Plot Synopsis

This two-part drama follows two lifelong friends, Ben Hur and Messala, who are caught in an awful moment of history that puts them on opposite sides of a war for Judaea's national identity. Judah Ben Hur, a wealthy Jewish prince betrayed by his childhood friend, Messala, the son of a Roman Senator and a prostitute, were as close as brothers, because Messala live's with Judah's family after his mother dies. When Messala's father, Marcellus Agrippa, calls him to Rome, he promises Tirzah, Judah's sister with whom he has become inseparable, that he will return. When Messala does return, he is lead to believe that Judah's family are involved with anti-Roman insurgents and turns them in. Judah's family is killed, but his sentence is changed from being crucified to being a galley slave, and Judah eventually becomes a hero and receives new wealth and power when he saves the life of a Roman leader -- but his ultimate quest is to deliver vengeance upon Messala for the destruction of the Ben Hur family. Ovation aired the U.S. premiere of this program on Easter Sunday 2013, March 31, 2013 at 8pm ET, showing both part on the same night.