Most scenes together: Maximus & Proximo (4), Maximus & Marcus Aurelius (3), Commodus & Gracchus (3)
Gladiator quotes
Page 1 of 5The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! But 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?
You would fight me?
Why not? Do you think I am afraid?
I think you've been afraid all your life.
Unlike Maximus the invincible, who knows no fear?
I knew a man who once said: "Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back."
I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death?
You must know. He was your father.
You loved my father, I know. But so did I. That makes us brothers, doesn't it? Smile for me now, brother! [Commodus stabs him in the back]
They embrace me as one of their own. The people are my children and I am their father.
Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
Falco Games. One hundred and fifty days of games.
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.
Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.
Falco You really think people are going to be seduced by that?
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.
But the Senate is the people, sire. Chosen from among the people, to speak for the people.
I doubt if any of the people eat so well as you, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius.
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...
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.
But the Senate is the people, sire. Chosen from among the people, to speak for the people.
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.
Then perhaps Caesar will be so good as to teach us … out of his own, extensive experience.
I call it love. I am their father, the people are my children. I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly –
Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
No. But if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you shall.
He enters Rome like a conquering hero. But what has he conquered?
Falco Give him time, Gracchus. He's young, he think he can do very well.
For Rome? Or for you?
I think he [Commodus] 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.
Lucilla Is Rome worth one good man's life? We believed it once, make us believe it again. He was a soldier of Rome. Honor him.
I do not pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people.
Lucilla Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.
We who are about to die salute you!
Can they hear you?
Who?
Your family, in the afterlife.
Oh yes.
What do you say to them?
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.
[They laugh]
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.
Do you believe you'll see them again when you die?
I think so. But then, I will die soon. They will not die for many years. I'll have to wait.
But you would … wait?
Of course.
You see, my wife and my son are already waiting for me.
You'll meet them again. But not yet. Not yet.
Lucilla I want to help you.
Yes, you can help me. Forget you ever knew me, never come back here again.
When was the last time you were home?
Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.
You have proved your valor yet again, Maximus. Let us hope for the last time.
There is no one left to fight, sire.
There is always someone left to fight. How can I reward Rome's greatest general?
Let me go home.
Ah, home.
... And you have met Caesar?
... Yes ... yes, I did ...
Do you find it difficult to do your duty?
Cicero Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to.