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Nel 1961, il buon borghese romano Enrico compie cento anni. Il suo centenario è l'occasione buona per raccontare un secolo di storia italiana visto dall'angolatura di un uomo qualunque. Versione tv di un grosso successo teatrale di Rascel e del duo Garinei-Giovannini allora all'apice della fama e della creatività.(here）

From the left: Renato Rascel (as the young Enrico), Renzo Palmer and Gloria Paul. (Here)

La voce di Giorgio Albertazzi commenta e riordina gli episodi più significativi della storia italiana.(Here)

Barabbas witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus. As Jesus dies, the sky turns black, and Barabbas is shaken. He watches Christ's body sealed in the tomb. On the third morning, Barabbas finds the tomb open and the corpse gone. Rachel tells him that Christ has risen, but Barabbas says it is an illusion, or that his followers have taken the body. He visits the apostles; they do not know where he is, but also believe he is risen.

Rachel preaches in Jerusalem about the Christ. She is stoned to death at the insistence of the priests. Barabbas returns to his criminal ways and robs a caravan containing several of the priests. He throws stones at one of them rather than fleeing, and is captured by Roman soldiers. The law forbids Pilate from executing someone who has been pardoned, so he sentences Barabbas to the sulfur mines of Sicily.

Barabbas survives this hellish existence for the next twenty years. He is chained to Sahak, a sailor who was sent to the mines for allowing slaves to escape. Sahak is a Christian. Sahak hates Barabbas for being pardoned instead of "the Master", but the two men eventually become friends. Over time, Sahak becomes too weak to work. As the guards are about to euthanize him, the mine is destroyed in an earthquake. Sahak and Barabbas are the only survivors. Julia, the superstitious wife of the local prefect, considers them blessed. The prefect is due to leave for Rome to be appointed to the Senate. Julia insists that Barabbas and Sahak accompany him for good luck.

Once in Rome, the men are trained to become gladiators by Torvald, the top gladiator in Rome. After a gladiatorial event, Sahak is overheard sharing his faith with other gladiators. He is condemned to death for treason. When a firing squad deliberately miss with their thrown spears, Torvald executes Sahak. The next day, Torvald and Barabbas battle in the arena. Barabbas is winning, impressing Emperor Nero who sets him free. Barabbas takes Sahak's corpse to the Catacombs, where the local Christians are worshiping. They give him a proper burial.

Barabbas becomes lost in the Catacombs. When he eventually emerges, Rome is on fire. Barabbas is told that the Christians started the fire. Believing that the end of the world has come (as Rachel and Sahak had taught), Barabbas sets fire to more buildings. He is confronted by Roman soldiers. He tells them that he is a follower of Christ. He is imprisoned with several other Christians, among them the apostle Peter. Peter admonishes Barabbas for committing arson, informing him that Christians would not do such a thing. Afterwards, the Christians are executed by mass crucifixion in the persecutions that follow the fire. Throughout his life, Barabbas was reputed to be the man who could not die; having finally placed his faith in Christ, he dies. (WIKI)

As the movie began Barabbas had been imprisoned by the Romans and was due to be executed. However Pontius Pilate had decided that since it was Passover he was going to follow local custom and release a prisoner. He asked the crowd whether to release Barabbas or the young preacher named Jesus Christ. The crowd chose Barabbas and the man was set free. Pilate predicted Barabbas would not be able to stay out of trouble and would be arrested again before too long.

Returning to the tavern where he and his friends passed their days, Barabbas asked where his lover Rachel was. He was informed that she was a follower of Christ now, and was not there. Barabbas and one of the young ladies there went off the sleep together. After making love to the woman Barabbas and the young lady slept. Barabbas was awakened in time to see the sky becoming black as night at the moment of the crucifixion of Christ. A short time later Rachel returned but was not overjoyed to see him.

On the third day Barabbas found Rachel at the tomb where Christ had been buried. Christ's body was gone. Barabbas was convinced that someone had taken the body and hidden it somewhere. He went to the disciples and found them oddly accepting of the death of Christ, and that they had no idea where he had gone. Barabbas met a fisherman named Peter who took him to meet Lazarus, a man who Christ had one time brought back from the dead.

Meanwhile Rachel was continuing to spread the message of Jesus Christ. She was set upon by the same religious authorities who had Christ killed, and was stoned to death by them. When Barabbas encountered the priests who had killed his former lover he threw rocks at them, and was arrested by the Romans again.

Pilate found that according to the law since Barabbas had been pardoned once he could not be put to death again. Pilate sentenced Barabbas to be taken to the island of Sicily and put to work in the sulfur mines there.

For the next twenty years Barabbas lived a hellish existence in the mines, being sent to the lowest levels of the mines. He was soon paired with a former sailor named Sahak who had been sent to the mines in punishment after slaves escaped on his watch. At first Sahak hated Barabbas for squandering the gift he was given when he was spared, however the two became friends. Sahak weakened to the point where the Romans were about to kill him, but it was then the mines collapsed in a massive earthquake.

Barabbas and Sahak were the only two survivors of the disaster. After recovering the two were sent to work in the fields, which they both found much more agreeable. Upon learning of how lucky Barabbas and Sahak were the prefect's wife Julia insisted on them being taken along when the prefect was recalled to the capital. While there they were both trained as gladiators under the watchful eye of Torvald.

After a series of games Torvald overheard Sahak sharing his Christian faith with other gladiators. Sahak was condemnned to death as a traitor. Barabbas soon took revenge on his friend and killed Torvald during the next gladiatorial games. Impressed by him the Roman Emperor Nero gave Barabbas his freedom.

The first thing Barabbas did was to locate the body of his friend Sahak. He took the body to the catacombs where the Christians were worshipping. The Christians accepted the body of their friend to give Sahak a proper burial but were less than please that Barabbas did not stand with his friend during his trial. Barabbas became separated from the Christians and lost in the catacombs.

Barabbas emerged to find the city of Rome on fire. Thinking that this was the coming of the Kingdom of God that Rachel and Sahak had mentioned Barabbas worked to spread the fire. He was quickly taken prisoner by Roman soldiers and thrown into a dungeon with a number of other Christians. There he met Peter again, and was informed that the fire had been the work of Nero himself - that the Christians were being used as scapegoats by Nero and the other Romans.

In the persecutions that followed the fire Barabbas was crucified with a large number of other Christians. Placing his faith in the man who had been crucified in his place many years earlier, Barabbas finally died. (Here)