Gracchus 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.
L 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.
Gracchus I do not pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people.
L Lucilla
Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.
We who are about to die salute you!
They embrace me as one of their own. The people are my children and I am their father.
Gracchus Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
[turns to face him slowly]
No. But if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you shall.
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...
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.
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.
[The Senate laughs]
I call it love. I am their father, the people are my children. I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly –
Gracchus Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
No. But if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you shall.
F Falco
Games. One hundred and fifty days of games.
Gracchus He's cleverer than I thought.
F 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.
F 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.
