Il leone di Tebe

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Hamilan, a cruel and ambitious general, murders his king and places himself on the throne with the former king's evil niece as his queen. He then wages war against his peaceful neighbors, killing their women and enslaving their men. A hero named Ursus appears at a tournament to challenge Hamilan's authority. Though victorious at the tournament, Ursus is arrested and forced to turn a grist-mill under an overseer's lash. Meanwhile, the former king's virtuous daughter, Diana, is tormented by her evil cousin, the new queen. Sentenced to a slow and tortuous execution, Ursus breaks free and a revolt breaks out. Ursus throws Hamilan to his death in a fiery pit and then Ursus and Diana enjoy the cheers of a grateful populace. - Written by dinky-4 of Minneapolis

Tribune Marcus Aulus, out of favor in Rome because of his alleged sympathy for Christians, arrives to take charge of an aqueduct project on the hot, arid fringes of the Empire. Centurion Gaius, cruel and corrupt, resents being replaced by Marcus. He instigates a revolt by his slave-workers, then blames the situation on Marcus. During the revolt, five muscular slaves escape. They meet up with fellow escapee Balisten, a farmer unjustly condemned to the aqueduct project. Balisten, impressed by Marcus's enlightened attitudes, has rescued the Tribune from the revolt. The six slaves, with Marcus's advice, plan to gain their freedom using their prowess as gladiators. Marcus plans to clear his name and to re-unite with his fiancée, Claudia, recently arrived from Rome. Gaius plans to kill Marcus and thus hide the truth about the slave revolt. Brawls and fights both inside and outside the arena come thick and fast.

After wedding the beautiful Genoveffa, Count Sigfrido of Treviri employs his right-hand man to look after his bride while he's away fighting in the crusades, unaware that his supposed friend has plans of his own for the new countess.

The city of Thebes has come under the cruel domination of Sparta. Diomedes and several of his friends strive to throw off the Spartan yoke even while Diomedes romances Dorida, daughter of the Theban governor who's collaborating with Sparta.

The czar Nicolas sends a secret mission of experts to find a hidden treasure, while at the same time preparing a group of mercenaries to kill the experts after their return.

A Chinese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. When a caravan transporting a Buddhist monk and a valuable treasure is threatened by thieves, however, the two warriors might unite to protect the travelers.

The story of Hadji Murad, a 19th-century Chechen chieftain who led his warriors in a fight against the invading forces of the Russian Czar.

In the late 1500s, forces of the Duke of Malaga topple the Sacred Obelisk in the North African city of Melida before they're defeated by the local Sheik. The Shiek's men then sail to Spain and kidnap the Duke's daughter, Isabella.

After the death of Octavian, the rebel populations of Illyria and Pannonia pose a grave threat to the Roman Empire. Tribune Marcus Ventidius is sent to subdue the uprising and, after a bitter battle, captures Pannonian chief Magdus together with a number of women hostages. These include Magdus's own daughter Helen, betrothed to cruel Illyrian warrior Batone who has killed many Romans. Julia, daughter of the Roman governor Messala, is in love with Tribune Marcus and, jealous of his sympathy for the barbarian girl, plots an escape by Helen and her father. Pursuing the fugitives, Marcus crosses a mountain pass where Batone has laid a trap.

Don Fernando rallies peasants and townspeople to overthrow Moorish occupiers in medieval Spain.