Based on what you have seen in movies, what do think about the Roman empire?

Question

Think of Films such as The Fall of the Romen Empire, Ben-hur qui vidas or more recent films.

Answer 1

It would be difficult for me to do that. Since most of my knowledge of Rome and it's predecessor Greece comes from history.

What I do however is compare how historically accurate the depictions of Rome in movies are. A lot of it is fabricated for entertainment purposes.

It has it's pros and cons. On the upside it at the very least makes people aware of a significant historical event or civilization, sparking their interest and perhaps having them research it further. On the downside it may confuse some into thinking that what they are seeing actually happened "just like that".

Answer 2

Historically accurate? No, for entertainment's sake, Hollywood movie are not 100% historically accurate. Take a look on the movie "300" :P

However, I noticed Roman themed movies or series gives us the background of the Roman world but not the whole picture.

Answer 3

Based on what I've seen in movies, I'd say that Hollywood is more interested in entertainment than history--in the film Gladiator, for example, an adult daughter (with a son) is attributed to Marcus Aurelius, when his only child to reach adulthood was Commodus.

Answer 4

Hollywood is out to connect with their audience, so they don't depict things as they were.

Actually, we have inherited a religion from the Romans... the Roman Catholic Church and the other Christian organizations that have picked up on the same kind of sacrifice for sin theology. It's a warrior kind of mentality... blood for sin. So I think that the late Roman civilization had a negative influence on our culture.

Answer 5

I don't base my views of the Roman Empire on what Hollywood makes. I read works of scholarship.