Ancient Rome

First major phase of Roman imperial rule, from Augustus to the accession of Diocletian, retaining republican institutions alongside imperial authority.

The final phase of the Roman Republic, marked by elite competition, political violence, civil wars, and the concentration of power in the hands of military leaders.

Roman imperial polity and its institutions from the rule of Augustus onward; the conventional end date of 476 CE concerns Western imperial rule, while the Eastern Roman Empire continued beyond that date.

Traditional pre-republican phase of Rome’s history, dated according to later Roman accounts; its earliest rulers and founding stories mix history with legend.

The republican political order of Rome, from the traditional expulsion of its kings to the establishment of the Principate.

Later autocratic phase of Roman imperial government beginning with Diocletian; this Movieline chronology covers its Western Roman Empire phase through 476 CE, not its later Eastern continuation.

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, burying Pompeii and nearby settlements under volcanic material and causing widespread destruction in the Bay of Naples region.

The Roman execution of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem during the prefecture of Pontius Pilate.

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Roman senators in the Theatre of Pompey on 15 March 44 BCE.

Germanic groups defeated three Roman legions in a major setback for Roman expansion east of the Rhine.

Civil war between the forces of Julius Caesar and Pompey from 49 to 45 BCE, followed by Caesar’s dictatorship.

The devastating fire that began in Rome on the night of 18–19 July 64 CE, burning for about nine days including a renewed outbreak. The endpoint is approximate rather than an attested exact hour or day.

Roman forces besieged the Masada stronghold during the concluding phase of the First Jewish–Roman War.

Boudica led an uprising against Roman rule in Britain.

The Serapeum, a major temple of Serapis and an important pagan institution in Alexandria, was destroyed or dismantled during religious conflict in the late fourth century, after imperial measures restricting pagan cults.

The civil war following Caesar’s assassination, culminating in the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 BCE.

Spartacus led a major uprising of enslaved people against the Roman Republic.

Roman prefect of Judea who presided over the authority responsible for Jesus’s crucifixion.

Jewish preacher whose ministry and crucifixion form the narrative center of the film.

Roman emperor from 54 to 68 CE whose reign forms the political setting for the story and whose government persecuted Christians in Rome after the Great Fire.

Roman general and politician who became a leading Caesarian power-holder after 44 BCE.

Roman Emperor (r. 180–192 CE).

Roman Emperor (r. 161–180 CE).

Capital of the Roman Empire.

The major political and religious center of Judea and the setting for much of the film’s story.

Pompeii was a Roman city in Campania near the Bay of Naples, destroyed and buried during the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The volcano whose 79 CE eruption devastated Pompeii, Herculaneum, and surrounding villas.

The kingdom attempting to exercise control over Scotland during the conflict.

The kingdom whose political independence from England is the central issue of the narrative.

The cosmopolitan Egyptian city where Hypatia taught and where the film’s religious and political conflicts unfold.

Historical region of central Italy.

Ancient fortress and archaeological site in Israel.