As fictionalized drama, Titus Andronicus claims no historical foundation. However, set within an imaginary, Late Antiquity Rome, the play pulls on literary elements defining Rome for Early Modern audiences and still relevant in the modern day. This past winter term, Professor Jonathan Edmondson, Chair of the History Department at York University, lectured at W&L on the topic of “The Emperor Commodus in the Arena: Power and Myth in Imperial Rome.” Commodus and his participation in blood sport highlight Roman components that bleed through the text of Titus Andronicus and feature in the Globe production.
Emperor Commodus’s involvement in violent spectacle in the arena reflects political developments present during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. In some regards, his penchant for participating in Roman blood sport, while unconventional for the upper classes, demonstrates the limits of Roman imperial power; Commodus’s misuse of funds for his gladiatorial games ultimately led to his death. Thus his participation in the arena highlights the delicate balance of power during late Antiquity, a concept explored in Titus through the theme of revenge. Playing with the power dynamics of Late Antiquity, Titus Andronicus commences with repartee between two brothers, Saturninus and Bassianus, who plead with for the “voices” of the people to secure the emperorship. Saturninus commands:
Noble patricians, patrons of my right,
Defend the justice of my cause with arms,
And, countrymen, my loving followers,
Plead my successive title with your swords (1.1.1-4)
The opening plea reflects the premise of the power struggle that defines the sequence of violent revenge that ends in tragedy in Titus. Furthermore, Saturninus’s lines mirror historic Late Antiquity in outlining the delicacy of gaining and maintaining imperial power; despite his status as the eldest of the last man “that wore the imperial diadem of Rome,” Saturninus finds himself struggling against the claim of his brother, as well as the choice of Titus Andronicus, a non-royal patrician with power through military puissance (1.1.6). Titus opens with a scene that reflects the devolution from imperial power bolstered by non-military senators to imperial power based in the strength of the army during Late Antiquity.
The Globe production emphasizes the dichotomy between political power and military power in the opening scene through the costuming and presentation of character. Saturninus (Matthew Needham) and Bassianus (Steffan Donnelly), arrayed in simple togas, offset the military presence that Titus’s (William Houston) armor indicates. Additionally, the use of theater space and staging technique fixates on power dynamics in the imperial Rome of the drama; the brothers begin the scene in the loud melee of plebian characters and the groundlings of the theater, positioned above the crowd on moving platforms, which reinforces the idea that, while Titus Andronicus focuses on the Roman Empire (and not Republic), the voices of the people hold considerable political sway. Titus Andronicus comments on the political situation of the Late Roman Empire, despite its fictional backdrop.
As the history of Emperor Commodus outlines the political setting of Titus Andronicus, the history likewise paints Titus’s mythological background. Commodus styled himself as Hercules, which relates to the recurring Late Antiquity idea about the importance of the emperor’s portrayed image to the public eye. As Professor Edmondson noted, Commodus minted coins and medallions depicting himself as Hercules, which conveys Commodus’s desire to embody the strength and heroism of the godlike hero. The premise of Titus Andronicus mirrors that of Commodus’s Rome as it investigates a Rome commanded by violence and violent spectacle; Commodus’s choice to tie his image to that of Hercules comments on the possibility of the emperor to promote a glorified version of his own power. Myth infiltrated imperial presentation and shaped the state of the later Roman Empire.
In line with Late Antiquity and Emperor Commodus, Titus Andronicus marries the mythological to the real. Without historic grounding, Titus utilizes Classical allusion to Roman mythology to generate its Late Antiquity setting and create its “Roman-ness.” The rape of Lavinia and the ensuing revenge plot teem with Classical allusion. Muted Lavinia, attempting to reveal the source of her abuse, grabs a book from Young Lucius and he comments that “’tis Ovid’s Metamorphoses” (4.1.42). Turning to the tale of Philomela, Lavinia retells her story through that of the mythic rape, a reference the text visits six times. A scene later, Young Lucius brings Chiron and Demetrius a gift of weapons with an attached note reading “Integer vitae scelerisque purus,/ Non eget Mauri iaculis, nec arcu [the one upright of life and unstained by crime does not need the javelins or the bow of the Moor]” (4.2.21). Chiron notes “’tis a verse in Horace; I know it well./ I read it in the grammar long ago” (4.2.22-23). Sent from Titus, the weapons and message bring Classical poetry to life by foreshadowing the demise of the Goth brothers through Titus’s deception. While the play investigates a fictional universe, the Classical allusions place it firmly in Rome. Titus becomes a Rome more “Roman” than the history, with mythology coming to life and heightening the sense of the Classical world and its associations during the Early Modern period; the reference to “the grammar” speaks to Shakespeare’s contemporary time, which featured school instruction in Latin and Greek.
In the Globe performance, both scenes evoke the Roman nature of the play, while maintaining a modern resonance. Using wearied body language with sweeping gestures of his arms, Titus, immediately recognizes the story of Philomela and, casually tossing the large leather-bound book across the stage, accepts that Lavinia (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) has become a mythical figure in mirroring the tragic Philomela. Likewise, bantering and hauntingly playful throughout the Globe’s performance, Chiron (Brian Martin) and Demetrius (Samuel Edward-Cook) present the subsequent scene in an offhand manner that underlines the universal register of the lines; the reference to Horace feels like school boys discussing school classes, so that, while the line clearly denotes “Roman,” the tone conveys any pair of young brothers discussing past education. The Globe adaptation connects the ancient with the Early Modern with the contemporary through the presentation of the excess of Classical allusion.
Inclusion of textual reference to Rome and the visual and auditory performance of the Globe explore the Roman-ness of Titus Andronicus and present a spectacle evocative of Roman coliseum games. Enveloped by the action of the play from Act 1, Scene 1, Titus incorporates the audience in a manner that references its ancient origins, but maintains its touch with the modern. Looking at the historic Roman Emperor, Commodus, demonstrates how, while fictional, Titus Andronicus explores a specific vein of the Ancient Rome through spectacle and reference to mythology. In the Globe’s production, the spectacle comes through the audience interaction and the mythology carries a modern tone; this Early Modern play portraying Ancient times strikes visceral notes for its modern audiences.