"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"
— Captain Oveur, Airplane!
A particular kind of Period Piece set in ancient biblical or mythological times, running the gamut from Heroic Fantasy to Historical Fiction. Movies set in Ancient Greece, The Roman Republic or The Roman Empire, or even in Ancient Grome, are usually included. Alternatively, it may be used to describe Fantasy Counterpart Culture equivalents in a secondary world.
The subgenre of low-budget Sword And Sandal Italian films of the late '50s and early '60s is known as Peplum. note These films in particular tend to have the World's Strongest Man as the hero (often Hercules, but not necessarily). Much like the spaghetti westerns that followed them, pepla tend to star non-Italian, Anglophonic leading actors (if they're actors at all) alongside an Italian supporting cast. If an Anglophonic lead could not be secured and they had to cast a fellow Italian, he'd take on an English pseudonym - Sergio Ciani, for example, became Alan Steel. These movies also tended to get wildly different titles when released outside their home country, to the point where entire franchises could be fashioned out of what were originally stand-alone movies. The term "peplum" can also refer to a second wave of Italian fantasy films that came out in The '80s, though not all of these were Sword and Sandal movies, instead being Sword and Sorcery films overtly modeled on Conan the Barbarian (1982). Sandals or not, the '80s pepla tended to be grimmer, more violent, and sleazier than their relatively family-friendly forebears.
A classic Cyclic Trope, as Hollywood has regular periods of fascination with the era, and the trope was named by an early period of such films being popular, being a staple of The Golden Age of Hollywood.
Contrast Sword and Sorcery, on which the name is based (or vice versa). Strictly speaking, the two genres are distinguished by Sword and Sorcery having explicitly fantastic settings, typically a pseudo-Medieval European style Constructed World. Conversely, Sword And Sandal at least pretends to depict real-world historical settings, usually being set during classical antiquity in the Mediterranean regions. There is often some overlap though (as seen in the more Conan-inspired sword and sandal films of the '80s), especially when mythology gets involved, but it is usually existing mythology, based directly on Hellenic tradition.
Some of these films may also be set in the Middle East or North Africa, but are differentiated from "Arabian Nights" Days by time period: that trope refers to works set in the Islamic Golden Age (during what was known as the Middle Ages in Europe), while this trope refers (within those regions, at least) to works set much earlier.
Expect the landscape to resemble sand dunes and/or rural Spain throughout, making those sandals look more attractive.
The equivalent would be Wuxia for China, and Jidaigeki for Japan, in some cases, though these Period Pieces may also include elements of The Middle Ages, or even later ages, that are absent in Sword And Sandal ones.
Compare Epic Movie.
Examples:
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Classical Mythology
Anime & Manga
- Ulysses 31 — The Odyssey and a few other classical myths... in space in the 31st century.
Comic Books
Films - Animation
- Achilles (Stop Motion short)
- Hercules (Disney, 1997)
- Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus (part of the Herc-Xenaverse)
Films - Live-Action
- Clash of the Titans (1981) - A loose adaptation of the Perseus myth, featuring Stop Motion monsters from Ray Harryhausen. Ultimately, it would be the last feature film he would work on.
- Clash of the Titans (2010) - A remake of the above
- Colossus and the Headhunters. The "Colossus" of the title is actually the recurring Italian character Maciste, who didn't have much name recognition in the United States, and whose name was considered too hard to pronounce, prompting the Market-Based Title, though in the English dub, his name is still Maciste, with "Colossus" as simply a nickname. When it appeared later on Mystery Science Theater 3000, his name was misheard as "My Cheesesteak".
- Atlas In The Land Of The Cyclops: Despite the Market-Based Title, both the original Italian release and its English dub are about Maciste, and there is no character named Atlas. Our hero gets roped into protecting the last descendant of Odysseus from the Cyclops, who is still mad about what happened in The Odyssey.
- Goliath And The Dragon: Again, despite the Market-Based Title, this movie (known in its native Italy as La Vendetta di Ercole, or The Revenge of Hercules) is actually about Hercules, although even in the dub, he's not supposed to be the same Goliath as in the Bible, but a guy named Emilius that everybody calls Goliath because he's so big. The change was made so that it could be marketed as a sequel to the earlier Goliath And The Barbarians, but it probably would have been easier to leave him as Hercules.
- Samson And His Mighty Challenge (a 1965 Italian film also starring Hercules, but Samson's in there too). Later Gag Dubbed as Hercules Returns.
- Helen of Troy (1956)
- Hercules (1958) and sequels. The first one, starring Steve Reeves, is the first movie to be called a "sword and sandal" one, and is said to have kicked off the Italian peplum wave. A few of the Reeves films - including the original - would later appear on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which got a lot of mileage out of this kind of movie.
