An Imperial View
Cultural Ambassador Peter Ustinov
Weighs in on Pax Americana,
the Middle East and More
by Robert Croon
Jan. 20, 2003

"These days Nero can't help but reflect on the similarities between ancient Rome and modern America. "We had Pax Romana, now there's Pax Americana"

Long before Russell Crowe helped reignite filmgoers' enthusiasm forRoman epics, Sir Peter Ustinov, now 81, was king of the genre. He fiddled as Nero while Rome burned in Quo Vadis? (1951) and won the first
of his two Academy Awards in 1960 for a supporting role in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus. "When I was in Rome for the 50th anniversary of Quo Vadis?, the mayor asked me to say a few words in Italian," Ustinov recalls. "I reminded him I was Nero, who only spoke Latin." The story captures the wit and erudition for which Ustinov - who was knighted in
1990 for his accomplishments as an actor, director, playwright, opera-producer, historian, philosopher and raconteur-at-large; has long
been celebrated. . . .

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