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{{Short description|1895–1896 novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{infobox book
| name         = Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
| title_orig   = Quo vadis. Powieść z czasów Nerona
| translator   = [[Jeremiah Curtin]]<br />W. S. Kuniczak <br/>Samuel Augustus Binion
| image        = PL Henryk Sienkiewicz-Quo vadis t.2 009.jpeg
| caption      =
| author       = [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]]
| illustrator  =
| cover_artist =
| country      = [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]]
| language     = [[Polish language|Polish]]
| series       =
| genre        = [[Historical novel]]
| publisher    = Polish dailies (in serial) and [[Little, Brown]] (Eng. trans. book form)
| release_date = 1895–1896
| english_release_date =
| media_type   = Print ([[newspaper]], [[Hardcover|hardback]], and [[paperback]])
| pages        =
| preceded_by  =
| followed_by  =
}}

[[File:Quo Vadis, Nero burning Rome.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''[[Nero]] and the burning of Rome'', illustration by M. de Lipman, Altemus Edition, 1897]]
[[File:Quo Vadis..jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Scene from the novel, entitled "Ligia leaves Aulus' house", illustration by Domenico Mastroianni, postcard from 1913, published by Armand Noyer, Paris]]

'''''Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero''''' ({{lang|pl|Quo vadis: Powieść z czasów Nerona}}) is a [[historical novel]] written by [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]] in [[Polish language|Polish]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/02/05/102069039.pdf|title=Historians of Nero's Time|last=Halsey|first=F. R.|date=1898-02-05|work=New York Times|page=BR95|access-date=2009-01-02 }}</ref> The novel tells the story of a [[Romance (love)|romantic love]] that develops between Lygia (''Ligia'' in Polish), a [[Women in Christianity|Christian woman]] and [[Barbarian#In classical Greco-Roman contexts|barbarian hostage]], and Marcus Vinicius, a young [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Roman patrician]]. It takes place in the [[History of Rome|city of Rome]] under the rule of [[Roman emperor]] [[Nero]], from {{circa|AD 64}} to AD 68, when he committed suicide.