- Hercules (1983), starring Lou Ferrigno. Followed by a sequel in 1985.
- Hercules (2014), starring Dwayne Johnson, based on Hercules: The Thracian Wars.
- Hercules and the Captive Women (also known as "Hercules And The Conquest Of Atlantis"). Introduced British bodybuilder Reg Park as Hercules, who travels to a proto-fascistic Atlantis to prevent the prophesied destruction of all Greece. Was also featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- Hercules In The Haunted World (or Hercules in the Centre of the Earth) - Another with Reg Park as Herc. Director Mario Bava, best known for his very stylized horror movies, brings kind of a Dark Fantasy tone to this movie, with a very vivid depiction of the Underworld. Christopher Lee, another horror icon, plays the villain.
- Hercules, Prisoner of Evil was marketed as the third in the Reg Park-as-Hercules trilogy, but is actually another Dolled-Up Installment, as its original Italian title translates better to Ursus, Terror of the Kirghiz. As you can guess from that title, Reg's character wasn't originally supposed to be Hercules (and isn't even really the hero of the movie; it's mainly about his younger brother), and it's set in Central Asia (specifically, what is now Kirghizstan) during the time of Pax Mongolica
. The American distributor figured that the setting would be exotic enough that most viewers wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
- Hercules the Avenger. Hercules (Park again) travels to the Underworld, mostly via Stock Footage from Captive Women and Haunted World, to save his son Xanthus, whose mind has been stolen by the wicked earth goddess Gaia. Meanwhile, a fellow demigod - Gaia's son Anteus, a rival for the title of World's Strongest Man, but only when he's touching the ground - has assumed Hercules' name back in the land of the living and is terrorizing the people of Syracuse.
- The Steve Reeves version of Hercules may have jumpstarted the peplum boom, but it was itself inspired by the 1954 movie Ulysses, an adaptation of The Odyssey starring Kirk Douglas.
- Hundra - based on the myth of the Amazons
- Immortals
- Jason and the Argonauts - another one with Ray Harryhausen effects, this one tells the first half of the Jason myth (because the second half is a total downer). Hercules is also in this movie, but in a supporting role.
- The Legend of Hercules
- The Loves of Hercules - starring Mickey Hargitay as Hercules and his real-life wife Jayne Mansfield as the loves (yes, plural). One of the Hotter and Sexier entries into the genre. Was also featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- Minotaur
- My Son The Hero
- Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger - Another Harryhausen movie. Mainly an "Arabian Nights" Days story, but with elements of this genre, with Sinbad traveling to a still-Classical Greece to recruit the alchemist Melanthius for his journey. The movie takes a lot of its fantasy elements from Greek myths as well, most specifically the concept of Hyperborea.
- Troy
Literature
- The Aeneid by Virgil
- The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.
- The King Must Die by Mary Renault
- The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, which seems heavily inspired by The Epic of Gilgamesh and involves fantastic versions of ancient Africa and Ancient Rome.
- The novel War God by Tim Marquitz is a Deconstructive Parody of this genre. The antiheroes intend to rig a tournament about this by upping the violence and murder to make their Fake Ultimate Hero look good so they can clean up when he crashes and burns.
- Clark Ashton Smith's "Poseidonis" cycle of short stories, set in a not-completely-sunken Atlantis.
- David Gemmell's The Troy Saga is a Demythification imagining of The Trojan War
Live-Action TV
- Atlantis
- Helen of Troy (2003)
- Hercules
- The Storyteller: Greek Myths
- Herc-Xenaverse:
- Jason and the Argonauts
- L'Odissea ("The Odyssey") - The Italian-German-Yugoslav co-production starring Bekim Fehmiu, Irene Papas and a young Barbara Bach.
- Troy: Fall of a City
- The Sons of Hercules was a TV series that aired re-packaged, unrelated movies in this genre as if they were part of a single franchise, their respective muscular heroes all, as the title suggests, sons of Hercules, even though two of these movies, as listed below, had heroes who already were Hercules. They included such exciting titles as:
- Mole Men Vs. The Son of Hercules (actually Maciste, The Strongest Man in the World)
- Triumph of the Son of Hercules (Triumph of Maciste)
- Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (Maciste vs. The Monsters, actually more of a Hollywood Prehistory-type movie)
- Venus Against The Son of Hercules (Mars, God of War)
- Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules (Ulysses Against Hercules)
- Medusa Against the Son of Hercules (Perseus the Invincible. Mostly notable for its above-average creature effects by Carlo Rambaldi, who would go on to work on Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and others)
- Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire (Ursus in the Land of Fire)
- Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of Hercules (Goliath and the Rebel Slave)
- Messalina Against the Son of Hercules (The Last Gladiator)
- The Beast of Babylon Against The Son of Hercules (Hero of Babylon)
- Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules (Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta)
- Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness (Hercules the Invincible)
- Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules (Soraya, Queen of the Desert, actually more of an "Arabian Nights" Days movie)
Tabletop Games
- Dungeons & Dragons' Fifth Edition book Mythic Odysseys of Theros provides rules and setting notes for playing in a Classical Myth-inspired world.
