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Robert Gurval, a professor in the UCLA classics department, was one of the first scholars to anal

As a professor of Roman culture in the classics department, Robert Gurval naturally cares about dates. But as far as his research interests are concerned, “B.C.” may as well stand for anything prior to 1963, or, in other words, “Before ‘Cleopatra.’”

Gurval’s work, which is focused on the political problems of the early Roman empire involving the famous Egyptian queen, doesn’t end when the historical dates do. Instead, he’s just as interested in modern representations of the time period, if not more so. According to Gurval, “Cleopatra,” the landmark 1963 biopic starring Elizabeth Taylor, greatly changed modern perceptions of the ancient time period, and any dramatic portrayal in the “A.C.” or “After ‘Cleopatra’” era has to take Taylor’s famous performance into account.

“Here I am, a Roman historian, interested in the man who defeated her, but there’s so much more interest in her than him,” Gurval said. “She’s the figure that has fascinated culture.”

Gurval got hooked along with everyone else. His office in Dodd Hall displays more Cleopatra-related objects than academic tomes. One bookshelf, stretching to the ceiling, contains nothing but books about Cleopatra. Movie posters of the 46 “B.C.” (1917) film “Cleopatra,” starring Theda Bara, cover the empty walls. Framed black-and-white photographs of Claudette Colbert, who played Cleopatra in a 29 “B.C.” (1934) film, face his desk.

Other scholars interested in the early Roman empire share Gurval’s curiosity as well. After watching the first season of HBO’s “Rome,” which aired in 42 “A.C.” (2005), Gurval submitted an abstract analyzing how the series represents Cleopatra to the American Philological Association.

When the association whittled down “Rome”-related abstracts to a panel on the show, Gurval’s abstract was included even though Cleopatra only appears in one of the series’ 12 episodes. According to Gurval, “Rome” likely offers the most historically accurate vision of Cleopatra’s relationship with Julius Caesar to date, largely because it strays from the opulently gaudy show that everyone remembers about Taylor’s dramatization.

“She’s been panned online because she’s not Taylor. She’s a 21st century Cleopatra,” Gurval said. “She’s hip, a drug addict and well-informed sexually.”

Gurval credits HBO for not attempting to match Taylor’s queen, opting instead to cast a relatively unknown British stage actress. By playing Cleopatra smaller, HBO places the queen in the culture of television Rome as opposed to cinematic Rome.

On television, Roman culture tends to be smaller and shows focus on political intrigue, while on the big screen, Hollywood producers play up the spectacle aspect of ancient Roman society.

The stylistic distinctions grow out of an expanding subfield within classical research which focuses on representations of the classical world in modern cinema and television. A staple of Hollywood’s golden age, the Roman epic film largely disappeared after “Cleopatra,” which cost an unheard-of $20 million to make in 1963 and only made $3-5 million in its original theatrical release.

But interest in Rome on screen returned in 37 “A.C.” (2000), when “Gladiator” was released. Since then, HBO funded its series and ABC ran a Roman miniseries last summer called “Empire,” on which Gurval acted as a historical consultant. He was eventually let go because the writers wanted to move in a new, and entirely fictional, direction.

“We had a Hollywood power lunch where we sat down and talked about it,” Gurval said. “My face gave away my opinion of what they were doing.”

While Gurval now criticizes “Empire” for its general narrative silliness, he doesn’t rip it for being historically inaccurate. To him, that’s not the point of recreating a living ancient world on screen.

“None of them make it perfect. That should not be a goal. Every dramatic representation is going to have to take liberties with information,” Gurval said. “You have to understand the film in its own cultural context.”

To Gurval, dramatic representations of Rome frequently offer more information about the culture in which they were produced than the Roman world that they represent. He invented a class on Cinema and the Ancient World (classics 42) with this concept in mind.

From top to bottom, a pile of DVDs in Gurval’s office offers an appealing potential syllabus: “Gladiator,” “Spartacus” (3 “B.C.”/1960), “The Robe” (10 “B.C.”/1953), “Quo Vadis” (12 “B.C.”/1951) and “Cleopatra” itself.

“Cleopatra” was on the bottom of the pile, anchoring everything surrounding it.

UCLA profiles run every Tuesday in A&E.