Sienkiewicz [[History of the Roman Empire|studied the history of the Roman Empire extensively]] before writing the novel, with the aim of getting historical details correct. Consequently, several historical figures appear in the book. As a whole, the novel carries a [[Christian literature|pro-Christian message]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://culture.pl/en/article/the-man-behind-quo-vadis|title=The Man Behind Quo Vadis|work=Culture.pl|access-date=2018-02-16|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZ1tAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|title=The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age?|last=Socken|first=Paul|date=2013-09-01|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=9780773589872|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-ZDDwAAQBAJ&q=quo+vadis&pg=PT104|title=Art, Popular Culture, and The Classical Ideal in the 1930s: Two Classic Films – A Study of Roman Scandals and Christopher Strong|last=Soren|first=David|date=2010|publisher=Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media|language=en}}</ref> It was first published in instalments in the ''Gazeta Polska'' between 26 March 1895 and 29 February 1896,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://polona.pl/item/gazeta-polska-dawniej-codzienna-1895-nr-70-26-marca,MTQ3OTA3ODA/0/#info:metadata|title=Gazeta Polska 26 March 1895|language=pl|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref><ref>David J. Welsh, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/25776563 Serialization and structure in the novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz]" in: ''The Polish Review'' Vol. 9, No. 3 (1964) 53.</ref> as well as in two other journals, ''Czas'' and ''Dziennik Poznański'', starting two and three days later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://polona.pl/item/czas-dziennik-poswiecony-polityce-krajowej-i-zagranicznej-oraz-wiadomosciom-literackim,MjQ5OTMxODg/0/#item|title=Czas 28 March 1895|language=pl|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/applet?mimetype=image%2Fx.djvu&sec=false&handler=djvu_html5&content_url=%2FContent%2F75209%2FDP_1895_0073.djvu|title=Dziennik Poznański 29 March 1895|language=pl|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref> It was published in book form in 1896 and has been translated into more than 50 languages. The novel contributed to Sienkiewicz's [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1905.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quovadisitaly.uni.wroc.pl/en/txt/international-conference-quo-vadis-inspirations-contexts-reception-henryk-sienkiewicz-and-his|title=International Conference, "Quo vadis": inspirations, contexts, reception. Henryk Sienkiewicz and his vision of Ancient Rome {{!}} Miejsce "Quo vadis?" w kulturze włoskiej. Przekłady, adaptacje, kultura popularna|website=www.quovadisitaly.uni.wroc.pl|language=en|access-date=2018-02-16|archive-date=7 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107185547/http://www.quovadisitaly.uni.wroc.pl/en/txt/international-conference-quo-vadis-inspirations-contexts-reception-henryk-sienkiewicz-and-his|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several movies have been based on ''Quo Vadis'', including two Italian silent films in [[Quo Vadis (1913 film)|1913]] and [[Quo Vadis (1924 film)|1924]], [[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|a Hollywood production in 1951]], [[Quo Vadis? (miniseries)|a 1985 miniseries]] directed by [[Franco Rossi (director)|Franco Rossi]], and [[Quo Vadis (2001 film)|a 2001 adaptation]] by [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]]. In May 2024, a copy of the novel in the author's own hand was presented at a [[permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth]] in Warsaw.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://bn.org.pl/en/news/5313-palace-of-the-commonwealth-open-to-visitors.html |title= Palace of the Commonwealth open to visitors |date= 2024-05-28 |publisher= National Library of Poland |access-date= 2024-06-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Tomasz |editor-last1= Makowski | editor-link1=Tomasz Makowski (librarian) | editor-first2= Patryk| editor-last2 = Sapała |date=2024 |publication-place=Warsaw |publisher= National Library of Poland|title=The Palace of the Commonwealth. Three times opened. Treasures from the National Library of Poland at the Palace of the Commonwealth |page=166}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
A young [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Roman patrician]], Marcus Vinicius, falls in love with Lygia, a young [[Women in Christianity|Christian woman]] and [[Barbarian#In classical Greco-Roman contexts|barbarian hostage]] being raised in the house of the retired general [[Aulus Plautius]]. Vinicius' courtier uncle [[Petronius]] uses his influence with the [[Roman emperor]] [[Nero]] to have Lygia placed in Vinicius' custody, but first, Nero forces her to appear at a feast on the [[Palatine Hill]]. Secretly a Christian after having been converted by Plautius' wife [[Pomponia Graecina]], Lygia is appalled by the degenerate Roman court. She is rescued by her fellow Christians while being escorted to Vinicius' house the following day, and disappears.

Petronius takes pity on the desolate Vinicius, and hires cunning Greek philosopher Chilo Chilonis to help him find Lygia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-02 |title=Chilon Chilonides - charakterystyka – Quo vadis - opracowanie – Zinterpretuj.pl |url=https://zinterpretuj.pl/opracowania/chilon-chilonides/ |access-date=2022-09-23 |language=pl-PL}}</ref> Chilo soon establishes that Lygia was Christian, and goes undercover in the Christian community in Rome to find her. When he tells Vinicius that the entire Christian community is going to meet at night outside the city to hear the [[Apostle Peter]], Vinicius insists on attending the meeting himself in the hope of seeing Lygia there. At the meeting, a disguised Vinicius is strangely touched by Peter's words, but forgets everything when he sees Lygia. He traces Lygia to her hiding place in [[Trastavere|Transtiber]] Rome, but is stopped and severely wounded by her barbarian bodyguard Ursus when he goes in to kidnap her.

Instead of killing Vinicius, Lygia and her Christian friends take him in and nurse him back to health.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-30 |title=Marek Winicjusz - charakterystyka – Quo vadis - opracowanie – Zinterpretuj.pl |url=https://zinterpretuj.pl/opracowania/marek-winicjusz/ |access-date=2022-09-23 |language=pl-PL}}</ref> At this point, Lygia falls in love with him, and confides in the Apostle Paul. He tells her that she cannot marry a non-Christian, so she leaves Vinicius' bedside and disappears a second time.

