Ultimately, we're all dead men.
Sadly, we cannot choose how, but we can decide how we meet that end,
in order that we are remembered
as men.
On the left, draw your shields.
On the right, draw your swords.
Kill, kill, kill...
Pair them up, red with yellow.
Next.
Go away.
He enters Rome like a conquering hero.
- But what has he conquered? - Give him time, Gracchus. He's young.
I think he could do very well.
For Rome or for you?
Go to your mother, Lucius. It's what she'd like.
- Lucius. - Mother.
- Hail, Caesar. - Senators.
Rome greets her new emperor.
Your loyal subjects bid you welcome, Highness.
Thank you, Falco. And for the loyal subjects.
- I trust they weren't too expensive. - Caesar.
- Gracchus. - Rome rejoices in your return, Caesar.
There are many matters that require your attention.
To order. To order.
For your 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...
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.
But the Senate is the people, sire.
Chosen from among the people, to speak for the people.
I doubt many of the people eat so well as you do, Gracchus.
Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius. I think I understand my own people.
Then, perhaps Caesar will be so good as to teach us.
Out of his own extensive experience.
I call it love.
I am their father. The people are my children.
I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them.
Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
No, but if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you shall.
Senator, my brother is very tired.
Leave your list with me.
Caesar shall do all that Rome requires.
My lady, as always, your lightest touch commands obedience.
Who are they to lecture me?
Commodus, the Senate has its uses.
What uses? All they do is talk.
It should be just you and me, and Rome.
Don't even think it. There's always been a Senate.
Rome has changed.
It takes an emperor to rule an empire.
Of course, but leave the people their...
Illusions?
Traditions.
My father's war against the barbarians...
He said it himself, it achieved nothing.
- But the people loved him. - The people always love victories.
Why? They didn't see the battles.
- What do they care about Germania? - They care about the greatness of Rome.
The greatness of Rome.
Well, what is that?
It's an idea. Greatness.
- Greatness is a vision. - Exactly. A vision.
Do you not see, Lucilla?
I will give the people a vision of Rome, and they'll love me for it.
And they'll soon forget the tedious sermonizing of a few dry, old men.
I will give the people the greatest vision of their lives.
White and red wine for your drinking pleasure.
Games.
150 days of games.
- He's cleverer than I thought. - Clever.
The whole of Rome would be laughing at him,
if they weren't so afraid of his Praetorians.
Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.
You really think the people are going to be seduced by that?
I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob.
He'll conjure magic for them, and they'll be distracted.
He'll 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.
Spaniard.
All you do is kill, kill, kill.
The crowd don't want a butcher, they want a hero.
You want them to keep coming back,
so don't just hack them to pieces. Remember, you are an entertainer.
Spaniard.
So entertain.
Are you not entertained?
Is this not why you are here?
Spaniard.
What do you want?
Girl?
Boy?
- You sent for me? - Yes, I did.
You're good, Spaniard, but you're not that good.
- You could be magnificent. - I'm required to kill, so I kill.
That is enough.
That's enough for the provinces, but not for Rome.
The young emperor has arranged a series of spectacles
to commemorate his father, Marcus Aurelius.
I find that amusing,
since it was Marcus Aurelius,
the wise, the all-knowing Marcus Aurelius,
that closed us down.
So, finally, after five years of scratching a living
in flea-infested villages,
we're finally going back to where we belong.
The Colosseum.
You should see the Colosseum, Spaniard.
50,000 Romans
watching every movement of your sword.
Willing you to make that killer blow.
The silence before you strike,
and the noise afterwards,
it rises... rises up like...
like a storm.
As if you were the thunder god himself.
- You were a gladiator? - Yes, I was.
You won your freedom?
A long time ago, the Emperor...
presented me with a rudius. It's just a wooden sword.
A symbol of your freedom.
He touched me on the shoulder, and I was free.
- You knew Marcus Aurelius? - I did not say I knew him.
I said he touched me on the shoulder once.
You asked me what I want.
I, too, want to stand in front of the Emperor.
As you did.
Then listen to me. 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.
I will win the crowd.
I will give them something they have never seen before.
So, Spaniard, we shall go to Rome together
and have bloody adventures.
And the great whore will suckle us until we are fat and happy
and can suckle no more. And then,
when enough men have died,
perhaps you will have your freedom.
Here. Use this.
It's somewhere out there.
My country, my home.
My wife is preparing food.
