Maximus Decimus Meridius: At my signal, unleash hell. [Maximus looks at images of his wife and son] Juba: Can they hear you? Maximus Decimus Meridius: Who? Juba: Your family. In the afterlife. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Oh yes. Juba: What do you say to them? Maximus Decimus Meridius: 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. Gracchus: I don't pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people. Gracchus: He enters Rome like a conquering hero. But what has he conquered? Falco: Give him time, Gracchus. He's young, he may do very well. Gracchus: For Rome, Falco? Or for you? Lucilla: Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome. Commodus: Am I not merciful? AM I NOT MERCIFUL? Marcus Aurelius: Let us pretend that I am a good father, and you are a loving daughter. [To his dead friend] Juba: I will see you again... but not yet. Not yet! Commodus: The 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? Maximus Decimus Meridius: You would fight me? Commodus: Why not? Do you think I am afraid? Maximus Decimus Meridius: I think you've been afraid all your life. Lucilla: I want to help you. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Yes, you can help me... Forget you ever knew me, and never come back here again. Maximus Decimus Meridius: I knew a man once who said, "Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back." Commodus: I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death? Maximus Decimus Meridius: 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? [stabs him] Smile for me now, brother. Lucilla: Is Rome worth one good man's life? [Watching Lucius sleep] Commodus: He sleeps so well because he is loved. Maximus Decimus Meridius: What we do in life, echoes in eternity. Maximus Decimus Meridius: I am required to kill, so I kill. That is enough. Proximo: That's enough for the provinces, but not enough for Rome. [after swiftly dispatching another gladiator] Maximus Decimus Meridius: Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here? Maximus Decimus Meridius: My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next. Quintus: People should know when they are conquered. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Would you, Quintus? Would I? Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home? Maximus Decimus Meridius: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning. Lucius: Are you the one they call the Spaniard? Maximus Decimus Meridius: Yes. Lucius: They said you were a giant. They said you could crush a man's skull with one hand. Maximus Decimus Meridius: A man's? No. A boy's? Maximus Decimus Meridius: 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 they fought and died for nothing. Marcus Aurelius: There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Ancestors, I ask you for your guidance. Blessed mother, come to me with the Gods' desire for my future. Blessed father, watch over my wife and son with a ready sword. Whisper to them that I live only to hold them again, for all else is dust and air. Ancestors, I honor you and will try to live with the dignity that you have taught me. Maximus Decimus Meridius: I may die here in this cell or in the arena tomorrrow. What possible difference can I make? Gracchus: He will bring them death, and they will love him for it. 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, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Strength and honor. Commodus: It vexes me. I'm terribly vexed. [addressing his troops] Maximus Decimus Meridius: If you find yourself alone, riding through green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled, for you are in Elysium, and are already dead. Titus: We who are about to die salute you. Proximo: Those giraffes you sold me,they won't mate. They just walk around, eating, and not mating. You sold me... queer giraffes. I want my money back. Proximo: Listen to me. Learn from me. I was not 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 Decimus Meridius: You risk too much. Lucilla: I have much to pay for. Maximus Decimus Meridius: You have nothing to pay for. Marcus Aurelius: Let us pretend that I am a good father, and you are a loving daughter. Lucilla: Is this not a pleasant fiction? Maximus Decimus Meridius: Proximo, are you in danger of becoming a good man? Lucilla: My brother hates all the world and you most of all. Maximus Decimus Meridius: Because your father chose me. Lucilla: No. Because my father loved you. And because I loved you. Main Page ...or Look at some Movie Pics |