A Historian Goes to the Movies: Ancient Rome

By: Gregory S. Aldrete, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

How have films like Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator, or even a satire like Monty Python’s Life of Brian created our popular perceptions of ancient Roman history? In what ways have they led us astray? And why, despite the occasional box-office flop, do movies set in ancient Rome still have the power to captivate us, and to turn each of us into theater-going history buffs? 

In these 12 lectures, an award-winning historian gives you a front-row look at the great movies that have shaped ancient Rome’s role in popular culture and memory. Packed with insights into both history and filmmaking, this series immerses you in the glory and grandeur (and, sometimes, the folly) of classic and contemporary films featuring over 50 years of cinematic talent, including directors like Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott and actors such as Elizabeth Taylor and Russell Crowe. 

You’ll investigate portrayals of ancient Roman life on the big screen and small screen; learn how to tease out fact from fiction in some of Hollywood’s most stunning spectacles; and deepen your appreciation for films that, when made right, can be thrilling time machines into the past. Some films you may already be a fan of; other films you might have only heard of in passing. But all of them are essential to a well-rounded understanding of the intricate relationship between the world of ancient Rome and the world of the movies. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2020 The Great Courses (P)2020 The Teaching Company, LLC

Entertaining and insightful

I've always wondered if the battle scene at the beginning of Gladiator was historically accurate. I now know the answer to the question after listening to this series of lectures.

This course offers a very informative and interesting look at movies about Rome and pivotal moments in Roman history. Each lecture is long enough to be detailed and thoughtful but never so long it becomes tedious or redundant.

I disagreed a bit with his conclusions on sci-fi inspired by Rome. He misses the point about Christianity in Star Trek's 'Bread and Circuses' and I think his thesis on The Matrix is a stretch, but these are quibbles.

I'm now going to have to look up the movies discussed and re-watch them with a new perspective -- one rooted in actual history.

A Great Audio Course

Listeners may worry that by choosing the audio format of this course they'll be missing out on some spectacular visuals. After viewing a free sample lecture from this series, I can assure you that audio is all you need. Licensing fees probably made it prohibitively expensive for The Great Courses to include clips (or even stills) in their video, so a professor speaking to the camera is pretty much all you will see.

Whichever version you choose, this is an exceptional course. Professor Aldrete clearly loves these movies and offers much more than a simple rehearsal of what filmmakers got right or wrong. What I enjoyed most were his analyses of how modern politics and social concerns have influenced cinematic depictions of Ancient Rome. He also does a fine job tracing the rise, fall and renaissance of the sword-and-sandals genre from its inception to the present. When I watch these movies again, it will be with a much deeper appreciation and understanding.

This Is a Good One

This is the sort of book that puts the “great” in the “Great Courses”. Aldrete looks at more than ten movies focused on Ancient Rome and uses them to teach us little bits of trivia about the ancient republic and empire. Along the way, he also tells us many interesting facts about the making of the movies. Some (most) are blockbusters like Ben Hur, but he goes to the other extreme as well looking at Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Overall, this is just a very fun book.

Please tell me this is the beginning of a series

Very well done. As a film buff with a degree in history, I was hooked. I hope this is the beginning of A Historian goes to the Movies: The Middle Ages, Ancient Egypt, etc.

one of the best!

I have dozens of Great Courses, but I must say this was one of my favorites.

The combination of history and escapism really made me happy.

Enjoyable, and I don’t even like violent history

I picked this title up because it was a Great Courses series and it was included in Audible Plus’ library. However, it was not exactly my cup of tea to begin with. War and violence are not my favorite topics. I do enjoy social history and I was surprise to find how much of it I found in this lecture. You will learn just as much about how Romans lived as you will about how they fought. For a title I got for free. I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.

The performance was great and the professor spoke in an engaging tone! However, he was a bit fast for me and I slowed it down so I could understand him better. I do not fault him for this, but it might make the performance a bit harder to follow for some. Just slow it down and you will enjoy it.

Interesting

I like some of the perspectives from a historians view and also back story to how films were made or why certain concepts weren't done a specific way (design, cast, scenes, etc). Good course for anyone a big fan of Rome and portrayal in movies

great!

viable for those who want to understand the references of movies but also those who want to deepen their knowledge about the Romans. easy to understand, informative and entertaining.

this guy is not an expert on rome

this guy says dozens of incorrect statements that is easily debunked. it hurts to listen to him. Dr. Fagan and Dr. Harl do much better lectures.