Carmine Gallone’s Scipione l’Africano: Restaging Rome, Reincarnating Romanità

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the ideological potency of the Second Punic War for modern Italian imperialism by analysing Carmine Gallone’s 1937 film Scipione l’Africano. The chapter begins by outlining how the figure of Scipio has been appropriated in postclassical discourses to stand in for idealized constructions of masculinities. It moves on to argue that cinema had a unique capacity to promote this image rapidly, disseminating masculine, imperialist ideologies to diffuse audiences. After establishing the way in which Scipione constructs its own reality, the chapter investigates how the film promotes a distinctly Fascist imperial ideology. A key element of this is its representation of gender, which is deeply racialized. In exploring this aspect of the film’s ideology, the chapter draws on Black and postcolonial feminist theorists, bringing new perspectives to scholarship on this monumental film.