Emperor Justinian was NOT a nice guy. Sure, he recreated the Roman empire two centuries after it had separated (with the western portion crumbling...while the eastern continued for another millenia). And, his law code is famous. But he also was niceness impaired and took little in the way of guff...the same could be said for his tough wife, Theodora. So the idea of them lighting folks ablaze for their own amusement doesn't sound too far fetched...though I don't think there's any evidence he ever did this. Such things also have been attributed to Vlad the Impaler (not to be confused with Vlad the Poker)....and considering how historical records were back in the day, I also could doubt this story as well. Regardless, this is the plot of this Georges Méliès film. The emperor is having a party and have folks crucified and set ablaze for the amusement of his guests. There is no more plot than this!!
Much of the problem with me watching this film is that I was a history teacher. So, not only did I notice that the plot was probably all fiction, but the costumes were all wrong--looking like they belonged on the set of "I, Claudius"...which was set 500 years earlier. They didn't dress that way and the creases in the painted backdrop didn't help with the illusion. The other problem is that the story is too simple and manages, somehow, to be a bit boring. Overall, an overly simplistic film with not much to offer except for a change to see a dandy crucifixion.