My daughters carry water from the river.
Will I ever see them again?
I think no.
Do you believe you'll see them again when you die?
I think so.
But then, I will die soon.
They will not die for many years.
- I'll have to wait. - But you would wait.
Of course.
You see, my wife and my son,
are already waiting for me.
You'll meet them again.
But not yet.
Not yet.
- Unless... - Not yet.
Not yet.
I see him.
- Where? - There he is.
Out.
Move. Out.
Are there any others?
Good to see you again, old friend.
Bring me fortune.
Have you ever seen anything like that before?
I didn't know men could build such things.
Win the crowd.
Get Inside. Move. Inside.
He sleeps so well because he's loved.
Come, Brother. It's late.
I will make Rome the wonder of the ages.
That is what Gracchus and his friends don't understand.
All my desires are splitting my head to pieces.
Drink this tonic.
I think the time is almost right.
I could announce the dissolution of the Senate
at the celebration to honor our father.
You think I should?
Are the people ready?
I think you need your rest now.
- Will you stay with me? - Still afraid of the dark, Brother?
Still?
Always.
- Stay with me tonight? - You know I won't.
Then kiss me.
Sleep, Brother.
Having servants who are deaf and mute at least ensures I live a little longer.
They're arresting scholars now.
Anyone who dares speak out.
Even satirists and chroniclers.
And mathematicians.
And all to feed the arena.
The Senate did not approve martial law.
This reign of terror is entirely the Praetorians'.
I'm afraid to go out after dark.
You should be more afraid of your activities during the day.
The Senate is full of his spies.
Led by that whoremaster, Falco.
But what is in his mind? That's what I trouble myself with.
He spends all his days singularly obsessed,
planning the festival to honor your father.
He neglects even the most fundamental task of government.
So just what is he planning?
And what pays for it?
These daily games are costing a fortune, yet we have no new taxes.
The future.
The future pays for it.
He's started selling the grain reserves.
This can't be true.
He is selling Rome's reserves of grain.
The people will be starving in two years.
I hope they enjoy the games.
Soon enough, they will be dead because of them.
- Rome must know this. - And how?
He's going to dissolve the Senate.
And who will tell them before it's too late?
You, Gracchus?
You, Gaius?
Will you make a speech on the floor of the Senate denouncing my brother?
And then see your family in the Colosseum?
Who'd dare?
I have been living in a prison of fear every day
because my son is heir to the throne.
He must die.
Quintus and the Praetorians would simply seize control for themselves.
No. Cut off the head and the snake cannot strike.
Lucilla, Gaius is right.
Until we can neutralize the Praetorians, we can achieve nothing.
- So we do nothing? - No, child.
We keep our counsel.
We prepare.
As long as the people support him, we are voices without steel.
We are air.
But with every day that passes, he makes enemies.
One day, he'll have more enemies than friends.
And on that day, we will act.
Then we will strike.
But until then,
we are docile.
We are obedient.
And we are treacherous.
Come on. Get out of the way.
Pick me.
I want to cover you in kisses.
All right, that's enough.
The emperor wants battles. I don't want to sacrifice my best fighters.
The crowd wants battles, so the Emperor gives them battles.
- And you get the battle of Carthage. - The massacre of Carthage.
Why not go down to the prison and round up all the beggars and thieves?
We've done that.
If you want to give away the best gladiators in the whole of the Empire,
I want double the rates.
You'll get your contract rates, or you'll get your contract cancelled.
You don't like it?
Then you can crawl back down that shithole that you came from.
Cassius, please. Please, Cassius.
Gladiator, are you the one they call the Spaniard?
Yes.
They said you were a giant.
They said you could crush a man's skull with one hand.
A man's? No.
A boy's.
- They have good horses in Spain? - Some of the best.
This is Argento, and this is Scarto.
They were my horses.
- They were taken from me. - I like you, Spaniard.
- I shall cheer for you. - They let you watch the games?
- My uncle says it makes me strong. - What does your father say?
My father's dead.
Master Lucius, it is time.
- I have to go. - Your name is Lucius?
Lucius Verus, after my father.
Lower.
- Claudius. - Yes, sir?
More shields.
When the Emperor enters,
raise your weapons, salute him and then speak together.
Face the Emperor and don't turn your back on him.
Go, and die with honor.
Hail, mighty Caesar.
We who are about to die salute you.
On this day,
we reach back to hallowed antiquity,
to bring you a recreation of the second fall
of mighty Carthage.
