Peplum Chronicles — The Threads of Ancient History
A timeline listing 250+ films set in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Peplum films are predominantly Italian productions from the 50s, 60s and 80s. Of course, the actors generally wore tunics.
Greek Myths, the Bible, Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Roman Empire, Barbarian Invasions, Saracens, Vikings, Crusaders
Greek Myths, the Bible, Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Roman Empire, Barbarian Invasions, Saracens, Vikings, Crusaders
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- DirectorUmberto ScarpelliStarsGordon MitchellBella CortezRoldano LupiMuscleman Ohro travels to the sinful capital of Atlantis to rebuke its godlessness and hubris and becomes involved in the battle against its evil lord Yoh-tar and his hideous super-science schemes.c. 10 000 BC: Atlantis
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsRaquel WelchJohn RichardsonPercy HerbertPrehistoric man Tumak is banished from his savage tribe and meets pretty Loana, who belongs to a gentler coastal tribe, but he must fight caveman Payto to win her favors.One Million Years BC :-) Canary Islands
- DirectorGuido MalatestaStarsReg LewisMargaret LeeLuciano MarinWandering strongman Maxxus comes upon two warring tribes, the Sun worshipers and the Moon worshipers. He saves the leader of the Sun tribe from a sea monster, then later on when the Moon tribe attacks and kidnaps the Sun tribe's women, they call upon Maxxus for help.10 000 BC: Ice Age. Who knows? Doggerland maybe
- DirectorGuido MalatestaStarsKirk MorrisLaura BrownDemeter BitencMaciste and his people flee their volcano-ravaged island. They end up caught in between two warring tribes.c. 10 000 BC: Volcanic islands in the Aegean Sea
- DirectorGeorge PalStarsSal PontiJoyce TaylorJohn DallWelcome to Atlantis, where royal guardsmen wear uniforms that could easily be from the wardrobe of Ming the Merciless and some unfortunate slaves are turned into bovine-headed beasts.c. 9500 BC: Pelasgian Athenians. Plato's account of the Fall of Atlantis
- DirectorsEnzo DoriaLuigi RussoStarsMark GregoryAndrea GoldmanÁngel AlcázarGod casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden because Eve decided to eat a forbidden apple that a talking snake told her to eat. The disgraced couple find themselves battling a coterie of various creatures.c. 4000 BC: Garden of Eden
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsSam PascoElvire AudrayGeorge EastmanA violent man is ejected from his tribe after killing two of its elders, but he discovers a way to make weapons out of iron, and begins waging war against all the tribes in the region. His arch rival manages to escape and vows to stop him.c. 4000 BC: Anatolia, at the start of the bronze age. Tubal-Cain is the biblical inventor of all forged instruments of bronze and iron. Тhe sword-metal in the film would be arsenical bronze, rather than iron. Set in the biblical land of Tubal, which is identified with an Assyrian toponym for the Luwian states between coastal Cilicia and the Halys River. In the timeframe of the film, these proto-Anatolians would still be Barbarians, fresh from the Caspian Steppes.
Archeological note: Chaff-Faced Ware/Leyla-Tepe culture - DirectorViktor TourjanskyStarsLinda CristalPierre BriceArmando FrancioliA beautiful girl and a young physician fall in love in the midst of a family, and power struggle between rival princes of Upper and Lower Egypt. When all seems to turn to the better, a dejected woman gets her revenge, and the couple's destruction.c. 3000 BC: First Dynasty Egypt
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJack HawkinsJoan CollinsDewey MartinA captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.c. 2550 BC: Reign of Cheops
- DirectorFernando CerchioStarsDebra PagetEttore ManniErno CrisaAfter Cleopatra's death her daughter Shila is brought up in Assyria. When the new pharaoh Nemorat conquers Assyria he takes Shila to Egypt and marries her. He soon dies, and his widow is required to be buried with him - alive.c. 2550 BC: The wife of Cheops
Note: She is not the daughter of Cleopatra. Only the English language release comes with this glaring translation error. - DirectorJohn HustonStarsMichael ParksUlla BergrydRichard HarrisExtravagant production of the first part of the book of Genesis. Its main highlights are the Garden of Eden, the first brothers, Noah and his family obeying God to build an ark for the Flood and Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac.c. 2500–2054 BC: From the Deluge to the Binding of Isaac. The film is mainly about Abraham, but there is also a brief recap of the earliest parts of Genesis from Adam & Eve to Noah.
