, whole provinces breaking away, economic collapse. So bad, in fact, they needed a Diocletian to come along and re-invent it.
> ...



Steve Reeves and Gorden Scott the mainstay of cheesy swords and sandals movies. Spent many a rainy and happy Saturday afternoon watching such movies with my Dad.


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 5, 2018)

Sknox, agree with most of that, but if Aurelian hadn't done such a great job in his brief(ish, was longer than many at that time) stint then Diocletian might not have had an empire to rule. Aurelian always gets overlooked.


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## sknox (Dec 5, 2018)

Our sources do get thin in the 3rdc. Maybe that has something to do with it. But a novel set in the era, without necessarily being about Aurelian or his family, certainly has potential. Fewer sources, fewer toes to stub!


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## BigBadBob141 (Dec 29, 2018)

Although it's not Film or TV if your interested like me in military history, go to You Tube and watch Lindybeige!!!
This chap is brilliant at putting across his subject, and covers many different periods and aspects of this subject!
I've just found out that WW2s Royal Navy western approaches anti u-boat war gaming departments greatest weapon was a nineteen year old WREN!


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