Quotes

Dialogue

Maximus: You sent for me, Caesar? Marcus Aurelius: Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here? Maximus: For the glory of the empire, sire. Marcus Aurelius: Ah, yes. Ah, yes, I remember. Do you see that map, Maximus? That is the world which I created. For 25 years, I have conquered, spilt blood, expanded the empire. Since I became Caesar, I have known four years without war, four years of peace in twenty. And for what? I brought the sword. Nothing more. Maximus: Caesar, your life... Marcus Aurelius: Please. Please, don't call me that. Please, come sit. Let us talk together now, very simply, as men. Maximus, talk. Maximus: Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing. Marcus Aurelius: And what would you believe? Maximus: They fought for you and for Rome. Marcus Aurelius: And what is Rome, Maximus? Maximus: I've seen much of the res

Dialogue

Marcus Aurelius: Are you ready to do your duty for Rome? Commodus: Yes, father. Marcus Aurelius: You will not be emperor. Commodus: Which wiser, older man is to take my place? Marcus Aurelius: My powers will pass to Maximus, to hold in trust until the Senate is ready to rule once more. Rome is to be a republic again. Commodus: Maximus. Marcus Aurelius: My decision disappoints you? Commodus: You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness. Courage. Perhaps not on the battlefield, but … there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you. But none of my virtues were on your list. [choking up] Even then it was as if you didn't want me for your son. Marcus Aurelius: Oh, Commodus. You go too far. Commodus: I search the faces of the gods … for ways to please you

Dialogue

Gracchus: For you guidance, Caesar, the Senate has prepared a series of protocols, to begin addressing the many problems in the city, beginning with basic sanitation for the Greek quarter, to combat the plague which is already springing up there. So, if Caesar... Commodus: Shh. Don't you see, Gracchus? That's the very problem, isn't it? My father spent all his time at study, at books and learning and philosophy. He spent his twilight hours reading scrolls from the Senate. And all the while, the people were forgotten. Gracchus: But the Senate is the people, sire. Chosen from among the people, to speak for the people. Commodus: I doubt if any of the people eat so well as you do, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius. I think I understand my own people. Gracchus: Then perhaps Caesar will be so good as to teach us … out of his own, extensive experience. Commodus: I call it love. I am their father, the people are my children. I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them

Dialogue

Falco: Games. One hundred and fifty days of games. Gracchus: He's cleverer than I thought. Falco: "Clever"! The whole of Rome would be laughing at him, if they weren't so afraid of his Praetorian. Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination. Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that? Gracchus: [about Commodus] I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum. He'll bring them death…and they will love him for it.

Dialogue

Maximus: You ask me what I want. I, too, want to stand before the Emperor as you did. Proximo: Then listen to me. Learn from me. I wasn't the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd, and you will win your freedom. Maximus: I will win the crowd. I will give them something they have never seen before.

Dialogue

Juba: It's somewhere out there. My country. My home. My wife is preparing food. My daughters carry water from the river. Will I ever see them again? I think not. Maximus: Do you believe you'll see them again when you die? Juba: I think so. But then, I will die soon. They will not die for many years. I'll have to wait. Maximus: But you would … wait? Juba: Of course. Maximus: You see, my wife and my son are already waiting for me. Juba: You'll meet them again. But not yet. Not yet. Maximus: Not yet. … Not yet.

Dialogue

Juba: Can they hear you? Maximus: Who? Juba: Your family, in the afterlife. Maximus: Oh yes. Juba: What do you say to them? Maximus: To my son, I tell him I will see him again soon. To keep his heels down while riding his horse. To my wife – that is not your business.

Dialogue

Commodus: "Maximus... Maximus... Maximus..." They call for you. The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! Now the people want to know how the story ends. Only a famous death will do. And what could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great arena? Maximus: You would fight me? Commodus: Why not? Do you think I am afraid? Maximus: I think you've been afraid all your life. Commodus: Unlike Maximus the invincible, who knows no fear? Maximus: I knew a man once who said, 'Death smiles at us all. All that man can do is smile back.' Commodus: I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death? Maximus: You must know. He was your father. Commodus: You loved my father, I know. But so did I. That makes us brothers, doesn't it? Smile for me now, brother! [stabs Maximus in the side, then turns to Quintius] Strap on his armour. Conceal the wound.