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’ll win your freedom.
Catalog
David Franzoni
[addressing his new slave recruits] I am Proximo. I shall be closer to you for the next few days, which will be the last of your miserable lives, than the bitch of a mother that brought you screaming into this world. I did not pay good money for you for your company, I paid it so that I could profit…
[in the Senate where all the senators are gathered] Gracchus: But the Senate is the people, Sire, chosen from among the people, to speak for the people. Commodus: I doubt if many of the people eat so well as you do, Gracchus, or have such splendid mistresses Gaius. I think I understand my own…
[The senators stand at the steps of the Senate, waiting, Lucius at their side, as the new Caesar and Lucilla enter on chariot surrounded by Praetorian] Gracchus: He enters Rome like a conquering hero. What has he conquered? Falco: Give him time. He’s young. I think he could do very well. Gracchus:…
[looking at the slaves in the Slave Market] Proximo: Do any of them fight? I’ve got a match coming up. Slave Trader: Some are good for fighting, others for dying. You need both, I think.
[Proximo grabs hold of the slave trader’s crotch] Proximo: Those giraffes you sold me, they won’t mate. They just walk around eating, not mating. You sold me queer giraffes. I want my money back. Slave Trader: Not a chance. [He grunts as Proximo squeezes tighter] I’ll do a special price for you!
Don’t die. They’ll feed you to the lions. They are worth more than we are.
[after Maximus sees the dead body of Marcus Aurelius] Commodus: Your Emperor asks for your loyalty, Maximus. Take my hand, I only offer it once. Quintus: Maximus, please be careful, that was not prudent. Maximus: Prudent! The Emperor has been slain.
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.
[one of the assassins tries to draw his sword to kill Maximus but the sword is stuck] The frost, sometimes it makes the blade stick. [Maximus then swings the sword at the guard, cutting him across the face and killing him]
Maximus: Quintus, look at me. Look at me! Promise me that you’ll look after my family. Quintus: Your family will meet you in the afterlife.
Commodus: I search the faces of the gods…for ways to please you, to make you proud. One kind word, one full hug… where you pressed me to your chest and held me tight. Would have been like the sun on my heart for a thousand years. What is it in me that you hate so much? Marcus Aurelius: Shh,…
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…
Maximus: Do you find it hard to do your duty? Cicero: Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to.
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. Ancestors, I honor you and will try to live with the dignity that you have…
Lucilla: What did my father want with you? Maximus: To wish me well before I leave for home. Lucilla: You’re lying, I could always tell when you were lying because you were never any good at it. Maximus: I never acquired your comfort with it. Lucilla: True, but then you never had to, life is more…
[Maximus leaves Marcus’ tent he hesitates outside. Lucilla steps out from the adjacent tent] Lucilla: My father favors you now. Maximus: My lady. Lucilla: It was not always so. Maximus: Many things change. Lucilla: Many things, not everything.
Commodus is not a moral man. You have known that since you were young. Commodus cannot rule. He must not rule [looking at Maximus] You’re the son that I should have had. Commodus will accept my decision. He knows that you command the loyalty of the army.
Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home? Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.
Marcus Aurelius: There is one more duty that I ask of you before you go home. Maximus: What would you have me do Caesar? Marcus Aurelius: I want you to become the protector of Rome after I die. I will empower you to one end alone, to give power back to the people of Rome and end the corruption that…