Sky Italia and ITV’s Cattleya have unveiled the first images of the upcoming archaic Latin-language drama series Romulus, according to Deadline. The ten-part series about the founding of Rome is set in the brutal world of the 8th century B.C., where people’s fate was decided by the gods and nature. The story of Romulus and his brother Remus is told through the characters Wiros, Iemos, and Ilia who are marked by loneliness, violence, and death. The three characters want to “shape” their destinies instead of accepting their fate.
Cattleya is producing the series together with Matteo Rovere’s (The First King) Groenlandia. Rovere also serves as a writer together with Filippo Gravino (The First King) and Guido Iuculano (A Quiet Life), as well as the creator of the series. Rovere is also directing the series together with Enrico Maria Artale and Michele Alhaique.
Andrea Arcangeli (Trust), Marianna Fontana (Indivisible) and Francesco Di Napoli (Piranhas) will star in the series. The cast also includes Silvia Calderoni (Bloody Richard), Giovanni Buselli (My Brilliant Friend), Sergio Romano (Il Campione), Demetra Avincola (Lucky), Ivana Lolito (Gomorrah), Massimiliano Rossi (The First King), Vanessa Scalera (Lea), and Gabriel Montesi (Made in Italy).
The founding partner of Cattleya, Riccardo Tozzi, said “With Romulus, we want to tell the origin of Rome’s power, and the interrelationship among the main events that made it possible, affirming that history exists because someone first created a story. Such an ambitious project requires the work of an outstandingly creative and motivated team. We have formed that team with Groenlandia and it’s a great experience to work with a talented young director like Matteo, whom we also hold in high esteem as a fellow producer.”
“Romulus is a story about feelings, war, brotherhood, courage and fear. It is a great, epic fresco, a highly realistic reconstruction of the events that led to the foundation of Rome,” Rovere said. “But above all it is an investigation into the origins and the profound meaning of power in the West: a journey into an archaic and frightening world, where everything is sacred and people feel the mysterious and hostile presence of the gods everywhere.”
“Romulus is an epic series in the true sense of the word, an international project featuring some of the youngest and outstanding Italian talents,” said Nicola Maccanico, executive vp programming for Sky Italia, “[It’s] a project that has at its heart what is perhaps the most recognizable brand of our country, Rome, which is once again set to attract worldwide attention with a great story to tell — that of the founding of the Eternal City and its myth — raw, realistic, powerful. Our history, the most proudly local of all.”
Filming has started last month in Rome, Italy. ITV will distribute the series worldwide.