After returning to health, Vinicius is a changed man. He starts treating his slaves with more kindness, and rejects the advances of the depraved empress [[Poppaea Sabina]]. When Chilo brings him information of Lygia's new hiding place and advises him to surround the house with soldiers, Vinicius has him whipped. Chilo swears revenge, while Vinicius goes to Lygia's hiding place alone. After promising Lygia's guardians, the Apostles [[apostle Peter|Peter]] and [[apostle Paul|Paul]], to convert, he is engaged to Lygia with their blessing.

Emperor Nero and his court, including Vinicius, go to [[Antium]] for recreation. Nero is composing a poem about the burning of [[Troy]], and expresses regret at never having seen a real city burning. Later, the courtiers are shocked when news comes that [[Great Fire of Rome|Rome is aflame]]. Vinicius rides back to Rome to save Lygia, and Peter baptizes him on the spot after he rescues Lygia and him from the flames.

When Nero returns to Rome and sings his poem about Troy in public, the masses accuse him of igniting the fire. Nero's advisors decide they need a scapegoat. The [[Prefect of the Praetorian Guard]], [[Tigellinus]], suggests the Christians. The idea has been given to him by Chilo, still desperate for revenge on Vinicius after his whipping. Vinicius' uncle Petronius protests, but the empress Poppaea—still nursing a grudge against Vinicius for spurning her advances—overrules him.

Chilo divulges the Christians' hiding place to the authorities, and many of them are arrested, including Lygia. Nero has planned a series of games in the arena, at which the Christians will be butchered in "revenge" for the fire. Even the Roman mob is shocked, though, by the cruelty of the exhibitions' in the penultimate show, Christians are set alight on crosses to illuminate a luxurious feast open to the Roman public. Chilo is so appalled by the scene that he repents and publicly accuses Nero of igniting the fire. As the court scatters, Paul emerges from the shadows and promises Chilo salvation if he truly repents. This gives Chilo the courage to die bravely in the arena the following day, after refusing to retract his accusation.

Meanwhile, Lygia and her bodyguard Ursus have been kept for the final show, in which they are exposed to an [[aurochs]] in the arena,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-30 |title=Ligia (Quo vadis) - charakterystyka – Quo vadis - opracowanie – Zinterpretuj.pl |url=https://zinterpretuj.pl/opracowania/ligia-quo-vadis-charakterystyka/ |access-date=2022-09-23 |language=pl-PL}}</ref> but when Ursus manages to break the animal's neck, the crowd is impressed and forces Nero to spare the two. She is then married to Vinicius, and the two move away to the latter's mansion in [[Sicily]], where they live openly as Christians.

The rest of the novel relates the historical events of Peter's martyrdom ("''Quo vadis, Domine?''"), Paul's martyrdom, Petronius' suicide in the aftermath of the [[Pisonian conspiracy]], and concludes with an account of Nero's ultimate death based on [[Suetonius]].

