“[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.”Tagged: prayer, Ancestors, Honor, dignity
“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.”Tagged: prayer
“[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]”Tagged: swordplay, assassins, frost
“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.”Tagged: Family, Afterlife
“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.”Tagged: Duty, Free Will
“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…”Tagged: prayer, Ancestors, Honor, dignity
“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…”Tagged: lying, Comfort, Soldier, Survival
“[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.”Tagged: favoritism
“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.”Tagged: Moral, Loyalty, army
“Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home? Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.”Tagged: Homesick
“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…”Tagged: caesar, Rome
“[Maximus enters Marcus’s darkened tent] Marcus Aurelius: Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here? Maximus: For the glory of the Empire, sire. 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…”Tagged: Empire, Battle, glory, Rome
“[seeing his daughter Lucilla spying in through the slit in the tent wall] Marcus Aurelius: If only you had been born a man, what a Caesar you would have made. Lucilla: Father. [kisses him on his cheeks] Marcus Aurelius: You would have been strong. I wonder, would you have been just? Lucilla: I would…”Tagged: caesar, Politics, Fatherhood
“Maximus: Highness, when your father releases me I intend to return home. Commodus: Well, no one has earned it more. Don’t get too comfortable, I may call on you before long.”Tagged: Going Home, comfortable
“Marcus Aurelius: You have proved your valor yet again, Maximus. Let us hope for the last time. Maximus: There is no one left to fight, sire. Marcus Aurelius: There is always someone left to fight. How can I reward Rome’s greatest general? Maximus: Let me go home. Marcus Aurelius: Ah, home.”Tagged: Fighting, Going Home
“[to Quintus before the battle with Germanian troops begins] Strength and honor. [gets on his horse and addresses Quintus again] At my signal, unleash hell.”Tagged: strength, Honor, Hell
“[addressing his troops] Fratres! [cavalry addresses Maximus] Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you…”Tagged: Hold the Line, Eternity, Elysium