ABSTRACT
The barbarian city is a paradox—a hub of civilisation in an area that is defined as philistine. Just as ancient epic films have numerously (re)appeared in recent years, the choice of topics has, in most cases, remained limited. 1 Most commonly, tales of great male and female rulers are being told: from Cleopatra to Theodora, from Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar. The very fixation on only a few key players, frequently realised as biopics, severely restricts the choice of place. 2 The cities of Egypt, Greece or Italy are far more present on the silver screen than Illyricum, Germania or Hispania. 3
