Nero and the Burning of Rome | |
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Directed by | Primo Zeglio |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Eric Klaus [1] |
Based on | Nerone e Messalina by David Bluhmen |
Starring | |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Giancarlo Cappelli [1] |
Production company | Spettacolo Film [1] |
Distributed by | Variety Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 106 minutes [1] |
Country | Italy [1] |
Nero and the Burning of Rome (Italian : Nerone e Messalina) is a 1953 Italian epic historical drama film directed by Primo Zeglio and loosely based on real life events of Roman emperor Nero. [2] [3] It was based on the novel Nerone e Messalina (c.1949) by Harry Bluhmen. [4]
Although Valeria Messalina makes a brief appearance in the film, the Messalina of the film's Italian title is Nero's third wife, Statilia Messalina, who appears towards the end. The dissolute Nero has come to the imperial throne through the machinations of his mother Julia Agrippina, whom he later murders. Among his other prominent victims are his tutor Seneca the Younger and his first two wives, Claudia Octavia and Poppea Sabina. One of his mistresses, the slave girl Claudia Acte, is portrayed in the film as a Christian who introduces the emperor to their teachings and flees on learning her lover's identity. During this upheaval, Nero overturns a lamp, which leads to the burning of Rome. This he blames on the Christians and orders a general persecution, in which Acte dies. When the populace eventually rises against him, Nero takes refuge with one of his freedmen and is killed by a slave. [5]
Nero and the Burning of Rome was released in Italy on 28 August 1953. [1]
Julia Agrippina, also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius.
Valeria Messalina was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation for promiscuity, she allegedly conspired against her husband and was executed on the discovery of the plot. Her notorious reputation probably resulted from political bias, but works of art and literature have perpetuated it into modern times.
Poppaea Sabina, also known as Ollia, was a Roman Empress as the second wife of the Emperor Nero. She had also been wife to the future emperor Otho. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues to become empress.
Claudia Acte was a freedwoman of ancient Rome who became a mistress of the emperor Nero. She came from Asia Minor and might have become a slave of the Emperor Claudius, following his expansion of the Roman Empire into Lycia and Pamphylia; or she might have been purchased later, by Octavia, Claudius' daughter.
Domitia Lepida was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealthy. She had holdings in Calabria and owned the praedia Lepidiana.
Tiberius Claudius Narcissus was one of the freedmen who formed the core of the imperial court under the Roman emperor Claudius. He is described as praepositus ab epistulis.
Claudia Octavia was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and Valeria Messalina. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin Agrippina the Younger, she became the stepsister of the future Emperor Nero. She also became his wife, as a marriage between the two was arranged by Agrippina.
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