WHERE ARE THE EURO MOVIES? A number of recent British and European movies and TV productions set in the Ancient World have not been released in theaters or on DVD in the US. When will we see...?

Champions d’Olympie (Champions of Olympia) gathers young athletes from across Europe to relive the Games as they were held in Ancient Greece by training in a restored palestra and competing in the stadium of Olympia. More info here and here. The series is available on DVD in France (PAL/Region 2 only). If you know of a US broadcast or DVD, please let Steven know!

...and speaking of the Olympics: In Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques (which opened across Europe in 2008), the beloved cartoon super-Gauls Astérix and Obélix (Clovis Cornillac and Gérard Depardieu) head for the ancient Games. Among the superstar athletes playing cameos: David Beckham, Zinédine Zidane, and Michael Schumacher. This is the third mega-budget Astérix movie from France, following Astérix & Obélix contre César (1999), co-starring Roberto Benigni, and Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002), with Monica Bellucci. The films have been huge worldwide hits, but have never been shown or released on DVD in the US. Quelle bizarre!

...and yet more about the Games: Greek filmmaker Paul Pissanos’ 2004 docudrama Olympiad 448 B.C. recreates the chariot races, contests, and religious rites of the first games on the sites where they actually occurred. Pissanos also made the feature film Orpheus & Eurydice (2004) as well as numerous ancient world documentaries for Greek television; you can see clips here. If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Heroes and Villains, a six-part 2008 BBC docudrama series about movers and shakers of world history, includes episodes about Spartacus (Anthony Flanagan) and Attila the Hun (Rory McCann, shown here). If you know of a US broadcast or DVD release, please let Steven know!

French director Jean-Jacques Annaud sets his latest movie in pre-Homeric times. Sa Majesté Minor (His Majesty Minor) features satyrs and pig-men in a comedy of mythic proportions. To see clips, click here. If you know of a US theatrical or DVD release, please let Steven know!

The Passion, a BBC mini-series starring Joseph Mawle as Jesus and James Nesbitt (shown here) as Pilate, was broadcast in the UK during Easter 2008. More info here. If you know of a US broadcast or DVD release, please let Steven know!

Gladiatress (2004) featured the stars of the British sketch comedy show “Smack the Pony.” The DVD release in the US was sketchy at best. (There’s a page at Amazon, but good luck finding a used copy.) Steven ( a “Smack the Pony” fan) saw the movie and found it “hilarious, especially if you like fart jokes and terrible pseudo-Latin puns.” If you know of a bona fide US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Greatest Battles: Julius Caesar, a 2004 BBC “Timewatch” series docudrama about the conquest of Gaul, carries the provocative tagline “Heroism or Genocide?” If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Sex B.C., a 3-part documentary series about sexuality in ancient times, was broadcast in the UK in 2002 and in Australia in 2007. More info here. Was it ever shown in the US? If you know of a US broadcast or DVD release, please let Steven know!

From 2004, two 1-hour BBC docudramas filmed in Morocco and Malta: Jason and the Argonauts and The Odyssey, both narrated by Jonathan Edwards. If you know of an English-language DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Would you believe, Spartacus — the musical extravaganza? Spartacus le Gladiateur, by Elie Chouraqui and Maxime Le Forestier, opened on the colossal stage of the Palais des Sports in Paris in 2004. A DVD was released in France in 2005; you can find numerous clips on YouTube, including one here. If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Germanikus, a German comedy (that’s right, a German comedy!) from 2004, stars cabaret artist Gerhard Polt (far right) as a Teutonic slave in the Rome of the emperor Titus (Moritz Bleibtreu). If you know of an English-language DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Pompei, ieri, oggi, domani (Pompeii: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow), an Italian mini-series starring Victor Alfieri, was first broadcast in 2007. If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Pompei, gli ultimi giorni (Pompeii: the Last Days), an Italian mini-series from the producers of Augustus, Nero, and St. Peter, was broadcast in March, 2007. The international cast includes director Giulio Base as Pliny. If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Who Killed Julius Caesar?, a 2004 Granada/Discovery Channel documentary, postulates that an ill, world-weary Caesar plotted his own demise. If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Hannibal, a British telemovie starring Alexander Siddig as the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with elephants to menace Rome, was first aired on the BBC in May 2006. (Siddig also stars in The Last Legion.) If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

The 2003 German telemovie Held der Gladiatoren (Hero of the Gladiators) stars Stephan Hornung. Steven saw the German DVD and says “it’s a bit like Baywatch, only the hunks and babes are gladiators instead of lifeguards. But production is excellent.” If you know of a US DVD release or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Viva Carthago is a French-language animated TV series of 13 episodes made in Tunisia. In 146 BC, when the city of Carthage is destroyed by Roman conquerors, 10-year-old Sedik escapes on the ship Carthago to embark on a magical journey through Mediterranean antiquity. Two feature films have been compiled from the series, Les Naufragés de Carthage (The Castaways of Carthage) I and II. If you know of any DVD release or US TV broadcast, please let Steven know!

Die Hermannsschlacht (The Herman Battle), loosely based on the monumental drama by Heinrich von Kleist about the massacre of three Roman legions in the forests of Germany in 9 A.D., premiered in Dusseldorf in 1995. The filmmakers’ minimalist, docudrama approach appears to be decidedly post-modern (or at least post-Monty Python). Visit the official site to see a trailer and for more information in German, French, or English. There’s a lengthy review (in French) at peplums.info.

Brûlez Rome! (Burn Rome!), a 90-minute docudrama, was shown on French television in 2005. To earn citizenship, two freed slaves join the vigiles (the city’s foot patrol) and confront the great fire that ravaged Rome in the reign of Nero. Steven watched the French DVD (in Latin with French voice-overs) and found it “a mixed bag — not quite successful either as doc or as drama — but beautifully produced with some memorable scenes.” If you know of an English-language DVD or TV broadcast, please let Steven know!