Gomorrah producer Cattleya is making a TV drama about Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome, in archaic Latin for Sky Italia.

The ITV-owned producer is producing Romulus, created by Matteo Rovere, who directed The First King feature. It marks Rovere’s television debut. The ten-part series is co-produced by Rovere’s Groenlandia and will start filming in Rome in early June.

It will star Andrea Arcangeli (Trust), Marianna Fontana (Indivisible) and Francesco Di Napoli (Piranhas) with Rovere directing alongside Michele Alhaique and Enrico Maria Artale. It is written by Rovere, Filippo Gravino (The First King) and Guido Iuculano (A Quiet Life).

The series is set in eighth century B.C., in a primitive and brutal world in which man’s fate is decided by the merciless power of nature and the gods. It is the story of Romulus and his twin brother Remus, as seen through the eyes of three people marked by death, loneliness and violence: Iemos, Wiros and the young vestal Ilia.

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Rounding out the cast are Giovanni Buselli (My Brilliant Friend), Silvia Calderoni (Bloody Richard), Sergio Romano (Il Campione), Demetra Avincola (Lucky), Massimiliano Rossi (The First King), Ivana Lotito (Gomorrah), Gabriel Montesi (Made in Italy) and Vanessa Scalera (Lea).

Matteo Rovere said, “Romulus is a story about feelings, war, brotherhood, courage and fear. It is a highly realistic reconstruction of the events that led to the foundation of Rome. But above all it is an investigation into the origins and the profound meaning of power in the West: a journey into an archaic and frightening world, where everything is sacred and people feel the mysterious and hostile presence of the gods everywhere.”

Nicola Maccanico, Executive Vice President Programming Sky Italia, said, “We are proud to launch this new project with a talented director like Matteo Rovere, who in a very few years has been able to impose himself on the film scene with his extremely personal, recognizable and successful style. Romulus is an epic series in the true sense of the word, an international project featuring some of the youngest and outstanding Italian talents. A project that has at its heart what is perhaps the most recognizable brand of our country, Rome, which is once again set to attract worldwide attention with a great story to tell- that of the founding of the Eternal City and its myth – raw, realistic, powerful.”

Riccardo Tozzi, founding partner of Cattleya, added, “With Romulus, we want to tell the origin of Rome’s power, and the interrelationship among the main events that made it possible, affirming that history exists because someone first created a story. Such an ambitious project requires the work of an outstandingly creative and motivated team. We have formed that team with Groenlandia and it’s a great experience to work with a talented young director like Matteo, whom we also hold in high esteem as a fellow producer.”

ITV Studios Global Entertainment will handle international sales.