SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

SPARTACUS (1960)

Rome, 73 B.C. A Thracian gladiator slave Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) leads a revolt against Julius Caesar's decadent empire and loves Varinia (Jean Simmons, "The Big Country", "North and South"), the beautiful slave girl from Britain, who also catches the eye of the Roman general Marcus Crassus (Laurence Olivier). ♥


Ladies, hold your breaths for:

* Young Kirk Douglas (b. 1916, "The Big Sky", "The Vikings", "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral")

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

ROME (2005-2007)

BBC site
HBO site

An intimate drama of lust, love and betrayal; soldiers, masters and slaves; husbands, wives and lovers, set during the last years of Julius Caesar's reign. The series centers on Julius Caesar (Ciarán Hinds), his extended family, political allies and adversaries, and on two common Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), and their lady loves and lives. ♥ ♥ ♥

Ladies, hold your breaths for FOUR STARS:

* Kevin McKidd (b. 1973, "Anna Karenina", "Gunpowder, Treason and Plot", "Kingdom of Heaven", "The Virgin Queen") as the honorable if somewhat dour Vorenus, loving his beautiful peasant princess Niobe

* Ray Stevenson (b. 1964, "King Artur") as the roguish Pullo, who finds love and slave girl Eirene

* James Purefoy (b. 1964, "Mansfield Park", "A Knight's Tale", "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "Beau Brummell", "George and the Dragon") as Marcus Antonius, the dashing commander and on/off lover of Caesar's niece, Atia of the Julii

* Ciarán Hinds (b. 1953, "Excalibur", "Persuasion", "Ivanhoe", "Jane Eyre", "Jason and the Argonauts") as the man behind it all, Gaius Julius Caesar, married to Calpurnia but old lovers with Servilia of the Julii, the mother of Brutus

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

JULIUS CAESAR (1953)

Et tu, Brute?

Based on a classic by Shakespeare. It's Brutus (James Mason) et al. against Caesar's (Louis Calhern) trusted man Marcus Antonius (Marlon Brando, "Mutiny on the Bounty").

Ladies, hold your breaths for:

* Patrician young Marlon Brando (b. 1924)

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

CLEOPATRA (1963)

The classic telling of Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt (Elizabeth Taylor, "Ivanhoe", "Quo Vadis"), who forges an alliance with Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison, "My Fair Lady") in order to protect her Egyptian empire. But when Caesar is murdered, she turns to Roman general Marcus Antonius (Richard Burton, "Anne of the Thousand Days", "Alexander the Great") for protection. ♥

Ladies, hold your breaths for THREE STARS:

* Young Richard Burton (b. 1925)

* Cleo and Marcus

* Burton & Taylor

Yearning for more meat & story?

Try Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough (The Thorn Birds)

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

JULIUS CAESAR (2002 miniseries)

Feared by enemies.
Betrayed by friends.

His time has come

Official Five Mile River Films site

Legendary statesman, military genius and prolific orator, the story of Caesar (Jeremy Sisto, b. 1974, "Six feet Under") is timeless and unforgettable, with Valeria Golina ("Hot Shots!") as Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, and Chris Noth (b. 1954, "Sex and the City") as Pompey.

Ladies, hold your breaths for:

* Yes ... Mr. Big in a toga