When I was in Middle School, in 7th Grade no less, one of the areas we studied heavily on during Social Studies that year was the history of the Roman Empire. People tend to forget that the Roman Empire was the Cat’s Meow in the early days of civilization and was an empire hellbent on world domination having to compete against other prominent civilizations of the day like the Greek and Egyptian Empires.
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In the case of special education, special education history teachers will often look to two versions to give their students a visual representation and those films are “Quo Vadis” (1951) and “Ben Hur” (1959). Sure, there are plenty of other popular visuals of the Roman Empire, but I want to focus on these two because while they are both well respected and well crafted films, they each hold significant value that special education students can absorb.
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Starting off with “Quo Vadis” (1951), the film largely takes a look at the persecution of Christians during the reign of Emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov) and how one roman soldier named Marcus Vinicus (Robert Taylor) is conflicted to serve his emperor while also falling in love with a Christian woman (Deborah Kerr).
Special education students will understand that the horrors of persecution because we see a lot of that both in general history and in modern times. We are seeing people being persecuted because of their beliefs, their backgrounds, etc. But it’s important to stand up for the rights of those who are being persecuted and Marcus Vinicus can serve as a representation not just for standing up, but also what life was like living in the Roman Empire.
In a way, the point I am making here is that those who are physically or developmentally different are often looked down upon and even persecuted because others believe that they will never get anywhere in life, which is not true. There are plenty of physically and developmentally different individuals (myself included) who have managed to defy the odds and expectations of others to get to where they are now.
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This is also clarified in the character of Jesus’ second-in-command, Peter (Finlay Currie), who is much more than a living representation of Christ himself, but also a stronger supporter of the oppressed Christians. There is a deep representation of Peter in various supporters of developmentally/physically different students who has the purpose of encouraging and enabling the oppressed to not let the oppressors get to them. Peter also teaches a lesson on having dignity and self-respect at the scene where he is crucified upside down.
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Lastly, “Quo Vadis” also teaches the psychological state of mind that can effect anyone, even someone as crazy as Emperor Nero. Nero also demonstrates what happens when we let our imaginations get the better of us which is most common with developmentally different students. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our delusions that we fail to see the errors and consequences of our actions.
We can also see in the character of Nero that he is someone who always believes he is in the right when he is really in the wrong. Back in the days of the Roman Empire, there was plenty of that and there is still a lot of that today. This is demonstrated in the burning of Rome when he blames the Christians when in reality, he was the one who caused the burning in the first place.
Ultimately, had he accepted full responsibility, he probably would not have ended up with the fate that was dealt to him at the end of the film. When we do something wrong, we accept responsibility for our actions. But he didn’t and that sends a message to students to take responsibility or else risk getting those around you in trouble.
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Moving onto “Ben Hur” (1959), we see that there are similar lessons from “Quo Vadis” (1951), but they are each unique in their own right. One of the lessons about this film is that not all figures in the Roman Empire are like Emperor Nero. This is demonstrated in the character of Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins) who starts out as the guy you like to hate, but then is saved after a sea battle by Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston), who had been sentenced to slavery for a crime he didn’t commit.
Rather than treating Judah Ben Hur as a slave, Quintus Arrius starts to see him in a different light to the point where he adopts Ben Hur as his son. Looking at this, we see that anyone of a higher power can be moved and not have their fame and fortune cloud their human nature. An example would be at my day job where the higher ups view me in the same manner as Quintus Arrius despite the fact that they cause my managers and supervisors fear and anxiety.
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The other factor is that in the Roman Empire, like everything else in life, some friendships don’t last forever as demonstrated in the crumbling friendship between Judah Ben Hur and Messala (Stephen Boyd) that is ultimately settled in the all too famous chariot race. In fact, Ben Hur winning the race comes to symbolize that it’s a dog eat dog, rat eat rat world and that you have to sometimes run over those you were once friends with because that’s the only way you have to survive in the real world.
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Finally, “Ben Hur” demonstrates that you cannot let hatred rule your life because you will get nothing out of it. In the days of the Roman Empire, you get to become emperor and yet, you don’t seem to be happy with it. This is still demonstrated in today’s society where we see celebrities get fame and sometimes they get the fame and fortune through hatred of others. We see sports teams that are full of hatred for another team and that hatred spreads like a virus to others who end up taking their hatred to the extreme. We see the same in governments around the world because some people get elected to power with hatred sewn onto them.
Hatred gets you nothing and Ben Hur had the good sense to realize that when all is said and done.
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In conclusion, both “Quo Vadis” (1951) and “Ben Hur” (1959) are films that can give special education students an appreciation for the history of the Roman Empire because like all the other films that I have featured in these blogs, hold value and lessons that special education students can learn from. These may be two high powerhouse films that might seem outdated to some, but they teach really important lessons as well that students can take into their regular lives both in and out of the classroom.
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Catch you all later!!
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