''Justo antes de Cristo'' () is a Spanish comedy television series set in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

created by Juan Maidagán and Pepón Montero for

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...

. Its two seasons were released in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Premise

Set in

, the fiction starts in 31 BC. Manio Sempronio Galba's death sentence is commuted by a service in the

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of ...

, destined to the hostile and exotic

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

Cast

* as Manio Sempronio Galba. * as Agorastocles. *

Cecilia Freire Cecilia Freire Peñas (born 17 November 1981) is a Spanish actress best known for playing Blanca Román on ''Física o Química'' (2008–2009) and Rita Montesinos on ''Velvet'' (2014–2016). Personal life On 30 July 2016, she married the Spa ...

as Valeria. * César Sarachu as Cneo Valerio Áquila. * Eduardo Antuña as Antonino. *

Manolo Solo Manuel Fernández Serrano (born 1964), better known as Manolo Solo, is a Spanish actor. Biography Born in Algeciras in 1964, Manuel Fernández Serrano (his real name) was raised in neighbouring Los Barrios until age 6, later moving to Sevill ...

as Gabinio. * as Domicia. * as Ática. *

Javier Botet Javier Botet López (born 30 July 1977) is a Spanish actor. Often cast in creature roles, he has portrayed Tristana Medeiros in the ''REC'' franchise (2007–2012), the title character in '' Mama'' (2013), Set in '' The Mummy'' (2017), and Sl ...

as Silvio. * as Corbulón. * Eduardo Antuña as Antonino. *

Fernando Cayo Fernando Cayo (born 22 April 1968) is a Spanish actor. Biography Cayo was born on 22 April 1968 in Valladolid. He moved to Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitant ...

as Cornelio Pisón.

Production

Created by Juan Maidagán and Pepón Montero, the episodes were directed by

Borja Cobeaga Borja Cobeaga Eguillor (born 1977) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his 2005 film, ''One Too Many''.Nacho Vigalondo Ignacio Vigalondo Palacios (born 6 April 1977), better known as Nacho Vigalondo, is a Spanish filmmaker. Career Vigalondo's first film was the 2003 Spanish-language short film '' 7:35 in the Morning'', about a suicide bomber who terrorizes a ca ...

. The first two seasons were shot at once. The main shooting location was a set located in in

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. The

Sierra de Guadarrama The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de G ...

and the

province of Guadalajara Guadalajara () is a province of Spain, belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. As of 2013 it had a population of 257,723 people. The population of the province has grown in the last 10 years. It is located in the centre of ...

served as outdoor locations in order to represent

. The first season (consisting of 6 episodes with a running time of around 25 minutes) was released on 5 April 2019. The second season (also consisting of 6 episodes of roughly 25 minutes), was released on 13 March 2020.

Awards and nominations

, - , align = "center" , 2019 , , 7th , , Best Comedy Actor , , Julián López , , , , , -

References

{{authority control Television shows filmed in Spain 2010s Spanish comedy television series 2020s Spanish comedy television series 2019 Spanish television series debuts 2020 Spanish television series endings Spanish-language television shows Movistar+ network series Television series set in ancient history Fiction set in ancient Rome Television series set in the 1st century BC