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Brill's Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Warfare on Film
Series:
Volume Editor:
Brill’s Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Warfare on Film is the first volume exclusively dedicated to the study of a theme that informs virtually every reimagining of the classical world on the big screen: armed conflict. Through a vast array of case studies, from the silent era to recent years, the collection traces cinema’s enduring fascination with battles and violence in antiquity and explores the reasons, both synchronic and diachronic, for the central place that war occupies in celluloid Greece and Rome. Situating films in their artistic, economic, and sociopolitical context, the essays cast light on the industrial mechanisms through which the ancient battlefield is refashioned in cinema and investigate why the medium adopts a revisionist approach to textual and visual sources.
Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos is Professor in the Department of History at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia (USA). He has published widely on Roman sexuality, celluloid antiquity, and classical reception. He is the editor of Ancient Greek Women in Film (Oxford University Press, 2013) and co-editor of Greeks and Romans on the Latin American Stage (Bloomsbury, 2020).
Contributors are: Oskar Aguado-Cantabrana, Jeremy Armstrong, Djoymi Baker, Anastasia Bakogianni, Irene Berti, Lee L. Brice, Hannah-Marie Chidwick, Kaiti Diamantakou, Seán Easton, Renata Senna Garraffoni, Elias Koulakiotis, Óscar Luis Lapeña Marchena, Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos, Arthur J. Pomeroy, Owen Rees, Robert A. Rushing, Patricia Salzman-Mitchell, Jonathan Stubbs, Michael Williams, Jorit Wintjes.
Contributors are: Oskar Aguado-Cantabrana, Jeremy Armstrong, Djoymi Baker, Anastasia Bakogianni, Irene Berti, Lee L. Brice, Hannah-Marie Chidwick, Kaiti Diamantakou, Seán Easton, Renata Senna Garraffoni, Elias Koulakiotis, Óscar Luis Lapeña Marchena, Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos, Arthur J. Pomeroy, Owen Rees, Robert A. Rushing, Patricia Salzman-Mitchell, Jonathan Stubbs, Michael Williams, Jorit Wintjes.
"The introduction by the volume’s editor Konstantinos Nikoloutsos, and the epilogue by the series editor Lee Brice, provide those new to the topic with a convincing justification of the need for the specialized volume, an excellent overview of origins, developments and trends, and tantalizing suggestions for further research (...) Brill’s Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Warfare on Screen thus offers a well informed and rewarding read for students and scholars, providing them with a companion in their effort to grasp the specificity of the topic, or to delve into the various aspects that bind alleged historicity with modernity. The volume is well produced with only few infelicities. It will find wide readership and is recommended for any reader willing or striving to adopt a more critical stance vis-à-vis the increasing self-evidence and psychological effect of sensationalized ‘epic’ violence justified with reference to antiquity."
Ronald Blankenborg in BMCR 25.03.11
"(...) el punto fuerte de este trabajo consiste en la calidad de las monografías que lo integran, que concluyen todas con un apartado de conclusiones, bibliografía y filmografía de gran utilidad. De igual forma, es importante destacar la relevancia de la documentación fotográfica presentada, así como del epílogo del propio Brice (pp. 559-580) en el que subraya la multitud de intersecciones que se dan entre los diferentes capítulos, al tiempo que abre las puertas a futuros posibles estudios. (...) A lo largo de este libro nos encontraremosun acercamientocaleidoscópico a películas de distintas nacionalidades que van desde el cine mudo hasta el año 2019."
Alejandro Valverde García in Filmhistoria 34.1-2 (2024)
Ronald Blankenborg in BMCR 25.03.11
"(...) el punto fuerte de este trabajo consiste en la calidad de las monografías que lo integran, que concluyen todas con un apartado de conclusiones, bibliografía y filmografía de gran utilidad. De igual forma, es importante destacar la relevancia de la documentación fotográfica presentada, así como del epílogo del propio Brice (pp. 559-580) en el que subraya la multitud de intersecciones que se dan entre los diferentes capítulos, al tiempo que abre las puertas a futuros posibles estudios. (...) A lo largo de este libro nos encontraremosun acercamientocaleidoscópico a películas de distintas nacionalidades que van desde el cine mudo hasta el año 2019."
