''Romulus'', graphically rendered as , is an Italian historical drama television series created by

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

about the

founding of Rome The founding of Rome was a prehistoric event or process later greatly embellished by Roman historians and poets. Archaeological evidence indicates that Rome developed from the gradual union of several hillfort, hilltop villages during the Prehi ...

. The show is notable for using archaic Latin instead of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. Produced by

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24. Pay TV services on the Sky ...

, Cattleya, and Groenlandia, two episodes of the series premiered at the 2020

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

. The series was first broadcast in Italy on

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

on 6 November 2020. In April 2021 it was renewed for a second season. The series was sold in over 40 countries.

Cast

Main

Andrea Arcangeli Andrea Arcangeli (born 3 August 1993) is an Italian film, television, and stage actor. Life and career Born in Pescara, Arcangeli studied at the S.M.O. drama school, and made his professional debut on stage in 2009. In 2012, he moved to Rome to ...

as Yemos, the prince of

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latins (Italic tribe), Latin city in Central Italy in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. The ancient Romans believed it to be the founder and head of the ...

and Enitos' twin brother * as Wiros, a slave from

Velia Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is located near the modern village of Novi Velia near Ascea in the Province of Salerno, Italy. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele () around 538� ...

participating to the

Lupercalia Lupercalia, also known as Lupercal, was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as ''dies Februatus'', after the purification instruments ...

. * Marianna Fontana as Iliam, Amulius' daughter and Vestal priestess. * as

Amulius In Roman mythology, Amulius () was king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of his infant, twin grandnephews Romulus, the eventual founder and king of Rome, and Remus. He was deposed and killed by them after they survived and grew to adulth ...

/ Servios, King Numitor's younger brother, later known as Servios. * as Gala (season 1), Amulius' wife and Ilia's mother. *

Vanessa Scalera Vanessa Scalera (born 5 April 1977) is an Italian television, stage and film actress. Life and career Born in Mesagne, Scalera is the daughter of two nurses. She grew up in Latiano, and in 1996 she moved with her family to Rome. She studied act ...

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia (given name), Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the m ...

, King Numitor's daughter and Yemos and Enitos' mother. *

Valentina Bellè Valentina Bellè (born 16 April 1992) is an Italian actress. Biography Born in Verona from an Italian father and a German mother, as a child she showed interest in art and studied acting. After finishing high school, Valentina worked as a model, ...

Hersilia In Roman mythology, Hersilia was a figure in the foundation myth of Rome. She is credited with ending the war between Rome and the Sabines. Battle of the Lacus Curtius In some accounts she is the wife of Romulus, the founder and first king of ...

(season 2), the leader of the Sabine priestesses. * Emanuele Di Stefano as

Titus Tatius According to the Roman foundation myth, Titus Tatius, also called Tatius Sabinus, was king of the Sabines from Cures and joint-ruler of the Kingdom of Rome for several years. During the reign of Romulus, the first king of Rome, Tatius dec ...

(season 2),

Sancus In ancient Roman religion, Sancus (also known as Sangus or Semo Sancus) was a god of trust (), honesty, and oaths. His cult, one of the most ancient amongst the Romans, probably derived from Umbrian influences. Cato and Silius Italicus wrote tha ...

' son and King of the

Sabines The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

. * Max Malatesta as Sabos (season 2), Titus' advisor and commander of his army. *

Massimo Foschi Massimo Quinto Foschi (born 2 January 1938) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Forlì, Foschi began his career as an actor at some point during the 1960s. He appeared in over 22 films since 1966 and also worked extensively as ...

as Aranth (season 2), an old

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

in the Land of

Tuscia Tuscia ( , ) is a historical region of central Italy that comprises part of the territories under Etruscan influence, or Etruria, named so since the Roman conquest. From the Middle Ages, the name was used to refer to three macro-areas: the " ...

who heals Yemos.

Recurring

* as Enitos (season 1), Silvia's son and Yemos' twin brother. * Massimiliano Rossi as Spurius (season 1), the king of Velia and Amulius' ally. *

Corrado Invernizzi Corrado Invernizzi (born 25 April 1965) is an Italian actor. Biography In movies, he appeared in ''Vincere'' as a psychiatrist and in '' Kidnapped'' as Judge Carboni (both directed by Marco Bellocchio). Both debuted at the Cannes Film Festi ...

as Eulinos (season 1), a Greek merchant who hosts Numitor and Silvia. *

Yorgo Voyagis Yorgo Voyagis ( ; born 6 December 1945) is a Greek actor. Career as an actor Voyagis' film debut was in Michael Cacoyannis's ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964). He reappeared three years later in the Italian Western ''Killer Kid''. Voyagis then starre ...

Numitor In Roman mythology, King Numitor () of Alba Longa was the maternal grandfather of Rome's founder and first king, Romulus, and his twin brother Romulus and Remus, Remus. He was the son of Procas, descendant of Aeneas the Troy, Trojan, and father o ...

, the king of Alba Longa, Silvia's father, and Yemos and Enitos' grandfather. * as Cnaeus (season 1), a slave from Velia and the king of the Luperci. * Emilio De Marchi as Ertas (season 1), the king of

Gabii Gabii was an ancient city of Latium, located due east of Rome along the Via Praenestina, which was in early times known as the ''Via Gabina''. It was on the south-eastern perimeter of an extinct volcanic crater lake, approximately circular i ...

and Lausus' father. * Marlon Joubert as Lausus, Ertas' son. * as the She-Wolf, the Leader of the Ruminales. * Demetra Avincola as Deftri, a young warrior of the Ruminales, attracted to Wiros. * Francesco Santagada as Maccus, one of the last surviving of the Luperci alongside Yemos and Wiros, later advisor and lieutenant of the kings together with Herenneis. * Piergiuseppe di Tanno as Herenneis, a warrior of the Ruminales, later advisor, and lieutenant of the kings together with Maccus. * Anna Chiara Colombo as Tarinkri, a warrior of the Ruminales. * Valerio Malorni as Adieis, a warrior and healer of the Ruminales. * Pietro Micci as Attus, a priest of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and warrior who trains Ilia to fight. * Ludovica Nasti as Vibia (season 2), the youngest among the Sabine priestesses. *

Giancarlo Commare Giancarlo Commare (born 29 December 1991) is an Italian actor. He is best known for his role as Edoardo Incanti in the teen drama television series '' Skam Italia'' (2018–2022). Biography Commare was born in Castelvetrano, Trapani, Sicily ...

as Atys (season 2) the king of

Satricum Satricum (located near the modern hamlet of Le Ferriere), was an ancient town of Latium vetus, situated on the right bank of the Astura River approximately southeast of Rome. It lay in a low-lying region south of the Alban Hills, at the northwes ...

Production

The first season of the series was greenlighted in 2019 and it was shot in 28 weeks in Rome. It was originally shot in

Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

Reception

The series won the 2021

Nastro d'Argento The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...

for best Italian TV series.

Other media

Starting from October 29, 2020, a trilogy of novels that expands the narrative universe, an unpublished cross-media project for Italy, has been published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. Written by , the volumes are titled ''Romulus: Book I – The Blood of the Wolf'' (29 October 2020), ''Romulus: Book II – The Queen of Battles'' (November 2020) and ''Romulus: Book III – The City of Wolves'' (January 2021).

References

External links

* {{Sky Atlantic 2020 Italian television series debuts 2020s Italian drama television series Epic television series Sky Atlantic (Italian TV channel) original programming Latin-language television Television dramas set in ancient Rome