On the barren plain of Zama,
there stood the invincible armies
of the barbarian, Hannibal.
Ferocious mercenaries and warriors
from all brute nations,
bent on merciless
destruction, conquest.
Your Emperor is pleased to give you
the barbarian horde.
- Anyone here been in the army? - Yes.
I served with you at Vindobona.
You can help me.
Whatever comes out of these gates,
we've got a better chance of survival if we work together.
Do you understand?
If we stay together, we survive.
I'm pleased to bring you the legionnaires of Scipio Africanus.
To the death.
Stay close.
Come together.
Staggered columns.
- Soon all your men will be slain. - You don't have a chance.
- Lock your shields. Stay as one. - As one.
Hold.
As one.
Well done.
Hold.
Diamond.
Haken.
This column to the chariots. This column stay with me.
Quickly.
- Get out there. - Hurry.
Single column.
We win.
My history's a little hazy, Cassius.
But shouldn't the barbarians lose the battle of Carthage?
Yes, sire.
- Forgive me, sire. - No, I rather enjoy surprises.
- Who is he? - They call him the Spaniard, sire.
- I think I'll meet him. - Yes, sire.
Hail to the barbarians.
Forward.
Drop your weapons.
Gladiator, the Emperor has asked for you.
I'm at the Emperor's service.
Rise.
Your fame is well deserved, Spaniard.
I don't think there's ever been a gladiator to match you.
This young man insists you are Hector reborn.
Or was it Hercules?
Why doesn't the hero reveal himself and tell us all your real name?
- You do have a name? - My name is Gladiator.
How dare you show your back to me?
Slave.
You will remove your helmet and tell me your name.
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.
Arms.
Live. Live. Live.
Arms at rest.
Father.
Why is he still alive?
I don't know.
He shouldn't be alive.
It vexes me.
I'm terribly vexed.
I did what I had to do.
If Father had had his way, the Empire would have been torn apart.
You do see that?
Yes.
What did you feel when you saw him?
I felt nothing.
He wounded you deeply, didn't he?
No more than I wounded him.
They lied to me in Germania.
They told me he was dead.
If they lie to me, they don't respect me.
If they don't respect me, how can they ever love me?
Then you must let the legions know their treachery will not go unpunished.
Poor sister, I wouldn't want to be your enemy.
What will you do?
This way.
Rich matrons pay well to be pleasured by the bravest champions.
I knew your brother would send assassins.
I didn't realize he would send his best.
Maximus, he doesn't know.
My family was burned and crucified while they were still alive.
- I knew nothing. - Don't lie to me.
- I wept for them. - As you wept for your father?
As you wept for your father?
I have been living in a prison of fear since that day.
To be unable to mourn your father for fear of your brother.
To live in terror every moment of every day,
because your son is heir to the throne.
I have wept.
My son was innocent.
So is mine.
Must my son die, too, before you will trust me?
What does it matter if I trust you or not?
The gods have spared you. Don't you understand?
Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.
The gods have spared me?
I am at their mercy, with the power only to amuse a mob.
That is power. The mob is Rome.
While Commodus controls them, he controls everything.
Listen to me.
My brother has enemies, most of all in the Senate.
But while the people follow him,
no one would dare stand up to him until you.
They oppose him, yet they do nothing.
There are some politicians who have dedicated their lives to Rome.
One man above all.
If I can arrange it, will you meet him?
Do you not understand?
I may die in this cell tonight, or in the arena tomorrow. I am a slave.
What possible difference can I make?
This man wants what you want.
Then have him kill Commodus.
I knew a man once,
a noble man, a man of principle, who loved my father.
And my father loved him.
This man served Rome well.
That man is gone.
- Your brother did his work well. - Let me help you.
Yes, you can help me.
Forget you ever knew me, and never come here again.
Guard. The lady has finished with me.
What's your name?
Julian Crassus.
Name?
Marcus, sire.
My father's name.
They must have known of Maximus' escape
when they found the bodies of the four men.
They thought it was a barbarian raid.
These are good men, sire. Loyal to the Emperor.
Load arrows.
Prepare to fire.
Then perhaps it was you who knew.
- And never told me. - I didn't know.
You didn't know?
But a general is always in control.
Always in command.
Isn't he?
Yes, Caesar.
Then give the command. Say it.
Fire.
Maximus?
You commanded legions? You had many victories?
- Yes. - In Germania?