==Characters==
===Fictional===
* '''Marcus Vinicius''' (son of the historical [[Marcus Vinicius (consul 30)|Marcus Vinicius]]), a military [[tribune]] and Roman [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] who recently returned to Rome. On arrival, he meets and falls in love with Lygia. He seeks the counsel of his uncle Petronius to find a way to possess her.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marek Winicjusz - charakterystyka - Quo vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz |url=https://poezja.org/wz/interpretacja/5692/Marek_Winicjusz_charakterystyka |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=poezja.org |language=pl}}</ref>
[[File:Lygia (77369580) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Lygia by [[Piotr Stachiewicz]]]]
* '''Callina''' usually known as '''Lygia''' (Ligia in some translations), the daughter of a deceased king of the [[Lugii]], a barbarian tribe (hence her nickname). Lygia is technically a hostage of the [[SPQR|Senate and people of Rome]], and was forgotten years ago by her own people. A great beauty, she has converted to Christianity, but her religion is originally unknown to Marcus.
* '''Eunice''' household slave of Petronius. Eunice is a beautiful young Greek woman who has fallen in love with her master, although he is initially unaware of her devotion.
* '''Chilon Chilonides''' a [[charlatan]] and a [[private investigator]]. He is hired by Marcus to find Lygia. This character is severely reduced in the 1951 film and the 1985 miniseries, but in the novel itself, as well as in the Polish miniseries of 2001, Chilon is a major figure as doublecrossing traitor. His end is clearly inspired by [[Saint Dismas]].
* '''Ursus''' the [[bodyguard]] of Lygia. As a fellow tribesman, he served her late mother, and he is strongly devoted to Lygia. As a Christian, Ursus struggles to follow the religion's peaceful teachings, given his great strength and barbarian mindset.
* '''Crispus''' a Christian [[Zealotry|zealot]] who verges on fanaticism.
* '''Glaukos''' a Christian physician who is betrayed by Chilon Chilonides but ultimately he forgave Chilon, an act which caused Chilon´s repentance.

===Historical===
* '''Gaius [[Petronius]]''' titled the "arbiter of elegance," former governor of [[Bithynia]]. Petronius is a member of Nero's court who uses his wit to flatter and mock him at the same time. He is loved by the Roman mob for his liberal attitudes. Somewhat amoral and a bit lazy, he tries to help his nephew, but his cunning plan is thwarted by Lygia's Christian friends.
* '''[[Nero]]''' Emperor of Rome, portrayed as incompetent, petty, cruel, and subject to manipulation by his courtiers. He listens most intently to flatterers and fools. The novel does indicate, though, that the grossly exaggerating flatteries concerning his abilities as a poet actually have some basis in fact.
* '''[[Tigellinus]]''' the [[Praetorian prefect|prefect]] of the feared [[Praetorian Guard]]. He is a rival of Petronius for Nero's favour, and he incites Nero into committing acts of great cruelty.
* '''[[Poppaea Sabina]]''' the wife of Nero. She passionately envies and hates Lygia.
* '''[[Claudia Acte|Acte]]''' an Imperial slave and former mistress of Nero. Nero has grown tired of her and now mostly ignores her, but she still loves him. She studies the Christian faith, but does not consider herself worthy of full conversion. In the 1951 film, it is she who helps Nero commit suicide.
* '''[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]]''' Nero's adviser.
* '''[[Aulus Plautius]]''' a respected retired Roman general who commanded the [[Roman conquest of Britain|invasion of Britain]] during the reign of Claudius in 43 AD. Aulus seems unaware (or simply unwilling to know) that Pomponia, his wife, and Lygia, his adoptive daughter, profess the Christian religion.
* '''[[Pomponia Graecina]]''' a Christian convert. Dignified and much respected, Pomponia and Aulus are Lygia's adoptive parents, but they are unable to legalize her status. According to Roman law Lygia is still a hostage of the Roman state (i.e., of the Emperor), but she is cared for by the elderly couple.
* '''[[Saint Peter|Peter]]''' '''the Apostle''' a weary and aged man with the task of preaching Christ's message. He is amazed by the power of Rome and the vices of Emperor Nero, whom he names the Beast. Sometimes Peter doubts that he will be able to plant and protect the "good seed" of Christianity.
* '''[[Paul the Apostle|Paul]]''' '''of Tarsus''' takes a personal interest in converting Marcus.
* '''[[Galba]]''' a Roman Emperor after Nero.
* '''[[Vitellius]]''' a Roman Emperor after Nero, Galba and Otho.
* '''[[Epaphroditus (freedman of Nero)|Epaphroditus]]''' a courtier who helps Nero commit suicide.

