''Julius Caesar Against the Pirates'' ( it, Giulio Cesare contro i pirati) is a 1962 Italian

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

written and directed by

Sergio Grieco Sergio Grieco (13 January 1917 – 30 March 1982) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography Sergio's father was the Italian Communist Ruggero Grieco. Grieco first started in film in the Soviet Union in 1931, working as an ass ...

and starring

Gustavo Rojo Gustavo Rojo Pinto (5 September 1923 – 22 April 2017) was a Uruguayan-Mexican actor. Life and career Gustavo Rojo was born on 5 September 1923 on a German ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was the prominent Spanish auth ...

Abbe Lane Abbe Lane (born Francine Lassman; December 14, 1931) is an American singer and actress. Lane was known in the 1950s and 1960s for her revealing outfits and sultry style of performing. Her first marriage was as the fourth wife of Latin bandleader ...

and

Gordon Mitchell Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies. Biography Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in hi ...

.Della Casa, Steve; Giusti, Marco. ''Il grande libro di Ercole''. pp. 164–165. Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Edizioni Sabinae, 2013. .Casadio, Gianfranco. ''I mitici eroi''. p. 258. Longo Editore, 2007. . It is loosely based on actual events from the early life of Julius Caesar.

Plot

It's 75 BC and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

is in turmoil. Killers are on the loose. The

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had t ...

is having all the Roman Senators who refuse to support him murdered.

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

must flee due to his wife's Cornelia family's ties to Sulla's enemies. Caesar decides to flee

to the court of his friend, King

Nicomedes Nicomedes may refer to: *Nicomedes (mathematician), ancient Greek mathematician who discovered the conchoid *Nicomedes of Sparta, regent during the youth of King Pleistoanax, commanded the Spartan army at the Battle of Tanagra (457 BC) *Saint Nicom ...

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...

. While traveling to

Mileto Mileto ( Calabrian: ; grc, Μίλητος, translit=Míletos) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about south of Vibo Valentia. Mileto is the ...

, Caesar is captured by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and taken to their island fortress on the island of Formacusa. The pirates led by Hamar are engaged in hostilities with Bithynia, and Caesar swears that once he has paid his ransom of fifty talents of gold, he will return and destroy the pirates.

Cast

as Plauzia *

as Hamar *

Erno Crisa Erno Crisa (10 March 1914 – 4 April 1968) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1944 and 1968. His last film was the spaghetti western '' Sugar Colt''. Partial filmography * ''Croisières sidérales'' (1942) ...

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

* Rossana Fattori as Eber *

Piero Lulli Piero Lulli (1 February 1923 – 23 June 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1942 and 1977. He was the brother of actor Folco Lulli. Selected filmography * ''A Pilot Returns'' (1942) - De Santis * '' Love Stor ...

as Edom * Franca Parisi as Cornelia *

Silvana Jachino Silvana Jachino (2 February 1916 – 28 August 2004) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 65 films between 1936 and 1970. She was born in Milan, Italy and died in Rimini, Italy. Partial filmography * ''Cuor di vagabondo'' (1936) * ...

as Quintilia * Massimo Carocci as Publius *

Ignazio Leone Ignazio Leone (19 April 1923 – 30 December 1976) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 105 films between 1952 and 1976. Selected filmography * '' The Walk'' (1953) * ''I Chose Love'' (1953) * ''Amici per la pelle'' (1955) * '' A Woma ...

as Frontone * Fedele Gentile as Valerio Torquato, Governor of Mileto * Pasquale Basile as Tullius * Antonio Basile as Glaucus * Aldo Cecconi as Akim *

Mario Petri Mario Petri (21 January 1922 – 26 January 1985) was an Italian operatic bass-baritone particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles. Life and career Petri was born in Perugia and began his career after World War II, making his stage d ...

* Antonio Gradoli as Lucius *

Nando Angelini Nando Angelini (17 August 1933 – 7 August 2020) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 1957. Life and career Born in San Benedetto del Tronto, Angelini enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, graduatin ...

as Roman Official

Production

''Julius Caesar Against the Pirates'' was shot at INCOM studios in Rome with sea battle scenes filmed in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Release

''Julius Caesar Against the Pirates'' was released in Italy on April 23, 1962.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* 1962 adventure films 1960s biographical films Italian biographical films Peplum films Films directed by Sergio Grieco Films about Julius Caesar Pirate films Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Sword and sandal films Cultural depictions of Cornelia (wife of Caesar) 1960s Italian films {{adventure-film-stub