Theatre
- Medea
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Oedipus the King
- The Oresteia
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre
- Timon of Athens
- Troilus and Cressida
Video Games
- Age of Mythology
- Apotheon
- The Battle of Olympus
- A Total War Saga: TROY
- Glory of Heracles
- God of War
- Hades
- Little Medusa
- Oedipus in my Inventory
- Rise of the Argonauts
- Titan Quest
- Warriors: Legends of Troy
Webcomics
Western Animation
- Parodied in Gravity Falls with the fictional movie The Voyages of Loinclothiclese, which seems to be mostly modeled on Jason and the Argonauts with a little bit of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad thrown in for good measure.
- Hercules: The Animated Series (Disney)
- Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend
- On The Simpsons, the in-universe actor Troy McClure once starred in such a film, titled The Erotic Adventures of Hercules', a softcore romp probably inspired by the above-listed The Loves of Hercules''.
Biblical Epics
Films
- The Prince of Egypt
- Joseph: King of Dreams
- Barabbas
- The Bible (1966)
- The Big Fisherman - tangential
- Demetrius and the Gladiators - a sequel to The Robe
- Exodus: Gods and Kings
- Hail, Caesar! is not an example in and of itself, being set in 1950s Los Angeles, but its plot revolves around the filming of a Biblical epic called Hail Caesar!: A Tale of the Christ. It seems to be mainly about a pair of Roman soldiers (George Clooney and Clancy Brown), present at the Crucifixion, who are so moved that they convert to Christianity.
- The Fourth Wise Man
- The Greatest Story Ever Told
- King David
- King of Kings
- Maciste in King Solomon's Mines - a fusion of the Biblical Epic and ancient Africa. Reg Park, of Hercules and the Captive Women fame, stars as Maciste.
- Monty Python's Life of Brian - an Affectionate Parody of the genre.
- Noah
- The Passion of the Christ
- Peter and Paul
- Risen
- The Robe
- Salome (1953)
- Samson and Delilah
- Sodom and Gomorrah
- The Ten Commandments (1923)
- The Ten Commandments (1956)
- The Prodigal (1955) - An adaptation of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The message was somewhat undercut by its marketing, which prominently featured the image of Lana Turner sexily draped across the idol of Astarte and making a pretty convincing case for being a heathen.
- Wholly Moses! - another genre parody.
Live-Action TV
Theater
Western Animation
- Testament: The Bible in Animation
- VeggieTales, but only in the episodes that reenact Biblical events, and huge liberties are taken, such as, you know, making David a talking asparagus and things like that.
Other
- Stargate, oddly enough, is a remake of Exodus IN SPACE! with Ancient Astronauts.
Ancient West Asia / Egypt / Middle East (non-Biblical)
Comic Books
Films
- Gods of Egypt - albeit with nominal Science Fiction elements through Ancient Astronauts.
- Pharaoh
- The Scorpion King series, a Spin-Off from The Mummy Trilogy, the first two films of which have prologues and scenes set in Ancient Egypt.
Literature
- Death Comes as the End
- The Egyptian
- The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving pieces of writing.
Live-Action TV
Theatre
Video Games
Western Animation
Ancient Greece
Comic Books
Films
- 300
- The 300 Spartans
- Alexander
- Alexander the Great (1956)
- The Colossus Of Rhodes, the first film directed by Sergio Leone.
Literature
- Gates of Fire
- Gods and Warriors
- Over the Wine-Dark Sea
- Hashire! Melos (Run, Melos!) - A short story by author Osamu Dazaki, based on an ancient Greek legend recorded by Hyginus. It's become a staple of Japanese media and adapted to anime, dorama, etc.
Video Games
Ancient Rome
Comic Books
- Alix — The hero is a Gallo-Roman.
- Asterix — Mostly Affectionate Parody of the genre, focuses on Gaulish heroes in a romanized world with Julius Caesar as regular antagonist/archenemy.
