Brill's Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Warfare on Film

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.

"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)

• AcknowledgmentsList of FiguresNotes on ContributorsPart 1: Introduction1 Swords Made of Rubber: Cinematic Antiquity through the Lens of WarKonstantinos P. NikoloutsosPart 2: Cinema vs. History: Testing the Accuracy of Celluloid Battles2 Form and Function: The Importance of Military Formations in Cinematic Depictions of the Roman ArmyJeremy Armstrong3 Alexander in Ares’ Mirror: Armed Conflict in Oliver Stone’s Historical EpicElias KoulakiotisPart 3: The Leading Men of Celluloid Armies4 “Hail! The Sign of the Cross”: Industrial Campaigns and Commanding Performances in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and Cleopatra (1934)Michael Williams5 Richard Burton in Alexander the Great (1956) and the Mechanisms of Hollywood Stardom: Fashioning an Ancient Military Icon in Post-WWII American CinemaKonstantinos P. Nikoloutsos6 Brad’s Biceps and Dwayne’s Delts: Stardom as Physicality and Digital Spectacle in Troy (2004) and Hercules (2014)Djoymi BakerPart 4: Women and Military Conflict7 Atalanta as Celluloid Warrior in Jason and the Argonauts (2000) and Hercules (2014)Patricia Salzman-Mitchell8 Women on the Battlefield: Ancient Warrior Queens and Female Military Commanders on the Millennial ScreenIrene Berti9 “She Wants to Be Married and Give the Children Names!”: Women and the Roman Army in Post-Gladiator FilmsJorit Wintjes10 Women in Captivity: The Human Cost of Armed Conflict from the Trojan War to Modern Greek CinemaAnastasia BakogianniPart 5: Western Colonialism and Racist Attitudes11 Rome vs. Carthage: Imperial and Racist Aspirations in Italian Films of the Twentieth CenturyArthur J. Pomeroy12 Porus vs. Alexander in Modi’s Sikandar (1941) and Stone’s Alexander (2004–2014)Seán EastonPart 6: Ancient Warfare on Film and Modern Politics13 Armed Conflict in Italian Historical Films of the Fascist and Post-WWII Era (1937–1954)Óscar Lapeña Marchena14 The Noise of War: Sound, Politics and Space in the Italian PeplumRobert A. Rushing15 “Make Love, Not War”: Roman Soldiers and 1960s Countercultural Masculinity in Fellini-SatyriconRenata Senna Garraffoni16 Epic Combat in Ancient and Modern History: A Comparative Analysis of The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and The Longest Day (1962)Jonathan Stubbs17 Lysistrata (1972): Political and Sexual Refractions of the Peloponnesian War during the Greek JuntaKaiti DiamantakouPart 7: Ancient Battles for Millennial Spectators and the Impact of the Hollywood War Film18 Sensational Violence: Brutality in Twenty-First-Century Cinematic Depictions of Roman BattlesHannah-Marie Chidwick19 Rockules’ Revenge: The Portrayal of the Veteran Warrior in Brett Ratner’s HerculesOwen Rees20 Romans and Zealots in the Global War on Terror: Asymmetric Warfare and Counterinsurgency in Risen (2016) and Ben-Hur (2016)Oskar Aguado-CantabranaPart 8: Epilogue21 To Be Continued: Considerations of Ancient Warfare in FilmLee L. BriceIndex