==Origin of the term==
"''Quo vadis, Domine?''" is [[Latin (language)|Latin]] for "Where are you going, Lord?" and appears in Chapter 69 of the novel<ref>{{cite web|last= Sienkiewicz |first= Henryk |author-link= Henryk Sienkiewicz |others= Translated from the Polish by [[Jeremiah Curtin]] |title= Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero |date= June 1896 |url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2853/2853-h/2853-h.htm |quote= Quo vadis, Domine?}}</ref> in a retelling of a story from the apocryphal [[Acts of Peter]], in which Peter flees Rome, but on his way meets [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] and asks him why he is going to Rome. Jesus says, "If thou desertest my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time", which shames Peter into going back to Rome to accept martyrdom.

==Historical events==
[[File:Siemiradski Fackeln.jpg|thumb|350px|''[[Nero's Torches]]'' by [[Henryk Siemiradzki]] (1876) served as an inspiration for ''Quo Vadis''.]]
Sienkiewicz alludes to several historical events and merges them in his novel, but some of them are of doubtful authenticity.
* In AD&nbsp;57, Pomponia was indeed charged with practising a "foreign superstition",<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Tacitus]] |title=Annals |section-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_(Tacitus)/Book_13#32 |section=XIII.32}}</ref> usually understood to mean conversion to Christianity.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Nevertheless, the religion itself is not clearly identified. According to ancient Roman tradition, she was tried in a family court by her own husband Aulus (the ''[[pater familias]]''), to be subsequently acquitted. However, inscriptions in the catacombs of Saint Callistus in Rome suggest that members of Graecina's family were indeed Christians.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
* The rumor that [[Vespasian]] fell asleep during a song sung by Nero is recorded by Suetonius in the ''[[Lives of the Twelve Caesars]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Suetonius]] |title=[[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|The Twelve Caesars]] |section=Divus Vespasian |at=4}}</ref>
* The death of [[Claudia Augusta]], sole child of Nero, in AD&nbsp;63.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neron (Quo vadis) - charakterystyka - Henryk Sienkiewicz |url=https://poezja.org/wz/interpretacja/5717/Neron_Quo_vadis_charakterystyka |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=poezja.org |language=pl}}</ref>
* The [[Great Fire of Rome]] in AD&nbsp;64 in the novel is started by orders of Nero. No hard evidence to support this has been found, and fires were very common in Rome at the time. In Chapter&nbsp;50, senior Jewish community leaders advise Nero to blame the fires on Christians; no historical record of this exists, either.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quo vadis - streszczenie - Henryk Sienkiewicz |url=https://poezja.org/wz/interpretacja/5682/Quo_vadis_streszczenie#Quo_vadis_mdash_streszczenie_szczegoacute_lowe |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=poezja.org |language=pl}}</ref> The fire opens space in the city for Nero's [[Domus Aurea|palatial complex]], a massive villa with lush artificial landscapes and a 30-meter-tall sculpture of the emperor, as well as an ambitious urban planning program involving the creation of buildings decorated with ornate porticos and the widening of the streets (the urban renewal was carried out only after Nero's death).{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
* The suicide of Petronius clearly is based on the account of [[Pliny the Elder|Tacitus]].{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

==Similarities with Barrett play==
Playwright-actor-manager [[Wilson Barrett]] produced his successful play ''[[The Sign of the Cross (play)|The Sign of the Cross]]'' in the same year as publication of ''Quo Vadis?'' started. The play was first performed 28 March 1895.<ref>[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063624/1895-03-29/ed-1/seq-2.pdf Wilson Barrett's New Play, ''Kansas City Daily Journal'', (Friday, 29 March 1895), p. 2].</ref> Several elements in the play strongly resemble those in ''Quo Vadis''. In both, a Roman soldier named Marcus falls in love with a Christian woman and wishes to "possess" her. (In the novel, her name is Lygia; in the play she is Mercia.) [[Nero]], [[Tigellinus]], and [[Poppea]] are major characters in both the play and novel, and in both, Poppea lusts after Marcus. [[Petronius]], however, does not appear in ''The Sign of the Cross'', and the ending of the play diverges from that of ''Quo Vadis''.

