Movies: Classical Military History – up to 500AD

These are member suggestions for plausible war movies in this period.

ROMAN EMPIRE 625BC – 476AD

Rome (2005) (TV Series) (Deborah Southwell)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384766/

An epic drama which chronicles the rise of the ancient Roman Empire through the eyes of two foot-soldiers and their families as well as famous historical figures including Julius Caesar (100-44BC), Mark Antony (83-30BC), and Rome’s first Emperor, Octavian (aka Caesar Augustus) (63BC-14AD).

Cleopatra (1963)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056937/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

Queen Cleopatra VII (69BC – 30BC) of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058085/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

The death of emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180AD) leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor’s son, Commodus (161-192), demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.

Barbarians (2020) (TV Series) (Jaap Boender)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9184986/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Torn between the mighty empire that raised him and his own tribal people, a Roman officer’s conflicted allegiances lead to an epic historical clash.

Gladiator (2000) (Richard Hands)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.

Spartacus (1960)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054331/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) (Trevor Duguid Farrant) TV Series

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758429/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_45

In the time before the arrival of Spartacus, the House of Batiatus faces many challenges from competitors, and within its own household.

Spartacus (2010-2013) (Trevor Duguid Farrant) TV Series

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442449/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_47

The life of Spartacus, the gladiator who leads a rebellion against the Romans. From his time as an ally of the Romans, to his betrayal and becoming a gladiator, to the rebellion he leads and its ultimate outcome.

Roman Britain

The Eagle (2011) (Richard Hands)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034389/

In Roman-ruled Britain, a young Roman soldier endeavours to honour his father’s memory by finding his lost legion’s golden emblem.

The Eagle of the Ninth (1977) (   ) TV Series

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397778/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

In Britannia in 130, a young Roman officer named Marcus Flavius Aquila and his freed slave Esca search for the Ninth Legion’s gold eagle standard, which vanished with the legion 13 years earlier.

INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT

Mahabarat (1988-1990) (Peter Merritt) (TV series: 4673 episodes)

1000-3102 BC. When differences between the Kaurava and the Pandava clans, who belong to the same family line, lead them to the threshold of war, Lord Krishna decides to step in and take control of the situation.