Many of history's greatest events have been recreated either on the big screen or in other events such as the Bastille day ball London.
Although there are many records which do exist from events such as the French Revolution, both in written format and on official records, which give us information on what really happened at the time, there has to be a large element of poetic licence when recreating history for a film.
In the case of events which took place several hundred or even thousands of years ago it becomes even more difficult to recreate what happened faithfully and although the film or event can portray key events of the time, it can never be one hundred per cent and there will always be a combination of fact and fiction.
Archaeology often plays a vital part in recreating what really happened, such as in famous events including the destruction of Pompeii, by Mount Vesuvius, or the historic eruption of the volcano on the Greek Island of Santorini, thought by many to be the legendary Atlantis.
This lends a certain authenticity to the film which will be based on real historical events. But however much archaeological evidence, written records or even stories passed down the centuries, the gaps will always have to be filled in by the imagination of the script writer.