Ancient Greece and Rome on film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ancient Greece and Rome on film - Essay Example Nero eventually threatened to destroy the peaceful order of the Rome and the main issue was the conflict between Christianity and debauchery of the Roman Empire (LeRoy, 2008). The film narrates the story of Roman military commander who fell in love with a devout Christian woman known as Lygia, who was a Roman captive because she was raised up as an adopted daughter of Aulus Plautius. The military commander, Marcus Vinicius slowly became intruded by the religion of Lygia. Their love story is narrated in a broader historical context of earlier Christianity and its persecution by Nero (Scodel and Bettenworth, 2009, p. 9). The acts of Nero became highly outrageous; thus he ended up burning Rome and started blaming Christians. Marcus went to save Lygia and her family but Nero captured them and demand both of them, as well as, Christians to be killed. However, Petronius, the trusted consultant of Nero cautioned Christians that they will be made martyrs and since he was tired of madness act s of Nero, Petronius decided to kill himself (Scodel and Bettenworth, 2009, p. 11). Marcus was later arrested due to an attempt of saving the family of Lygia and another person known as Peter was killed by being crucified upside down. Peter returned to Rome and married the couple arguing that it was a sign of the lord but he was eventually killed. In short, the story ends where Marcus is released from the prison and marries Lygia. Marcus replaced Nero and eventually people realized that he was the one who burnt Rome but not the Christians. People wanted to kill Nero but he escaped into the palace where he strangled Poppaea to death claiming that he was the one who attempted to scapegoat the Christians. In the palace, the slave of Nero appeared and offered to help Nero to terminate his life. After the death of Nero, Marcus and Lygia became free; thus they left Rome. By the roadside, the crosier that Peter had left after his return to Rome had already miraculously sprouted flowers; th us the radiant light uttered â€Å"I am the way, the truth and the life† (Scodel and Bettenworth, 2009, p. 12). The Way Filmmakers Use Roman Stories to Discuss Christianity Themes Filmmakers use Roman stories in order to discuss Christianity themes in diverse ways. One of the filmmakers that attempt to reveal the themes of Christianity is the Quo Vadis, which is an American epic film of 1951 that was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. An epic movie is a kind of film, which lays emphasis on human tragedy on a grand level and it is more ambitious in scale that any other genre films. Quo Vadis is one of the epic films because it attempts to reveal real human dramatic events or actions that took place in the ancient Roman. It attempts to reveal the way Christians were persecuted by some powerful leaders of the historical era in Rome. Quo Vadis is a Latin idiom meaning that â€Å"where are you going† but the modern usage of the idiom refers to a Christian tradition regarding Saint P eter (Scodel and Bettenworth, 2009, p. 21). The Filmmakers use Roman stories to discuss the theme of persecution or martyrdom in the life of Christians. For Christians, persecution or martyrdom is one of the significant aspects that strengthen their faith. The crucifixion of Christ and his death at the cross is what altered everything including the live of Christians. For instance, the epic film of Quo Vadis offers an example of people like Saint Peter and among other Christians who were persecuted because of their