Alejandro Valverde García in Filmhistoria 34.1-2 (2024)
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
1 Swords Made of Rubber: Cinematic Antiquity through the Lens of War
Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos
2 Form and Function: The Importance of Military Formations in Cinematic Depictions of the Roman Army
Jeremy Armstrong
3 Alexander in Ares’ Mirror: Armed Conflict in Oliver Stone’s Historical Epic
Elias Koulakiotis
4 “Hail! The Sign of the Cross”: Industrial Campaigns and Commanding Performances in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and Cleopatra (1934)
Michael Williams
5 Richard Burton in Alexander the Great (1956) and the Mechanisms of Hollywood Stardom: Fashioning an Ancient Military Icon in Post-WWII American Cinema
Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos
6 Brad’s Biceps and Dwayne’s Delts: Stardom as Physicality and Digital Spectacle in Troy (2004) and Hercules (2014)
Djoymi Baker
7 Atalanta as Celluloid Warrior in Jason and the Argonauts (2000) and Hercules (2014)
Patricia Salzman-Mitchell
8 Women on the Battlefield: Ancient Warrior Queens and Female Military Commanders on the Millennial Screen
Irene Berti
9 “She Wants to Be Married and Give the Children Names!”: Women and the Roman Army in Post-Gladiator Films
Jorit Wintjes
10 Women in Captivity: The Human Cost of Armed Conflict from the Trojan War to Modern Greek Cinema
Anastasia Bakogianni
11 Rome vs. Carthage: Imperial and Racist Aspirations in Italian Films of the Twentieth Century
Arthur J. Pomeroy
12 Porus vs. Alexander in Modi’s Sikandar (1941) and Stone’s Alexander (2004–2014)
Seán Easton
13 Armed Conflict in Italian Historical Films of the Fascist and Post-WWII Era (1937–1954)
Óscar Lapeña Marchena
14 The Noise of War: Sound, Politics and Space in the Italian Peplum
Robert A. Rushing
15 “Make Love, Not War”: Roman Soldiers and 1960s Countercultural Masculinity in Fellini-Satyricon
Renata Senna Garraffoni
16 Epic Combat in Ancient and Modern History: A Comparative Analysis of The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and The Longest Day (1962)
Jonathan Stubbs
17 Lysistrata (1972): Political and Sexual Refractions of the Peloponnesian War during the Greek Junta
Kaiti Diamantakou
18 Sensational Violence: Brutality in Twenty-First-Century Cinematic Depictions of Roman Battles
Hannah-Marie Chidwick
19 Rockules’ Revenge: The Portrayal of the Veteran Warrior in Brett Ratner’s Hercules
Owen Rees
20 Romans and Zealots in the Global War on Terror: Asymmetric Warfare and Counterinsurgency in Risen (2016) and Ben-Hur (2016)
Oskar Aguado-Cantabrana
21 To Be Continued: Considerations of Ancient Warfare in Film
Lee L. Brice
Index
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Part 1: Introduction
1 Swords Made of Rubber: Cinematic Antiquity through the Lens of War
Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos
Part 2: Cinema vs. History: Testing the Accuracy of Celluloid Battles
2 Form and Function: The Importance of Military Formations in Cinematic Depictions of the Roman Army
Jeremy Armstrong
3 Alexander in Ares’ Mirror: Armed Conflict in Oliver Stone’s Historical Epic
Elias Koulakiotis
Part 3: The Leading Men of Celluloid Armies
4 “Hail! The Sign of the Cross”: Industrial Campaigns and Commanding Performances in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and Cleopatra (1934)
Michael Williams
5 Richard Burton in Alexander the Great (1956) and the Mechanisms of Hollywood Stardom: Fashioning an Ancient Military Icon in Post-WWII American Cinema
Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos
6 Brad’s Biceps and Dwayne’s Delts: Stardom as Physicality and Digital Spectacle in Troy (2004) and Hercules (2014)
Djoymi Baker
Part 4: Women and Military Conflict
7 Atalanta as Celluloid Warrior in Jason and the Argonauts (2000) and Hercules (2014)
Patricia Salzman-Mitchell
8 Women on the Battlefield: Ancient Warrior Queens and Female Military Commanders on the Millennial Screen
Irene Berti
9 “She Wants to Be Married and Give the Children Names!”: Women and the Roman Army in Post-Gladiator Films
Jorit Wintjes
10 Women in Captivity: The Human Cost of Armed Conflict from the Trojan War to Modern Greek Cinema
Anastasia Bakogianni
Part 5: Western Colonialism and Racist Attitudes
11 Rome vs. Carthage: Imperial and Racist Aspirations in Italian Films of the Twentieth Century
Arthur J. Pomeroy
12 Porus vs. Alexander in Modi’s Sikandar (1941) and Stone’s Alexander (2004–2014)
Seán Easton
Part 6: Ancient Warfare on Film and Modern Politics
13 Armed Conflict in Italian Historical Films of the Fascist and Post-WWII Era (1937–1954)
Óscar Lapeña Marchena
14 The Noise of War: Sound, Politics and Space in the Italian Peplum
Robert A. Rushing
15 “Make Love, Not War”: Roman Soldiers and 1960s Countercultural Masculinity in Fellini-Satyricon
Renata Senna Garraffoni
16 Epic Combat in Ancient and Modern History: A Comparative Analysis of The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and The Longest Day (1962)
Jonathan Stubbs
17 Lysistrata (1972): Political and Sexual Refractions of the Peloponnesian War during the Greek Junta
Kaiti Diamantakou
Part 7: Ancient Battles for Millennial Spectators and the Impact of the Hollywood War Film
18 Sensational Violence: Brutality in Twenty-First-Century Cinematic Depictions of Roman Battles
Hannah-Marie Chidwick
19 Rockules’ Revenge: The Portrayal of the Veteran Warrior in Brett Ratner’s Hercules
Owen Rees
20 Romans and Zealots in the Global War on Terror: Asymmetric Warfare and Counterinsurgency in Risen (2016) and Ben-Hur (2016)
Oskar Aguado-Cantabrana
Part 8: Epilogue
21 To Be Continued: Considerations of Ancient Warfare in Film
Lee L. Brice
Index
Researchers of classical reception; faculty and students in ancient history, film studies, military studies, Italian studies, peace studies; academic libraries.