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The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Drama · History · War · 1964

In the year 180 A.D. Germanic tribes are about to invade the Roman empire from the north. In the midst of this crisis ailing emperor Marcus Aurelius has to make a decision about his successor between his son Commodus, who is obsessed by power, and the loyal general Gaius Livius.

Movie details

The Fall of the Roman Empire

“Never before a spectacle like the fall of the Roman empire”

1964 Drama · History · War 3h 8m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

10.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

56 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

In the year 180 A.D. Germanic tribes are about to invade the Roman empire from the north. In the midst of this crisis ailing emperor Marcus Aurelius has to make a decision about his successor between his son Commodus, who is obsessed by power, and the loyal general Gaius Livius.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Fall of the Roman Empire?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Anthony Mann

Written by

Philip Yordan · Ben Barzman · Basilio Franchina

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren

Lucilla

Stephen Boyd

Stephen Boyd

Livius

Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness

Marcus Aurelius

James Mason

James Mason

Timonides

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer

Commodus

Anthony Quayle

Anthony Quayle

Verulus

John Ireland

John Ireland

Ballomar

Court is in session

Put The Fall of the Roman Empire on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.