In 25 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.
De film volgt de avonturen van drie Egyptische mummies die wonen in een ondergrondse geheime stad in het oude Egypte. Het trio bestaat uit een prinses, een voormalig wagenmenner en zijn jongere broer, en wordt vergezeld door hun babykrokodil. Door een reeks ongelukkige gebeurtenissen belanden de mummies in het hedendaagse Londen en beginnen ze aan een doldwaze en hilarische reis op zoek naar een oude ring van de koninklijke familie die is gestolen door de ambitieuze archeoloog Lord Carnaby.
A falsely accused nobleman survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him.
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
In antique Rome, a simple pepboy for chars becomes involved in a coup against Cesar. Rahatlocum is a North African Roman colony where Julius Caesar came to spend an expensive holiday. The revolt rumbles among the small people who find a leader in the person of Ben-Hur Marcel.
Goliath battles for the freedom of the Babylonian people.
The rituals of courtship, romantic rivalry, and love play out three times as a man vies with a villain for the girl. In the Stone Age, the rivalry is set off by dinosaurs, a turtle used as a ouija board, and a round of golf with stones. In ancient Rome, the men display their brawn through a chariot race, using dogs instead of horses. In contemporary times, the man finds himself overcome by modernity, including a very fragile car.
The first adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
The poetess Sappho led an uprising against the corrupt government of the island of Lesbos.