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Plate 2 Quo Vadis. Marcus (Robert Taylor) and Lygia (Deborah Kerr) share a final embrace in prison before she is taken into the arena. Courtesy of MGM/ The Kobal Collection. Tigellinus, Nero’s enforcer, gruffly played by Ralph Truman, also represents the malevolent side of Roman authority, using the Praetorian Guard he commands as an instrument of Roman oppression. Critics note that Tigellinus and the Praetorians are typically given negative characterizations QUO VADIS (1951) 25
in historical epic films (Winkler, 2001b, 277). In Quo Vadis, the members of the Praetorian Guard are noticeably set apart from the rank and file Roman soldiery by their menacing black-plumed helmets. After committing murder and arson in service to Nero, Tigellinus is killed by a Roman soldier who proclaims it to be an act of restitution for the execution of General Plautius. So the film situates the “good” Roman soldiers, like those in the legions of Marcus and Nerva, against the “bad” Tigellinus and the Praetorians, who protect Nero’s interests. Surely the most intriguing figure in the film is the historical character Petronius, played with ironic disengagement by British actor Leo Genn, who, like Ustinov, was also Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actor. Genn, a former barrister in London, puts his rhetorical training and velvety vocal tones to excellent use as the sophisticated and smooth-talking imperial flatterer, in a finely nuanced performance that also explores the troubled and brooding side of Petronius. His position as the court’s arbiter elegentiae suggests something like a contemporary “style guru,” a person known for refined discernment who is employed by the wealthy and powerful to advise them on matters of taste. Those among the jaded class value an advisor who is able to stay above the merely trendy, as Tacitus remarks of Petronius: “People liked the apparent freshness of his unconventional and unselfconscious sayings and doings” (Annales 16.18). Even with this modern veneer, Petronius represents a type of noble Roman ideal: aristocratic, urbane, and well educated (Babington and Evans, 192– 3). While his close avuncular relationship to Marcus portrays him as a man of strong ties, his association with Nero reveals a complicated and rather repulsive symbiosis, as he cajoles and compliments the emperor with his razor-sharp double talk. Some critics suggest that Petronius’ death, presented in the film as a dignified and autonomous act of suicide, is an attempt to compensate for his cynical indifference to Nero’s atrocities (Elley, 125; Fitzgerald, 31–2). But before he dies, in one of the most virtuoso scenes of the entire epic genre, Petronius dictates a derisive letter to the emperor, which according to Tacitus was actually a laundry list of Nero’s sex partners and deviant escapades, and asks Seneca to deliver it: To Nero, Emperor of <strong>Rome</strong>, Master of the World, Divine Pontiff. I know that my death will be a disappointment to you, since you wished to render me this service yourself. To be born in your reign is a miscalculation; but to die in it is a joy. I can forgive you for murdering your wife and your mother, for burning our beloved <strong>Rome</strong>, for befouling our fair country with the stench of your crimes. But one thing I cannot forgive – the boredom of 26 QUO VADIS (1951)
Page 2 and 3: Big Screen Rome
Page 4 and 5: BIG SCREEN ROME Monica Silveira Cyr
Page 6 and 7: Contents List of Illustrations vi A
Page 8 and 9: 11 A Funny Thing Happened on the Wa
Page 10 and 11: permissions were secured in part wi
Page 12 and 13: Map 1 The city of Rome in the imper
Page 14: R P I D A C I A M O Sarmizegetusa C
Page 17 and 18: provocative combination of dignity
Page 19 and 20: chapters examine how both films use
Page 21 and 22: duty and desire set against the mon
Page 23 and 24: Plot Outline It is the summer of ad
Page 25 and 26: Plate 1 Quo Vadis. Petronius (Leo G
Page 27 and 28: a soldier kills Tigellinus, calling
Page 29 and 30: of Rome. Their obstinate refusal to
Page 31 and 32: he was also condemned to death. The
Page 33 and 34: associated with the Catholic Polish
Page 35 and 36: ambivalent one, given the glitterin
Page 37 and 38: This is the Appian Way, the most fa
Page 39: suggestive of the illumination she
Page 43 and 44: narrative and thematic focus also s
Page 45 and 46: later decades evolved into the Amer
Page 47 and 48: Peter. Eunice is the slave of Petro
Page 49 and 50: Chapter 2 The Robe (1953) The great
Page 51 and 52: Plate 3 The Robe. Marcellus (Richar
Page 53 and 54: on the command of the new emperor,
Page 55 and 56: him to retire to the island of Rhod
Page 57 and 58: of the Senate, the institution was
Page 59 and 60: of Caesarea, the prefect would spen
Page 61 and 62: of the changes in Catholicism that
Page 63 and 64: of showing off the enduring power,
Page 65 and 66: have made a great empress, thus hig
Page 67 and 68: would also play Odysseus in Helen o
Page 69 and 70: crime as a Roman citizen who has jo
Page 71 and 72: Hollywood artists who sold out duri
Page 73 and 74: Demetrius, and his jealous rage whe
Page 75 and 76: Plot Outline In the Roman province
Page 77 and 78: Judah, his mother and sister are le
Page 79 and 80: farewell: they embrace and kiss, an
Page 81 and 82: voice take the sword out of my hand
Page 83 and 84: throughout the countryside around G
Page 85 and 86: of people during its twenty-year ru
Page 87 and 88: Since Ben-Hur was in preparation lo
Page 89 and 90: technology, in particular the newly
Page 91 and 92:
forceful, almost fanatical, speeche
Page 93 and 94:
emperor’s offer of Roman citizens
Page 95 and 96:
Messala, as Esther recounts her mem
Page 97 and 98:
The appearances of Jesus are few an
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War to condemn oppressive foreign t
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poisoned by Rome, as he tells Pilat
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CORE ISSUES 1 How does the film por
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Plot Outline In the mines of North
Page 107 and 108:
Plate 7 Spartacus. Draba (Woody Str
Page 109 and 110:
army, losing nineteen thousand men
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second broke out in 104 and was que
Page 113 and 114:
At this time, gladiatorial combat w
Page 115 and 116:
Senate had no choice but to yield.
