Classics Professor Carl Rubino has been chosen as a presenter in the New York Council for the Humanities' "Speakers in the Humanties program. Rubino's topic is "Rome Outside the Beltway: Gladiator and the History of Roman Films in America." The New York Council for the Humanties is an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanties, a federal agency. The Speakers in the Humanities program provides a catalog of topics to libraries, historical societies, museums and schools throughout New York state. Organizations then request one of the listed speakers to come present their topic to the group.
Rubino describes his topic as follows: "Hollywood's 'roman epics' are about American as much as Rome. Gladiator, the latest example, steps away from its predecessors by echoing the widespread feeling that Washington's 'inside the beltway' culture is destroying our nation – that American's salvation, like Rome's lies outside the beltway in the good people of the heartland."
