It also was released in April of 1964, some five months after the John F. How can you not love this stuff? The Fall of the Roman Empire is dark movie with a very pessimistic ending, so it makes sense that it failed at the box office. In one of the best last lines of any film, Livius turns to them and says, “I don’t think you’d find me suitable, for my first official act would be to have you all crucified.” Fin!!! Queue the dark pipe organ music again as the camera sweeps upwards, following the billows of smoke carrying the ashes of Germanic people being burned alive at the stake, their cries echoing the revenge Germany will have in the final days of Rome when the Visigoths and other German peoples bring down the Western Roman Empire. Livius is offered the chance to be Caesar once again by the same men who had rallied around Commodus. Livius rescues Lucilla from the flames of the burning sacrificial pier and carries the dead Commodus with dignity (and ease) up the steps to the Roman altar. Commodus dies while embracing Livius in a touching reflection of their earlier friendship. That is a dilemma.”Īfter defeating a rebellion of the Eastern Provinces, Livius himself turns his army against Rome and ends up confronting his friend Commodus in a riveting hand to hand javelin battle in the midst of the Roman forum. As Livius states: “There are only two possibilities, and both are impossible. Unfortunately, this choice comes at a huge cost he loses Lucilla and he puts the power of the Empire into hands of the unstable and reckless Commodus. He declares his friend and the son of the Emperor, Commodus, as Caesar, therefore ensuring continued peace in the Empire. ‘Caesar must be undoubted Caesar.’ So instead, Livius does the only thing left for him to do. Should he stage a takeover and risk civil war but also rescue the woman he loves from an empty marriage to the King of Armenia? The risk is paramount: he would be doubted as the legitimate heir. However, when the Emperor dies abruptly due to poisoning without officially declaring Livius to be his heir, Livius is presented with a huge quandary. To summarize the movie, Marcus Aurelius, played superbly by Sir Alex Guinness, prefers to have the morally upright Livius to his corrupt son Commodus. Besides that, it perfectly captures the Roman world teetering on the brink of the “Time of Chaos”, which would take place at the end of the Severan era around 235 AD, 55 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius. He walks away from his chance to become Emperor…twice! But after we see the kind of conniving and evil men in the political machine, do we blame him for giving up and walking away at the end of the film? Its questions like these which make me watch this movie over and over again. Livius is powerless to control the events taking place around him, or at least unwilling to take power himself until no options are left. It contains an assorted of characters, all of which are flawed in one way or another the philosophic emperor (Alex Guinness) who is idealistic and grand yet the father of a profligate son (Christopher Plummer) the daughter of the emperor (Sophia Loren) who is beautiful yet bitter and hateful towards her mother the imperial son (Commodus) who not worthy of his father but who ends up ruling anyway, only to discover he is the bastard son of a gladiator (Anthony Quayle) the emperor’s advisor (James Mason) who is a philosopher himself despite being born a slave and finally the Roman General (Stephen Boyd) who is loved by the emperor, his son and his daughter because he is a moral man and the ideal stoic Roman, but yet is a tacit force in the downfall of the Empire he so loves. In my opinion it is a film that reflects a Stoic perspective on life itself. It is full of quandaries and conflicts, none of which are truly resolved. The Fall of the Roman Empire is actually a favorite flick among Roman scholars because it truly captures the mood and tone of Gibbon’s dark second century Rome brilliantly. I thought to myself–‘Awesome! This guy specializes in Romans!’ The film not only has an outstanding international cast, incredible performances and an amazing musical score by Dmitri Tiomkin (that pipe organ introduction gives me goose-bumps each time I hear it!), but it also features some absolutely stunning set pieces and scenery. It stunned me to see ‘Messala’ on screen again (as I had only seen Stephen in Ben-Hur and Fantastic Voyage at that point in time). When I saw this as a youngster in 1986 on TV it solidified both my passion as an Ancient Roman-phile and as a Stephen Boyd fan.
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