Nova Roma (2018 short film)

Nova Roma is an alternate history sci-fi short directed by Aydan Woodward. It is one of the only indie films on the internet in a dead language: the film is almost completely in Latin (although Old Germanic is also used briefly).

Nova Roma
Directed byAydan Woodward
Produced byNick Pedersen
Written by
  • Aydan Woodward
  • Nick Pedersen
  • Matilde Viti
Music byTurbo Knight
CinematographyDavid Sarabia
Edited byAydan Woodward
Production
company
Zebcast Studios
Release date
August 1, 2018
Running time
9:20 minutes
CountrySpain
Language
  • Classical Latin
  • Old Germanic

Set in an alternate timeline, it shows a world in which the Roman Empire never fell[1] and was still the dominant power in Europe[2]. In an alternate world much more technologically advanced than the one in our timeline, Roman border agent Quintus Valerius Triarius (Gimmy Viti) is sent on another task to eliminate traitors to the Empire, but things don't go exactly as planned. Starring Gimmy Viti, Elio Lodi, Taui Atwood, David Sarabia, Aydan Woodward and Elena Jimenez.

The film was released on August 1, 2018.

Plot

The first scene, recorded with a handheld camera, shows an interrogation in a detention centre in the Confederation of Germania. A couple of Germanic soldiers have somehow captured a Roman border agent (a Limitanei) named Quintus Valerius Triarius, and start asking him questions about his highly secretive country: the Roman Empire.

The night before, Valerius meets his friend and superior Marcus in a tavern in Rome. Valerius initially refuses an assignment that Marcus gives him: to track down and eliminate fugitive slaves escaping across the border to Germania; but he accepts when Marcus offers him 300 denarii.

The film cuts back to the interrogation chamber, where the Germanic professor interrogating Valerius asks him about how the slave system works. Valerius, unable to answer his question, reveals to him that troops of the Roman army take pills that eliminate sympathy.

A documentary-style sequence then plays, showing an amateur documentary filmed in the very poor ghetto of Rome exposing the exaggerated social class divide. The presenter, Davus Fabricius Silus, interviews a voluntarily anonymous homeless man, who complains about his situation and greatly criticises the Senate and the upper classes for the appalling conditions of the ghetto. The documentary is then suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the imperial police.

Valerius arrives at the border with Germania, which is highly contaminated, irradiated and home to the waste of both countries (the Roman Empire and the Confederation of Germania). There, he finds two fugitive slaves, and when they spot him, a shootout ensues. Valerius manages to execute one, but the other escapes. Valerius chases after him, but the screen cuts to black when he crosses the border. It is unknown if he managed to catch him or how he ended up in Germanic custody.

The Germanic people end the interrogation and tell him his time has come (that they will execute him), but Valerius, who somehow broke out of his handcuffs, flips the table over and points a gun at the people behind the camera, ending the film on a cliffhanger.

Cast
  • Jimmy Viti as Quintus Valerius Triarius.
  • Elio Lodi as Marcus.
  • Taui Attwood as Slave #1
  • Aydan Woodward as Slave #2
  • David Sarabia as Davus Fabricius Silus
  • Elena Jimenez as Barlady

Nick Pedersen appears as a Germanic soldier who threatens Valerius. Aydan Woodward also makes an uncredited appearance lending his voice to Yoffrey Blumhelm, the professor working for the Council of Germania who interviews Valerius.

Reception

The short film received an award at the Fuerteventura Dunas Film Festival in November 2018, and received a positive reception especially for its use of Classical Latin. [3]

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References
  1. https://www.jerry-glover.com/what-if-rome-never-fell
  2. https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell#:~:targetText=Invasions%20by%20Barbarian%20tribes,encroached%20beyond%20the%20Empire's%20borders.
  3. "Concurso de Relatos Cortos - GUÍA DE FUERTEVENTURA". Fuerteventuraenimagenes.com. 2019-03-01. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
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