User reviews

Gustavo Rojo is a quite credible young Caesar, but the film is virtually stolen by Gordon Mitchell in one of his better roles as Hamar, the magnificently brutish, cruel and macho sea pirate. The film is enhanced by Mario Petri, and briefly by Erno Crisa (much too young) as the chief conspirator, Sulla. A good brisk pace, glorious color and lots of action make this a very entertaining entry. The plot is based on actual historical events; Caesar really was captured by pirates and held for ransom on the island of Formacusa, and he was confident enough to offer higher ransom than was asked by the pirate chief, while subsequently vowing that if freed he would return to destroy their stronghold and see them all crucified. That pledge he eventually kept although much liberty has been taken in this film to add to the entertainment value, not the least of which is the lovely Abbe Lane as the ill-starred intended of the pirate Hamar.

In the year 75 BC , a young Julius Caesar (Gustavo Rojo) is forced to escape , -leaving his sweetheart Cornelia : Franca Parisi - from Rome for saving his life because being Dictator Sulla's enemy . He flees on a raft with his friend, Publius and his faithful assistant , Frontone (Ignacio Leone) . After that , they are given sanctuary by the King of Bithynia (Mario Petri) , but are attacked and captured by pirates (the pirate leader is Gordon Michell as Hamar) when they sail on one of the king's boats for Mileto with Quintilia . As Caesar and his companions are taken prisoner at an impregnable island . Later on , Caesar exacts a merciless vendetta .

An acceptable sword and sandals movie with intrigues , thrills , emotion , spectacular sea battles and impressive fights . Freely based on Julius Caesar's life , the film inspires itself onsome historical events taking parts here and there . Here appears some historical characters, as the notorious ruler Cornelius Sulla who battled fiercely dictator Marius as well as Julius Caesar . Decent main cast as Gustavo Rojo , Abbe Lane and Gordon Mitchell . Support cast is pretty good , full of secondaries of the 60s and 70s , such as Erno Crisa , Mario Petri , Piero Lulli , Franca Parisi , Ignacio Leone , among others .The motion picture was professionally directed by Sergio Grieco. He was a good craftsman who made a lot of adventures, action and thrillers movies as Sergeant Klems, SOS agent 017, Rififi in Amsterdam, The mysterious swordsman , Lucrezia Borgia, La regina dei Tartaro, Il Capitano di Ferro, Pirates of the Black Hawk..

The actual deeds occured in the following way : In 85 BC, Caesar's father died suddenly, so Caesar was the head of the family at 16. His coming of age coincided with a civil war between his uncle Gaius Marius and his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Both sides carried out bloody purges of their political opponents whenever they were in the ascendancy. Marius and his ally Lucius Cornelius Cinna were in control of the city when Caesar was nominated as the new Flamen Dialis (high priest of Jupiter), and he was married to Cinna's daughter Cornelia.Following Sulla's final victory, though, Caesar's connections to the old regime made him a target for the new one. He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife's dowry, and his priesthood, but he refused to divorce Cornelia and was forced to go into hiding.The threat against him was lifted by the intervention of his mother's family, which included supporters of Sulla, and the Vestal Virgins. Sulla gave in reluctantly and is said to have declared that he saw many a Marius in Caesar. The loss of his priesthood had allowed him to pursue a military career, as the high priest of Jupiter was not permitted to touch a horse, sleep three nights outside his own bed or one night outside Rome, or look upon an army.Caesar felt that it would be much safer far away from Sulla should the Dictator change his mind, so he left Rome and joined the army, serving under Marcus Minucius Thermus in Asia and Servilius Isauricus in Cilicia. He served with distinction, winning the Civic Crown for his part in the Siege of Mytilene. He went on a mission to Bithynia to secure the assistance of King Nicomedes's fleet, but he spent so long at Nicomedes' court that rumours arose of an affair with the king, which Caesar vehemently denied for the rest of his life.Hearing of Sulla's death in 78 BC, Caesar felt safe enough to return to Rome. He lacked means since his inheritance was confiscated, but he acquired a modest house in Subura, a lower-class neighbourhood of Rome.He turned to legal advocacy and became known for his exceptional oratory accompanied by impassioned gestures and a high-pitched voice, and ruthless prosecution of former governors notorious for extortion and corruption.Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla stripped Caesar of the priesthood.On the way across the Aegean Sea,Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner.He maintained an attitude of superiority throughout his captivity. The pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver, but he insisted that they ask for 50. After the ransom was paid, Caesar raised a fleet, pursued and captured the pirates, and imprisoned them. He had them crucified on his own authority, as he had promised while in captivity-a promise that the pirates had taken as a joke. As a sign of leniency, he first had their throats cut. He was soon called back into military action in Asia, raising a band of auxiliaries to repel an incursion from the east.On his return to Rome, he was elected military tribune, a first step in a political career. He was elected quaestor for 69 BC, and during that year he delivered the funeral oration for his aunt Julia, and included images of her husband Marius in the funeral procession, unseen since the days of Sulla. His wife Cornelia also died that year. Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after her funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC.While there, he is said to have encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realised with dissatisfaction that he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little. On his return in 67 BC,he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla, whom he later divorced in 61 BC after her embroilment in the Bona Dea scandal. In 65 BC, he was elected curule aedile, and staged lavish games that won him further attention and popular support