==Adaptations==
[[File:Quo vadis (1913).webm|thumb|thumbtime=44|upright=1.5|right|''Quo Vadis?'' (1913)]]

=== Theatre ===
[[Stanislaus Stange]] adapted the novel [[Quo Vadis (play)|into a stage play of the same name]] which premiered in Chicago at [[McVicker's Theater]]'s on 13 December 1899.<ref name="London">{{cite book|title=The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|author=J. P. Wearing|year=2013|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=9780810892941|page=15|chapter=Quo Vadis?|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5JWAgAAQBAJ&dq=Quo+Vadis%C2%A0Stanislaus+Stange&pg=PA15}}</ref> It was later produced the following year on Broadway by F. C. Whitney in a production using music by composer [[Julian Edwards]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzELAAAAIAAJ&dq=Quo+Vadis%C2%A0Stanislaus+Stange&pg=RA2-PA611|chapter=Quo Vadis|page=611|title=A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901, Volume 3|author=Thomas Allston Brown|year=1903|publisher=Dodd, Mead }}</ref> The play was also staged at the [[West End theatre|West End]]'s [[Adelphi Theatre]] in 1900.<ref name="London"/>

[[Jeannette Leonard Gilder]] also adapted the novel into a stage play of the same name which was also staged on Broadway in the year 1900 at the Herald Square Theatre.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/04/10/archives/dramatic-and-musical-two-melodramatic-plays-founded-on-quo-vadis.html|title=DRAMATIC AND MUSICAL; Two Melodramatic Plays Founded on "Quo Vadis."|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 April 1900|page=7}}</ref>

=== Cinema ===
Film versions of the novel were produced in
* 1901
* 1910 "Au temps des premiers chrétiens" by [[André Calmettes]] 
* [[Quo Vadis (1913 film)|1913]]
* [[Quo Vadis (1924 film)|1924]]<ref>{{cite book |author= Monica Silveira Cyrino| title=Big Screen Rome | publisher=Blackwell Publishing| year=2005| isbn=978-1-4051-5032-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbFQfkLKFFcC&pg=PA18|location=Malden, MA| page=18}}</ref>
* [[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|1951 version]] directed by [[Mervyn LeRoy]] was nominated for eight Academy Awards.
* 2024 animated version directed by Sukankan Roy and Anira Wojan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-26 |title=Indo-Polish animated film co-production 'Quo Vadis' premieres in Poland |url=https://www.animationxpress.com/latest-news/indo-polish-animated-film-co-production-quo-vadis-premieres-in-poland-trailer-launched-at-mipcom-2/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Animation Xpress |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Television ===
The novel was also the basis for a [[Quo Vadis? (1985 TV mini-series)|1985 mini-series]] starring [[Klaus Maria Brandauer]] as Nero and a [[Quo Vadis (2001 film)|2001 Polish mini-series]] directed by [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]].

=== Others ===
It was satirized as the quintessential school play gone horribly awry in ''[[Shivering Shakespeare]]'', a 1930 Little Rascals short by Hal Roach.

[[Jean Nouguès]] composed an opera based on the novel to a libretto by [[Henri Caïn]]; it was premiered in 1909.<ref>Gesine Manuwald, ''Nero in Opera: Librettos as Transformations of Ancient Sources''. (Tranformationen der Antike; 24). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013. {{ISBN|9783110317138}}</ref> [[Feliks Nowowiejski]] composed an oratorio based on the novel, performed for the first time in 1907, and then his most popular work.

==Ursus series (1960–1964)==

Following [[Buddy Baer]]'s portrayal of Ursus in the classic 1951 film ''[[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|Quo Vadis]]'', Ursus was used as a superhuman Roman-era character who became the protagonist in a series of Italian adventure films made in the early 1960s.

When the Hercules film craze hit in 1959, Italian filmmakers were looking for  other muscleman characters similar to Hercules whom they could exploit, resulting in the nine-film Ursus series listed below. Ursus was referred to as a "Son of Hercules" in two of the films when they were dubbed in English (in an attempt to cash in on the then-popular Hercules craze), although in the original Italian films, Ursus had no connection to Hercules whatsoever. In the English-dubbed version of one Ursus film (retitled ''Hercules, Prisoner of Evil''), Ursus was referred to throughout the entire film as Hercules.

