How was The Fall of the Roman Empire filmed?

The 1964 epic historical drama film The Fall of the Roman Empire was directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston after Mann discovered Edward Gibbon's book in a London bookstore. Filming took place between January and July 1963, featuring a massive 92,000-square-meter replica of the Roman Forum which was the largest outdoor set in film history at the time. Despite its grand scale and star-studded cast, the movie was a major box-office failure and received mixed reviews from critics.

What we know

• Director Anthony Mann conceived the film adaptation after seeing Edward Gibbon's six-volume historical series inside Hatchards bookshop following the completion of El Cid. [2]
• Filming started in January 1963, wrapped in July, and utilized a 92,000 square meter replica of the Roman Forum that stood as the largest outdoor film set of its time. [2]
• The film featured a screenplay written by Ben Barzman and Basilio Franchina, with a historical prologue contributed by historian Will Durant, while Edward Gibbon originally authored the overarching historical study. [2, 3]
• The production was a commercial failure, earning $4.8 million against a production budget of $16 million. [2]

Where to go next

• how we knowWho starred in the 1964 epic film?
• the bigger pictureHow did Edward Gibbon interpret Rome's collapse?
• what caused itWhat caused Charlton Heston to leave the project?
• what followedHow did the film perform financially and critically?
• compared withHow does the film compare to historical theories of Rome's fall?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a bookstore visit inspire a multi-million dollar epic?The monumental 1964 film production directly originated from the director casually browsing a London bookstore after finishing another cinematic project.

Sources

• [1]The Fall of the Roman Empire (Wikidata Q367748) · CC0 1.0
• [2]The Fall of the Roman Empire (film) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Roman Empire (TV series) · CC BY-SA 4.0