How did Fellini Satyricon portray the ancient Roman world?

In Fellini Satyricon (1969), Federico Fellini portrayed the ancient Roman world not as a place of pristine white marble, but as a morally and physically decaying environment characterized by urban filth, crumbling stucco, and bawdy graffiti.1

Departing from traditional cinematic depictions of antiquity, Fellini utilized gaudy, vibrant colors to render a world defined by casual decadence. The film follows two aimless, bisexual men as they wander through this landscape, which Fellini used to reflect his own preoccupations with mutilation, obesity, and hermaphroditism. Although the film was technically inspired by the works of Roman writers Gaius Petronius Arbiter and Lucius Apuleius, Fellini’s vision was heavily influenced by his interest in Carl Jung’s psychoanalytical theories and his observations of the contemporary hippie movement. Ultimately, the film served as a stylized, dreamlike exploration of the unconscious rather than a historical reconstruction.1