Africa

The Roman Empire in the late second century CE, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the early reign of Commodus.

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.

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

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

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.

Roman general and dictator whose rise accelerated the collapse of the republican political order.

Last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt and a major participant in the final Roman republican conflicts.

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

Roman general and statesman who opposed Caesar during the civil war.

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

The Roman province containing Alexandria and the wider administrative and cultural setting of the story.

Capital of the Roman Empire.