WAgrippina is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani's libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an "anti-heroic satirical comedy", full of topical political allusions. Some analysts believe that it reflects Grimani's political and diplomatic rivalry with Pope Clement XI.
WAgrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarà pur vero, HWV110, is a dramatic secular cantata for soprano, two violins and continuo, composed by George Frideric Handel while he was in Italy, at some time between 1707 and 1708. The anonymous text depicts Roman empress Agrippina the Younger on the way to her execution, which was ordered by her son, the emperor Nero, whom she had schemed to put on the throne. The cantata is approximately fifteen minutes in length; its title may be translated as "Agrippina condemned to die".
WBoudica is a British television film released in 2003. Starring Alex Kingston, Steven Waddington and Emily Blunt, in her film debut, the film is a biopic of the queen of the Iceni tribe, Boudica.
WThe Caesars is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1968. Made in black-and-white and written and produced by Philip Mackie, it covered similar dramatic territory to the later BBC adaptation of I, Claudius, dealing with the lives of the early emperors of Ancient Rome but differed in its less sensationalist depictions of historical characters and their motives, in particular the Emperor Tiberius is portrayed much more sympathetically.
WCaligula is a 1979 erotic historical drama film focusing on the rise and fall of the eponymous Roman Emperor Caligula. The film stars Malcolm McDowell in the title role, alongside Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, John Steiner and John Gielgud. Producer Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse magazine, intended to produce an erotic feature film narrative with high production values and name actors.
WCaligula... The Untold Story is a 1982 historical exploitation film starring David Brandon and Laura Gemser. Written by George Eastman and Joe D'Amato, and produced, directed and shot by Joe D'Amato, it was created to cash-in on the success of Tinto Brass's Caligula without being a sequel or remake.
WDe Mulieribus Claris or De Claris Mulieribus is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. At the same time as he was writing On Famous Women, Boccaccio also compiled a collection of biographies of famous men, De Casibus Virorum Illustrium.
WI, Claudius is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. Though the narrative is largely fictionalized, most of the events depicted are drawn from historical accounts of the same time period by the Roman historians Suetonius and Tacitus.
WI, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' 1934 novel I, Claudius and its 1935 sequel Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it stars Derek Jacobi as Claudius, with Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Margaret Tyzack, John Hurt, Patricia Quinn, Ian Ogilvy, Kevin McNally, Patrick Stewart, and John Rhys-Davies. The series covers the history of the early Roman Empire, told from the perspective of the elderly Emperor Claudius who narrates the series.
WMessalina, Messalina!, also known as Caligula II: Messalina, Messalina, is a 1977 Italian spoof film.
WNero and the Burning of Rome is a 1953 Italian epic historical drama film directed by Primo Zeglio and loosely based on real life events of Roman emperor Nero. It was based on the novel Nerone e Messalina (c.1949) by Harry Bluhmen.
WMio figlio Nerone, released in the US as Nero's Mistress is a 1956 Italian historical comedy film directed by Steno and starring Alberto Sordi, Vittorio De Sica, Gloria Swanson and Brigitte Bardot, with cinematography by Mario Bava. It depicts a visit by the Roman Emperor Nero and his entourage to a coastal villa.
WRoman Empire is a television docudrama based on historical events of the Roman Empire. The show is in the anthology format with each season presenting an independent story. Season 1, "Reign of Blood", is a six-part story about Emperor Commodus. Jeremiah Murphy and Peter Sherman collaborated on writing the first season, with Richard Lopez directing. It premiered on Netflix on November 11, 2016. Season 2, "Master of Rome", is a five-part story about the rise of Dictator Julius Caesar and the fall of the Roman Republic. Season 2 premiered on July 27, 2018. Season 3 "The Mad Emperor" premiered on Netflix on April 5, 2019 and is a four-part story about Emperor Caligula.