Little Caesars

Roman History in Gangster Films

Abstract

Gangster films contain several references to ancient Rome. In the historical reality of the Italian-American Mafia, at least one mobster, Salvatore Maranzano, was fascinated by ancient Rome and used it as a model for his gang. In 1931, the same year Maranzano was killed, Mervyn LeRoy’s film “Little Caesar” connected, although mainly through its title, a fictional gangster’s ambition with an iconic historical figure from ancient Rome. An articulate reflection on how the Mafia was inspired by Roman history first appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part II” (1974). As suggested by a dialogue from the film, the main reason for the presence of notions regarding ancient Rome in gangster cinema is that Roman history provided images of power and successful military organisation. The representation of the Mafia as an association that respects a code of honour, although a twisted one, declined after the first two “Godfather” films. This provoked the disappearance of references to honourable examples from the ancient past in later gangster films. Ancient Rome is frequently mentioned only in the television series “The Sopranos” (1999–2007). However, these references are mainly meant to ridicule the Italian-American Mafia’s ill-conceived ideas of honour and masculinity.