- DirectorsRobert AldrichSergio LeoneStarsStewart GrangerPier AngeliStanley BakerSex, torture, and betrayal in Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, leader of the Hebrews, believes that his people can co-exist with the Sodomites--a disastrous decision.c. 2085–2067 BC: From when Lot and his Hebrews settle at Sodom until the unfortunate misshap that befell Lot's wife
- DirectorMarcello BaldiStarsGiorgio CerioniJean MorcierJudy ParkerJacob is forced to flee for his life when an enraged Esau vows to kill him in this classic drama.c. 1928 BC: Jacob conned his father Isaac into giving him the birthright of his brother Esau. Now he must flee for his life.
- DirectorsIrving RapperLuciano RicciStarsMariettoGeoffrey HorneFinlay CurrieA brother is cast out from his family, sold in to slavery and then returns years later as a man of power - but shows forgiveness and compassion to his family through the strength of character given to him by God.c. 1898–1875 BC: Joseph falls out with his brothers who sell him to Midianite slave traders. One day they will be reunited in Egypt...
- DirectorEmimmo SalviStarsBella CortezIloosh KhoshabeLiliana ZagraA superhero battles lizard men and other monsters that are terrorizing the countryside.1800 BC: Anatolia. Roman God Vulcan invents Steel. Start of the Iron Age
As per Imperial Roman propaganda, the Romans trace their origin to Anatolian Troy. Steel is first attested in Anatolia. - DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsCharlton HestonYul BrynnerAnne BaxterMoses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.c. 1525–1406 BC: Life of Moses & Exodus. Moses marries Zipporah of the Midianites and leads the Hebrews out of Egypt.
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham the Patriarch by his third wife Keturah of the Japhites through their son Midian. They would follow Moses to the Promised Land, but were later persecuted. - DirectorDuccio TessariStarsAntonella LualdiPedro ArmendárizJacqueline SassardAn evil king makes a bargain with a devil in order to get away with murdering his wife.c. 1400 BC: By virtue of divine descent from Poseidon and the river Nile, Cadmus the Canaanite is fit to become the founder of Thebes in Greece.
Genealogical fact: Cadmus is the father of king Pentheus of Thebes & brother of princess Europa from Tyre in Canaan.
Note: Crius the Titan is in the film. - DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsTaina ElgPierre BriceAlberto LupoThe god Dionysus decides to pay a visit to the city of Thebes.c. 1350 BC: Daimon Dionysus Bacchus & his cousin Pentheus revel in Thebes.
Genealogical fact: Pentheus is the great-grandfather of Hercules' first wife Megara and of Eteocles of Thebes. - DirectorFernando CerchioStarsJeanne CrainVincent PriceEdmund PurdomChronicles the rise and fall of the woman who eventually became known as Queen Nefertiti.c. 1340s BC: Reign of Queen Nefertiti
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJean SimmonsVictor MatureGene TierneyIn ancient Egypt, a poor orphan becomes a genial physician and is eventually appointed at the Pharaoh's court where he witnesses palace intrigues and learns dangerous royal secrets.1353–1336 BC: The Amarna Period of Paraoh Akhenaten
- DirectorDesmond DavisStarsLaurence OlivierHarry HamlinClaire BloomPerseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.Late 14th Century BC: Young Perseus
- DirectorAlberto De MartinoStarsRichard HarrisonAnna RanalliArturo DominiciA warrior does battle against the evil Medusa, her army of stone warriors and a monstrous dragon.c. 1300 BC: Perseus the Great-Grandfather of Hercules
- DirectorAlfonso BresciaStarsLincoln TateLucretia LovePaola TedescoA tribe of vicious female warriors terrorizes the countryside, and especially the males, until one day the men and some local villagers decide to fight back.c. 1250 BC: Tribal Amazons
- DirectorGianfranco ParoliniStarsBrad HarrisLuisella BoniMara BerniIn a tyrannical kingdom there is an evil ruler and a queen who lusts after Hercules who is attracted to a handmaiden. A rebellion overthrows the ruler.c. 1250 BC: Hercules has come to liberate his home town from the Minyan tyrant. Hera has cursed him with fury.
- DirectorCarlo Ludovico BragagliaStarsJayne MansfieldMickey HargitayMassimo SeratoHercules decides to avenge the death of his wife, murdered at the hands of Éurito, king of Ecalia, but everything is a plot of an ambitious courtier. Hercules ends up falling in love with Deyanira, who is now a good queen.c. 1250–1240 BC: Hercules & his wives: Megara, Hippolyta & Deianira
