Swords and Sandals

The Peplum (or pepla plural), also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western". The pepla attempted to emulate, or compete with, the big budget Hollywood Historical Epics of the time, such as "Spartacus", "Samson and Delilah" and "The Ten Commandments", just as the Spaghetti westerns were low-budget imitations of the Hollywood Western. The terms "peplum" (referring to the togas or robes which the ancient Romans wore) and "sword-and-sandal" were used in a condescending way by film critics. The peplum genre does not include Hollywood or British films such as "Clash of the Titans" or "King of Kings" (just as the "Spaghetti Western" genre obviously does not include Hollywood westerns such as "High Noon" or "The Outlaw Josey Wales").

While Hollywood filmmakers, such as D. W. Griffith with his 1916 "Intolerance", peopled their historical epics with dramatic conflicts and realistic protagonists, the Peplum merely took a real historical or Biblical event and used it as a backdrop for a simplistic (albeit engrossing), comic book-like heroic adventure. The pepla are a specific class of Italian adventure or fantasy films that have subjects set in biblical, medieval or classical antiquity, often with contrived plots based very loosely on mythology, legendary Greco-Roman history, or the contemporary cultures of the time, (Egyptians, Assyrians, Etruscans, Minoans, etc.).

Most of the pepla featured a supernaturally strong muscleman type as the protagonist, such as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste. These supermen often rescued captive princesses from tyrannical despots and fought mythological creatures. Not all of the films were fantasy-based however. Many of these films featured actual historical personalities (such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Hannibal, etc.), although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators, pirates, Vikings, and slaves rebelling against tyrannical kinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs were also popular subjects.

Nowadays it's possible to experience the 'swords and sandals feeling' online. Just check the Swords and Sandals game page to play games online for free.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword-and-sandal