There were a total of nine Italian films that featured Ursus as the main character, listed below as follows: Italian title/ English translation of the Italian title  (American release title);
* ''Ursus'' / ''Ursus'' (''[[Ursus, Son of Hercules]]'', 1960) a.k.a. ''[[Mighty Ursus]]'', a.k.a. ''Le fureur d'Hercule'', starring Ed Fury
* ''[[La Vendetta di Ursus]]'' / ''[[The Revenge of Ursus]]''  (''[[The Vengeance of Ursus]]'', 1961), starring Samson Burke
* ''Ursus e la Ragazza Tartara'' / ''Ursus and the Tartar Girl''  (''Ursus and the Tartar Princess'', 1961) a.k.a. ''The Tartar Invasion'', a.k.a. ''The Tartar Girl''; starring Joe Robinson, Akim Tamiroff, Yoko Tani, directed by Remigio Del Grosso
* ''[[Ursus Nella Valle dei Leoni]]'' / ''Ursus in the Valley of the Lions''  (''[[Valley of the Lions]]'', 1962) starring Ed Fury, this film revealed the origin story of Ursus
* ''Ursus il gladiatore ribelle'' / ''[[Ursus the Rebel Gladiator]]''  (''[[The Rebel Gladiators]]'', 1962), starring Dan Vadis
* ''Ursus Nella Terra di Fuoco'' / ''[[Ursus in the Land of Fire]]''  (''[[Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire]]'', 1963) a.k.a. ''Son of Atlas in the Land of Fire'', starring Ed Fury
* ''[[Ursus il terrore dei Kirghisi]]'' / ''[[Ursus, the Terror of the Kirghiz]]'' (''[[Hercules, Prisoner of Evil]]'', 1964) starring Reg Park
* ''[[Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus: gli invincibili]]'' / ''[[Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus: The Invincibles]]''  (''[[Samson and His Mighty Challenge]]'', 1964), starring Yan Larvor as Ursus (a.k.a. "Combate dei Gigantes" or "Le Grand Defi")
* ''Gli Invincibili Tre'' / ''The Invincible Three''  ('''[[3 Avengers]]''', 1964), starring Alan Steel as Ursus

==See also==
{{Portal|Novels|Poland}}
* [[List of historical novels]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/henryk-sienkiewicz/quo-vadis/jeremiah-curtin}}{{Gutenberg|no=2853|name=Quo Vadis}}, translated by [[Jeremiah Curtin]] (plain text and HTML)
* {{librivox book|title=Quo Vadis|author=Henryk Sienkiewicz}}
* [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%22Quo%20Vadis%22%20AND%20creator%3ASienkiewicz%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts ''Quo Vadis''] at [[Internet Archive]] and [[Google Books]] (various translations, scanned books original editions illustrated)
* [http://www.polyglotproject.com/books/Polish/quo_vadis ''Quo Vadis''], in Polish.
* [http://elib.ovanitas.com/103-quovadis.html ''Quo Vadis''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218061204/http://elib.ovanitas.com/103-quovadis.html |date=18 December 2014 }}, in Armenian.
* [http://culture.pl/en/article/two-thousand-versions-of-quo-vadis-and-counting Two Thousand Versions of ''Quo Vadis'' and Counting]

{{Quo Vadis (novel)}}
{{Henryk Sienkiewicz}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1895 Polish novels]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Books about Nero]]
[[Category:Christian novels]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Galba]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Paul the Apostle]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Poppaea Sabina]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Saint Peter]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Seneca the Younger]]
[[Category:Novels about Catholicism]]
[[Category:Novels about nobility]]
[[Category:Novels about slavery in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Novels by Henryk Sienkiewicz]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Novels set in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1st century]]
[[Category:Polish historical novels]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Works based on the Annals (Tacitus)]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Polish newspapers]]
[[Category:Works set in 1st-century Roman Empire]]