''The First King: Birth of an Empire'' (), released as ''Romulus v Remus: The First King'' in the UK, is a 2019 Italian

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Matteo Rovere Matteo Rovere (born 22 January 1982) is an Italian director, screenwriter and producer. He's the youngest Italian film-maker to have won the Nastro d'argento for best producer, with ''I Can Quit Whenever I Want''. Life and career Born in Rome ...

. It stars Alessandro Borghi and . Set in the 8th century BC, it is about the shepherd brothers

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...

and the

founding of Rome The tale of the founding of Rome is recounted in traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves as the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous o ...

. All dialogue is spoken in an early form of Latin. The movie had a budget of 7.5 million euros. The film was theatrically released in Italy on 31 January 2019 by

01 Distribution RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

Plot

Old Latium Old Latium ( la, Latium vetus or ') is a region of the Italian peninsula bounded to the north by the river Tiber, to the east by the central Apennine mountains, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and to the south by Monte Circeo. It was the te ...

in 753 BC, a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

causes the two shepherd brothers

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

and Remus to be stranded and captured as slaves in

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was d ...

. They are able to rebel and free the other

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divide ...

prisoners and take the Vesta priestess Satnei, who carries with her the sacred fire, as hostage. In a conflict concerning the injured Romulus, Remus ends up killing the Latin leader and becomes the new leader of the tribe. The group face and defeat a warrior clan and Remus is appointed king by the surviving old men and women of their . During a sacrifice, Satnei predicts that one of the two brothers will become a great king and build an empire larger than what can be imagined, but to do so he will have to kill the other brother. The tribe assume that the prophecy means that Romulus will end up dead for the sake of his brother's greatness. Remus refuses to accept a divine order that requires him to kill his brother. He extinguishes the sacred fire of Vesta, kills an old priest and leaves Satnei helpless in the middle of a forest. Returning to the , Remus degrades all the inhabitants into slaves. Romulus regains his health and confronts Remus about his actions. Remus, regretful, goes to find Satnei, who while dying from having been attacked by wild animals tells him that sparing Romulus now means that it is Remus who will end up dead at the hands of Romulus. Romulus is able to rekindle the sacred fire and becomes the new leader of the . He appoints a young woman to watch over the fire so it remains lit, thereby establishing the first Vestal. Remus, trying to escape the prophecy, heads for the Tiber with a group of men, but is attacked by Alban cavalry and only saved by the tribe of Romulus. Remus then claims the tribe for himself, and threatening to extinguish the sacred flame is confronted by his brother. Remus induces his brother to kill him so that the prophecy can be fulfilled. On his deathbed he makes peace with his brother, recognizes him as his king, and tells him to establish a city on the other side of the river. The tribe cross the Tiber and burn Remus' body on a pyre. Romulus swears to build the world's largest and most powerful city on his brother's ashes. He gives the city the name of Rome. During the end credits, an animated map shows the expansion of the territory subject to Rome up to its peak under the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

in 117.

Themes

The film portrays a struggle between power and ''

pietas ''Pietas'' (), translated variously as "duty", "religiosity" or "religious behavior", "loyalty", "devotion", or "filial piety" (English "piety" derives from the Latin), was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans. It was the distingui ...

'', as represented by the two brothers. Ultimately, power is shown to become order only when submitted to the will of the gods. The director had no intention to comment on contemporary politics, but said that the myth's theme of love and

hubris Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...

"talks to us through symbols that we can interpret in the light of our current time".

Cast

* Alessandro Borghi: Remus * :

Fabrizio Rongione Fabrizio Rongione (born 3 March 1973) is a Belgian screenwriter, film producer and actor. Career Rongione was born in Brussels, Belgium of Italian descent. He collaborated with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne in ''Rosetta'' (1999), '' L’Enfant'' ...

: Lars * : Tefarie * Tania Garribba: Satnei * Lorenzo Gleijeses: Purtnass * : Elaxantre * Max Malatesta: Veltur * Fiorenzo Mattu: Mamercus * : Adieis * Antonio Orlando: Erennis * Vincenzo Pirrotta: Cai * : Aranth * Ludovico Succio: Marce * Martinus Tocchi: Lubces * Marina Occhionero:

Acca Larentia Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess of fertility, in Roman mythology whose festival, the Larentalia, was celebrated on December 23. Myths Foster mother In one mythological tradition (that of ...

* Nina Fotaras: Ramtha * Emilio De Marchi: Testa di Lupo * Luca Elmi: Maccus

Production

The idea to make the film in

archaic Latin Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

came from a desire to make the characters sound ancestral, which would help the audience to attune themselves to the story. The language was created by a team from the University Guglielmo Marconi led by professor Luca Alfieri, with the aid of Francesco Pirozzi and Beatrice Grieco. The team studied archaic Latin and "fleshed it out" with help from the reconstructed

Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

. Two visual influences were the films '' Valhalla Rising'' (2009) and ''

Apocalypto ''Apocalypto'' () is a 2006 action adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by Mel Gibson. The film features a cast of Native American and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia H ...

'' (2006).

Distribution

Originally set for a release at the end of 2018, the film was distributed in Italian cinemas by

beginning on 31 January 2019. The film had grossed 2.1 million euros after the first three weeks of screening. It was released in North America on DVD and Blu-ray Disc by Well Go USA Entertainment on 24 September 2019, with both original audio and an English-dubbed version, while in the United Kingdom by Signature Entertainment on 13 January 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:First King, The: Birth Of An Empire 2019 films Films set in ancient Rome 2010s historical drama films Italian epic films Films shot in Lazio Italian historical drama films Films based on classical mythology Films directed by Matteo Rovere Films about royalty Films set in the 8th century BC Films about brothers Cultural depictions of Romulus and Remus Latin-language films