The lead of this one is familiar-looking Gustavo Rojo, who had played a supporting role in Luis Bunuel's minor THE GREAT MADCAP (1949); bafflingly, however, his character is addressed as Caesar before he actually became one – since this epithet was given in reference to a title and not a surname!

The film may be unusual Roman Empire material in view of the presence of sea-faring pirates, but the result is thoroughly routine nonetheless. Gordon Mitchell is the chief villain here, but he is also the subject of the movie's biggest unintentional laugh: when his constant scowling ends up getting on Rojo's nerves, the latter unceremoniously throws him to the ground and starts twisting his leg! Of course, the hero becomes involved with a girl who not only happens to be Mitchell's 'property' but, since he is himself married, she turns up conveniently dead by the finale!

Besides, we get some execrable comic relief by Rojo's pint-sized lackey: how the peplum exponents unfailingly seemed to feel this was an obligatory element (as with the ever-present dance routine) and by this sort of person to boot is a complete mystery to me! Again, this viewing came via an English-dubbed (but, at least, widescreen) TV broadcast undermined by problematic audio!

In this episode of the life of the 25 year old Gaius Julius Caesar, Rome is in tukilling all of turmoil. It is the year 75 BC and the Dictator, Sulla is murdering all the Senators who will not support his leadership. Caesar flees for his life when men storm his house, intent on killing him because of his wife's family connections with those Senators who oppose Sulla. Caesar and his servant, accompanied by his doctor friend escape by sea by building a raft they hastily built. Afloat at sea, they are picked up by a boat and taken to the court of King Nicomedes in Bithynia. Nicomedes allows Caesar to leave for Mileto on a boat to escort Quintilia, Caesar's cousin and Claudia, a slave who Caesar does not realise is the promised bride of Hamar, the major pirate of the Mediterranean Sea area. Their ship is attacked by pirates who kidnap Caesar and his companions and take them to the pirate stronghold of Formacusa. Caesar is held for a ransom of 20 talents of gold but he is insulted by that amount and raises it to the ridiculously high amount of 50 talents of gold. Publius is sent back to Rome to collect the gold needed for the ransom with Akim, Hamar's lieutenant. In Rome, (78BC), he hears that Sulla is dead and asks for help to get Caesar released. On their return voyage they are attacked and robbed by Edom, Nicomedes ally and return to Hamar empty handed. Quintilia's father sends a fleet to attack Formacusa and finally rid them of the pirate menace which has been plaguing them for so long. As the battles around the stronghold rage, Akim is killed. Caesar tries to save Claudia from a dreadful death by the jealous Hamar, but she does in his arms. In their final confrontation, Caesar kills Hamar and returns to Rome to be reunited with his beloved Cornelia. bcarruthers-76500

In 75 BC in Rome, 25 year old Julius Caesar is forced to flee for his life due to his wife Cornelia's family ties with the Dictator, Sulla. He escapes on a raft accompanied by his doctor fiend Publius and his faithful servant Frontone. Eventually find themselves on a ship bound for Mileto with Quintilia, Caesar's cousin, the daughter of the Govenor of Mileto. They are captured by pirates and talen to the pirate island stronghold of Formacusa. There they meet the pirate leader, Hamar. He demands a ransom of 20 talents of gold. He finds that amount insulting and offered 50 talents for the release of him and his companions. Publius goes back to Rome to collect the gold with Akim, Hamar's sidekick but they are robbed by other pirates on the return voyage to Formacusa. The Govenor of Mileto sails with his ships to end the piracy of Hamar and they attack his island base. Caesar is freed and his daughter is rescued and in the ensuing battles Caesar kills Hamar. bcarruthers-76500