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have made a great empress, thus highlighting her role as an idealization of
noble Roman womanhood. The relationship between Diana and Marcellus
reverses the traditional Roman vs. Christian gender roles evident from
Quo Vadis, in that Diana is the one who remains skeptical while her lover
Marcellus is converted. “Justice and charity,” she scoffs, “men will never
accept such a philosophy.” Diana visits him in prison, in a scene that
becomes typical in other films of the epic genre, and begs him to save
himself by affirming his allegiance to Rome. Like Marcus in Quo Vadis,
Diana only accepts the new “kingdom” of Christianity at the thought of
her beloved’s death, yet she also makes a political statement in deliberate
provocation of the emperor, telling Caligula she has “a new king.” The
final tableau of the film evokes wedding imagery in their “walk down the
aisle” (Fitzgerald, 35), as Marcellus and Diana, dressed in white clothing,
proceed upwards into the heavens with a blue wash of color behind them,
suggesting they are going to join God in their martyrdom. While Marcus
and Lygia set off in a wagon to their domestic bliss, Marcellus and Diana
are lifted to an even greater, and more permanent, happiness.
In The Robe, however, relationships between men take precedence over
the traditional romantic bond, beginning a narrative trend in toga movies
that would be most striking in Ben-Hur (1959) and Spartacus (Fitzgerald,
36). The film focuses on the profound and unsettled friendship of Marcellus
and Demetrius, his slave, who becomes a Christian first and then steers
Marcellus towards the new faith (Fitzgerald, 39–40). Demetrius is played
with resolute intensity by brawny actor Victor Mature, born in Kentucky
to immigrant Italian parents, who became famous before Charlton Heston
as the dominant male actor in the epic film genre, starring in Samson and
Delilah (1949), The Egyptian (1954), and The Robe’s sequel, Demetrius and
the Gladiators. Mature’s familiar, throaty American accent invites the viewers
of the film to see him as the heroic instrument of Marcellus’ salvation.
The religious conversion progresses in tandem with Demetrius’ transformation
from the slave of Marcellus to his friend and equal, suggesting that
the two changes are inextricably linked and mutually validating. After
Marcellus buys him, Demetrius doesn’t run away when given the opportunity,
and Marcellus asks him why: “I owe you a debt, sir, and I pay my
debts.” This first meeting establishes an unsteady economy of emotion
between them, drawing them warily together into a deep but difficult
bond. When Marcellus makes a friendly overture before the trip to Judaea,
Demetrius delineates a strict boundary between them: “Friends can’t be
bought, sir, even for three thousand pieces of gold.” In the end Marcellus
risks all to rescue Demetrius from torture and see him safely out of Rome
50 THE ROBE (1953)