Wardrobe

Just like the real Rome, Hollywood's costumes convey messages of power. Not only is imperial garb contrasted visually with other elite outfits, as in Gladiator or Titus where the audience sees the senatorial elite, but also there is a marked distinction between the visual authority of the emperor and that of the protagonist. Oftentimes, said hero appears in various states of undress, certainly more often than his imperial counterpart. This subjugation to gaze, that of the audience, is psychoanalytically connected to sexual desire. Importantly, in these films, the imperial figure is not ever presented as an object of desire, whereas the vulnerable hero, in most cases, is.

Let's face it, you are what you wear. There's no denying that clothes, like pictures, can speak a thousand words. In the case of emperors, what they wear sends a message of power. Their outfits generally fall into one of two types, either a military outfit (generally armor), or a more formal court outfit (generally a toga or robe), and sometimes a mix of the two. Very rarely do they appear in anything else, or in nothing at all. These very rare instances of nudity or partial nudity generally result in a wound of some kind, either physical or political.
Julie Taymor's Titus is visually amazing. Its quasi post-apocalyptic 'ancient' Rome provides the viewer with scenes and costumes and landscape both dazzling and disturbing. Taymor makes explicit use of wardrobe to visually demonstrate larger points, particularly in the case of the villain Saturninus and the 'hero' Titus. As you can see in these images, the colors of Saturninus' outfits are worth noting. In her commentary on the film, Taymor makes explicit the symbolic importance of Saturninus and his contingent representing Fascism. However, she says she did not intent to evoke the Nazi party explicitly. Yet it seems worth note that his outfits are, for the most part, dominated by the colors red, black, and white, the same colors of the endemic swastika emblem of 1930's and 40's Germany. Additionally, they wave a flag, identified as that of an Italian soccer team, which is very close both in color and design to that of Germany.
The various military emblems and complexity of the outfits are signifiers of power. This fact is demonstrated rather bluntly when, in the one scene in the film in which Saturninus appears without such clothes, and he is 'wounded' by the arrows of Titus beseeching the gods for help. In a sense, his clothes are like armor, and when he takes off this armor, he is vulnerable. To further this point, Taymor places the naked Saturninus in bed with his empress Tamora, who already has exerted considerable control over him, in a rather classic position of two lovers in bed. However, there is a twist in that the woman is in the traditional male position, and the man in the woman's, seen at right.
	Similarly, in Gladiator, there is an occurrence of an emperor appearing in less-than-regal adornment. When Marcus Aurelius summons Commodus to inform him that he will not become emperor, he appears in a nightgown. The result of the scene is that Commodus kills Aurelius. Again, this is an instance of clothing demonstrating degrees of power. Commodus is fully adorned in military regalia during the murder. His visual authority is absolute.
The emperor is not the only one whose loss of power is symbolically portrayed through loss of clothing in the film. The title character Titus has a similar problem. In Taymor's commentary, she draws attention to this fact. As the film progresses, and Titus' fall from favor becomes more apparent, his clothing similarly becomes less complex and rigid, seen at left. His transition is from a fully armored military commander, to a powerless old man, and finally to a mere chef.
Just like the real Rome, Hollywood's costumes convey messages of power. Not only is imperial garb contrasted visually with other elite outfits, as in Gladiator or Titus where the audience sees the senatorial elite, but also there is a marked distinction between the visual authority of the emperor and that of the protagonist. Oftentimes, said hero appears in various states of undress, certainly more often than his imperial counterpart. This subjugation to gaze, that of the audience, is psychoanalytically connected to sexual desire. Importantly, in these films, the imperial figure is not ever presented as an object of desire, whereas the vulnerable hero, in most cases, is.