I. A History Lesson, Part I

1. A.The Second Punic War, from Cannae to Zama
   

2. B.Hannibal, Scipio, Masinissa, Sophonisba, Syphax—all historical
   

3. C.Fulvius Axilla, Maciste, Cabiria—all invented
   

4. D.Essential outline: Italy was threatened by Africa, almost destroyed, but then took the fight to the enemy and won, turning Africa into a Roman colony
   

II.  A History Lesson, Part II

1. A.Italy unifies in 1865 (complete in 1922); feels “belated”
   

2. B.The scramble for Africa
   

3. C.Italy is defeated by Ethiopa in 1896; acquires Somalia 1890, Eritrea in 1899
   

4. D.1911-12, the Italo-Turkish War
   

1. i.despite outnumbering the enemy 4 to 1, at best a stalemate
   

2. ii.minor territorial gains (approx. 1% Africa), extremely costly
   

3. iii.Italian brutality (public execution, concentration camps)
   

5. E.This is the immediate historical-political setting for Cabiria
   

III. Cabiria

1. A.Effective combination of elements
   

1. i.an imaginary threat to national security used to drum up public support for an unjustified, costly and pointless war in Middle East
   

2. ii.a romantic triangle (Masinissa, Sophonisba, Syphax)
   

3. iii.Orientalism
   

4. iv.a frustrated marriage
   

5. v.the Diva
   

2. B.A series of colonial fantasies
   

1. i.they threaten our little girls and young women
   

2. ii.the fantasy of total control
   

3. iii.and yet, servitude = freedom
   

4. iv.Orientalist fantasies are too many to count (human sacrifice; the grasping Jewish innkeeper; Oriental luxury (especially Sophonisba); the exotic (e.g., leopard); effeminate men and powerful women…)
   

3. C.Romances are mediated
   

1. i.Masinissa, Sophonisba and Syphax are mediated by Scipio
   

2. ii.But Sophonisba escapes from this mediation; she is excessive
   

3. iii.Fulvius Axilla and Cabiria are mediated by Maciste, who is also excessive, but in different ways
   

4. D.Production and Reception
   

1. i.Epic in quality and length
   

2. ii.Marked as a “quality” production (d’Annunzio)
   

3. iii.Cabiria marketing
   

4. iv.Read as an inspirational “national allegory”
   

IV. The Afterlife of Cabiria

1. A.Extremely influential: D. W. Griffith saw it and decided feature-length films were commercially possible
   

2. B.The dolly shot—in general, the film was technically inspiring
   

3. C.From 1915-1926, Bartolomeo Pagano made over 25 films as “Maciste”
   

1. i.primary role, rather than supporting
   

2. ii.immediately presented as white
   

3. iii.unlimited by time or space: appears as a soldier, mountain climber, tourist, detective, in Japan, in China, in the Middle East, in South America, and even travels to Hell
   

4. D.Maciste returned again in the peplum (1958-1965)
   

5. E.Certain images from Cabiria, such as the Temple of Moloch, are fixed in our visual culture
   

1. i.The Temple of Vaal, from Star Trek’s “The Apple” (1967)
   

2. ii.The Temple of Kali, from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984)
   

3. iii.Maciste’s mill become Conan’s “Wheel of Pain” in Conan the Barbarian (1982)
   

V. Early Italian Film

1. A.The Lumière brothers “invent” cinema in 1895
   

2. B.From bioscope to stable theaters (1905-1907)
   

3. C.“First” Italian film: La presa di Roma (1905)
   

4. D.Brunetta’s keyword: “epic”
   

5. E.1905-1912, the “gold rush”, move from Turin to Rome
   

6. F.Specialties: historical films (Quo vadis?, Last Days of Pompeii), divas, landscapes and lighting—and hence “realism”