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the Communist Party of the United S
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the first time in thirteen years. T
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the slave movement with the migrati
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From this point, the film divides i
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At the heart of the new slave famil
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Antoninus dies in the arms of Spart
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Plate 8 Spartacus. Varinia (Jean Si
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learning from their mistakes; Gracc
Page 133 and 134:
complaint.” As Gracchus observes
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Spartacus continues the epic cinema
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Plot Outline Part 1. On the battlef
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Plate 9 Cleopatra. Cleopatra (Eliza
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command at Tarsus in Asia Minor, an
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knowing he is the undisputed master
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Later, Ptolemy XIII fled and was fo
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Antony came to Tarsus in Cilicia wh
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for future campaigns. Early in 34 b
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honored her request for burial with
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Extra-cinematic commentary also sug
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The script, based on C. M. Franzero
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Plate 10 Cleopatra. Mark Antony (Ri
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as Caesar, but is best known for hi
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eginning of the second half after t
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desertion: I from myself.” As he
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majesty and power are displayed, Ta
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the United Nations was composed lar
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modern sex scandal. When Cleopatra
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desire for sons, as she articulates
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4 How does the film use the spectac
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kind and rather dim-witted gentlema
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Plate 11 A Funny Thing Happened on
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productions, and often acted in the
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shared experience of every society
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1996, with Nathan Lane, who also wo
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In A Funny Thing Happened on the Wa
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series of preposterous sight gags,
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freedom and the pleasures of uninhi
Page 191 and 192:
Chapter 7 Monty Python’s Life of
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178 MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN
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autonomous part of the Roman provin
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Silly Walks,” with their in-jokes
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different religious sects, the earn
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censorship that varied from region
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may provide some inspiration for th
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obstacle to group ideals. Because t
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The cartoon construction during the
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Chapter 8 History of the World, Par
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Ancient Background The Roman Empire
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was the protagonist’s inability t
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in classic epics like Quo Vadis, Be
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202 HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1
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or shocking, hidden by the generic
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3 How does the sequence incorporate
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Plot Outline In the year ad 180, th
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vets them with color codes. Maximus
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from the upper stands. Commodus inf
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to 98. Nerva’s most significant a
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most of the last decade of his reig
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morale of Roman legionaries on long
Page 235 and 236:
unit known for their courage, high
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38). Although dismayed by the games
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In contrast to earlier epics like Q
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gladiator epic that would reflect c
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$3 million. A dedication in the clo
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soft, admiring light of nostalgia.
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The film hinges almost completely o
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with the reluctance of Maximus to a
Page 251 and 252:
attitudes about female political sk
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hero Maximus, an event that leaves
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Earlier epic films traditionally si
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laughs bitterly through tears when
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his new gladiator idol, as he waits
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246 GLADIATOR (2000) Plate 15 Gladi
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“Fear and wonder,” Senator Grac
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the provincial arena in Zucchabar,
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the words of Maximus’ prayer in a
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The field of wheat is thus a symbol
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city, Maximus becomes a symbol both
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2 Reference Maltin, Leonard, et al.
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Killed Spartacus? How Studio Censor
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Index Page numbers in italic refer
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Caesar, Sid 166, 197 Caesarea 44, 6
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Falco (Gladiator) 208, 210, 212 The
Page 283 and 284:
Jackson, Peter 83 Jacoby, Georg 18
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musical scores A Funny Thing Happen
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The Road Warrior 230 The Robe 3, 22
Page 289:
Via Appia 11, 12, 21, 24, 95, 99, 1
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