[Watching Lucius sleep] Commodus: He sleeps so well because he is loved.
[His only line] Tigris: We who are about to die, salute you!
Maximus: Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear
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.
Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination. Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that? Gracchus: 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...
Maximus: 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 ...
[as an executioner tries to draw his sword but can't] Maximus: The frost, it sometimes makes the blade stick. [kills the executioner]
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.
Marcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you? Maximus: With all my heart, no. Marcus Aurelius: Maximus, that is why it must be you.
[after the final duel] Maximus: Quintus! Release my men. Senator Gracchus is to be reinstated. There was a dream that was Rome. It shall be realized. These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius.
Proximo: Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but, what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men.
Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home? Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.
[Looking at some slaves] Proximo: Can 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.
Commodus: 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? Commodus: I call it love, Gracchus. The people are my children, I am their father. I shall hold them to m...
Commodus: Your Emperor asks for your loyalty, Maximus. Take my hand, I only offer it once.
Commodus: And now they love Maximus for his mercy. So I can't just kill him, or it makes me even more unmerciful! The whole thing's like some crazed nightmare. Falco: He is defying you. His every victory is an act of defiance. The mob sees this, and ...
Proximo: Congratulations, you have very persuasive friends. Lucilla: My brother's had Gracchus arrested. We daren't wait any longer. We must leave tonight. Proximo will be here t midnight and take you to the gate. Your servant, Cicero will be waiting...
Marcus Aurelius: Let us pretend that you are a loving daughter, and I am a good father. Lucilla: This is a pleasant fiction, is it not?
