Swords and Cinema: Hollywood vs the Reality of Ancient Warfare

A dive into the authenticity of battle scenes in epic films set in the Greco-Roman world—from Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus to Ridley Scott's Gladiator.

The battles and sieges of the Classical world have been a rich source of inspiration to film makers since the beginning of cinema and the sixties and seventies saw the golden age of the "swords and sandals" epic, with films such as Spartacus. Ridley Scott's Gladiator led a modern revival that has continued with the release of films like 300, ...