Thanks phat for doing that bit of work for me - and I did some more checking and came up with this, stole from wiki:
Sword-and-sandal
From above link:
The silent Maciste films (1914–1927)
The 1914 Italian silent film Cabiria was one of the first films set in antiquity to make use of a massively muscled character, Maciste (played by actor Bartolomeo Pagano), who served in this premiere film as the hero's slavishly loyal sidekick. Maciste became the public's favorite character in the film however, and Pagano was called back many times to reprise the role. The Maciste character appeared in at least two dozen Italian silent films from 1914 through 1926, all of which featured a protagonist named Maciste although the films were set in many different time periods and geographical locations and can therefore not all be subsumed under the terms "peplum" and "sword-and-sandal".
Here is a complete list of the silent Maciste films in chronological order:
Cabiria (1914) introduced the Maciste character
Maciste (1915) a.k.a. "The Marvelous Maciste"
Maciste bersagliere ("Maciste the Ranger", 1916)
Maciste alpino ("Maciste The Warrior", 1916)
Maciste atleta ("Maciste the Athlete", 1917)
Maciste medium ("Maciste the Clairvoyant", 1917)
Maciste poliziotto ("Maciste the Detective", 1917)
Maciste turista ("Maciste the Tourist", 1917)
Maciste sonnambulo ("Maciste the Sleepwalker", 1918)
La Rivincita di Maciste ("The Revenge of Maciste", 1919)
Il Testamento di Maciste ("Maciste's Will", 1919)
Il Viaggio di Maciste ("Maciste's Journey", 1919)
Maciste I ("Maciste the First", 1919)
Maciste contro la morte ("Maciste vs Death", 1919)
Maciste innamorato ("Maciste in Love", 1919)
Maciste in vacanza ("Maciste on Vacation", 1920)
Maciste salvato dalle acque ("Maciste, Rescued from the Waters", 1920)
Maciste e la figlia del re della plata ("Maciste and the Silver King's Daughter", 1922)
Maciste und die Japanerin ("Maciste and the Japanese", 1922)
Maciste contro Maciste ("Maciste vs Maciste", 1923)
Maciste und die chinesische truhe ("Maciste and the Chinese Trunk", 1923)
Maciste e il nipote di America ("Maciste's American Nephew", 1924)
Maciste imperatore ("Emperor Maciste", 1924)
Maciste contro lo sceicco ("Maciste vs the Sheik", 1925)
Maciste all'inferno ("Maciste in Hell", 1926)
Maciste nella gabbia dei leoni ("Maciste in the Lions' Den", 1926)
il Gigante delle Dolemite ("The Giant From the Dolomite", 1927)
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Just one more illustration why Italians are the best at, well, just about everything. Including great film titles.
Any of you film wizards seen these films - surely Joe Cole has viewed at least a few?