- The Eagles of Rome
- Murena
Films - Animation
Films - Live-Action
- Agora
- Androcles and the Lion
- Asterix
- Ben-Hur
- Brennus, Enemy of Rome
- Cabiria (Italy 1914), one of the first major film epics, set during the Second Punic War. Featuring the Breakout Character Maciste, who went on to be the hero of 25 movies between 1915 and 1927, always played by Bartolomeo Pagano, and was revived for a further 28 movies in the 1960s, played by a number of actors. Not all of Maciste's movies fit into this genre, however; many of them transplant the character to other settings and time periods, rarely with any explanation.
- Hercules Against the Moon Men. Despite its English-language title, this is another Maciste movie. The distributor figured that Hercules had more name recognition than Maciste in the Anglophonic world. Would later turn up on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movie is set in an ambiguous Ancient Grome (with aspects of Mesopotamia and Egypt thrown in) and pits our hero (whatever his name is) against rock-like Fantasy Aliens.
- Colossus and the Headhunters - Another Maciste movie, and another Mystery Science Theater 3000 entry.
- A few other Maciste movies were edited into The Sons of Hercules TV series - see above under the Classical Mythology header.
- Caesar and Cleopatra
- Carry On Cleo — a parody of this trope, specifically Shakespeare's historical tragedies and the Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra film.
- Centurion
- Cleopatra (1934)
- Cleopatra
- Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ (a French parody of the genre)
- The Eagle (2011)
- The Fall of the Roman Empire
- Goliath And The Barbarians (originally titled Il Terrore di Barbari, literally The Terror of the Barbarians), loosely based on the Lombard invasion of Italy in 568 CE. It tells the story of a musclebound hero named Emiliano (Steve Reeves), who must repel the invaders. In the English language release by American International Pictures, Emiliano was renamed to the more "Roman" and less Italian-sounding Emilius, but mostly called by the nickname "Goliath" (though he's not meant to be the Biblical Goliath). Although it was originally a standalone movie, AIP tried to make a franchise out of it by redubbing other peplum movies to be about Goliath/Emilius - namely Goliath And The Dragon (originally a Hercules movie, though one without Reeves) and Goliath And The Vampires (a Maciste movie).
- Gladiator
- Julius Caesar (1953)
- Julius Caesar (1970)
- King Arthur (2004)
- The Last Legion
- Pompeii
- The Silver Chalice
- Spartacus — subverts just about all of the standard conventions of movies with a Roman setting. The crucifixion scene especially was very controversial.
- The Seven Magnificent Gladiators, which, at the title suggests, is The Magnificent Seven Samurai but set in Roman times. It stars Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danningnote . Part of the peplum revival of the 1980s which followed the success of Conan the Barbarian (1982).
Literature
- Belisarius Series — set roughly at the time when The Roman Empire evolved into the Byzantine empire.
- Ben-Hur — Also counts as sort of a Biblical Epic.
- Codex Alera: Though technically it doesn't take place in the Roman Empire, the setting is essentially built around a displaced Roman legion, and thus closely hews to ancient Rome.
- The Eagle of the Ninth
- Emperor
- Fabiola
- I, Claudius
- Imperium
- The Last Days of Pompeii
- Marcus Didius Falco — A series of Historical Detective Fiction novels centering on a Private Detective during the reign of Vespasian.
- Masters of Rome
- Quo Vadis
- Roma Sub Rosa — Another Historical Detective Fiction series, this time set in the late Republic.
- SPQR — Yet another Historical Detective Fiction series, also set in the late Republic.
Live-Action TV
Theater
- Androcles and the Lion, an early Deconstruction
- Coriolanus
- Cymbeline
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum — An Affectionate Parody of this genre.
- Julius Caesar
- Titus Andronicus
Video Games
- Age of Empires I — It starts in the Stone Age, but one of the main goals in any scenario is to upgrade your civilization to this trope. The Expansion, The Rise Of Rome, also fully fits here.
- Assassin's Creed Origins — The protagonist is Egyptian, but it still takes place towards the end of both Ptolemaic era Egypt and the Roman Republic.
- Centurion: Defender of Rome
- Circus Maximus — the first (and most likely only) racing game that exclusively utilizes chariots
- Colosseum Road To Freedom
- Empire Earth, similar to Age of Empires
- Expeditions: Rome
- Gladiator Begins
- Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance
- Gladius
- Imperivm
- Praetorians
- Rome: Total War and Total War: Rome II
- Ryse: Son of Rome
- Shadow of Rome — basically Metal Gear IN ANCIENT ROME!
- Spartan: Total Warrior — play as a Spartan fighting Romans.
- Swords And Sandals A flash game series where you play as a gladiator.
Western Animation
- Shakespeare: The Animated Tales — The Julius Caesar episode only.
