- Wait! - Send them out.
Send them out.
Go!
The door.
Where are my mother and sister?
Where are they?
Here, within these walls.
The governor is recovering. They won't die.
Of course, they will be sentenced.
ls it possible?
ls it possible you could do this to us?
To people you've known? A family you've loved?
You will let them go. You will gladly let them go!
l didn't try to kill the governor. l'm not a murderer!
l know you're not.
You know?
You are evil.
No, Judah, l am not evil.
l wanted your help.
Now you've given it to me.
By making this example of you, l discourage treason.
By condemning without hesitation an old friend, l shall be feared.
But not my family.
Let them go.
Please.
- Messala, l beg you. - Beg?!
Didn't l beg you?
You chose this. There's nothing more to be said.
lKill me, and your mother and sister will die...
...nailed to crosses in front of you!
Go on, Judah.
lKill me!
May God grant me vengeance.
l will pray that you live till l return.
Return?
Take him.
Sentries, salute.
The tribune will see you now.
Tribune, l'm steward of the House of Hur.
l remember you.
We were on our way to Antioch when we heard what had happened.
Judah Ben-Hur could not have done this thing. You knew him, tribune.
Better than you.
Then there must be no doubt in your mind, the charge is groundless.
The prisoners have been sentenced.
- Sentenced? - But there's no truth in it.
There was never a threat against the governor in Judah's mind.
Surely you must know he would never have done this.
ln your heart, you must know it.
Drusus.
This man had better be kept here until we can question him.
Hold!
Water for the soldiers.
Soldiers first!
Get away from that well. No water for them!
Get them away from that well! Here, you!
Come on, you! Water for the horses!
- Water. Water. - Soldiers first!
Here.
Wait.
No water for him.
God...
...help me.
You! l said no water for him!
All right, on your feet, all of you!
Get them on their feet!
Back in line, you dog!
On your feet!
Get them going!
You there, back to your place! Back to your place!
Forward, you dogs!
Soon, the counselor's barge will be coming alongside.
Be ready to raise oars.
Raise oars!
Down oars!
The new commander, Quintus Arrius.
- How many rowers? - Two hundred, consul.
- And reliefs? - Of 30, every hour.
This man is ill. Replace him.
- Change him. - Right, sir.
- This man's been giving you trouble? - He's insubordinate, consul.
That will stop.
What service have you seen?
Forty-one.
A month's less a day in this ship.
You keep an exact account. And before?
Three years in other ships.
Three years.
You have the spirit to fight back...
...but the good sense to control it.
Your eyes are full of hate, 4 1 .
That's good. Hate keeps a man alive.
lt gives him strength.
Now, listen to me, all of you.
You are all condemned men.
We keep you alive to serve this ship.
So row well...
...and live.
- Ship ready, consul. - Strike oars.
Strike oars!
You know a fleet of Macedonian galleys...
...has been raiding Roman commerce.
The emperor has honored us with the task...
...of seeking out and destroying them.
Battle speed, hortator.
Battle speed!
Attack speed.
Attack speed!
Ramming speed.
Ramming speed!
Rest.
Halt!
Rest!
Why are you here?
l was ordered to report to you during my relief.
Oh, yes.
l'd forgotten.
You could have killed me as l lay there.
You're a condemned man. Why didn't you?
l'm not ready to die.
What do you think will save you?
The God of my fathers.
Your God has forsaken you.
He has no more power than the images l pray to.
My gods will not help me. Your God will not help you.
l might.
Does that interest you, 4 1?
l can see that it does.
l'm a fighting man by profession, and in my leisure moments...
...it amuses me to train fighting men.
l own some of the best gladiators and charioteers in Rome.
Would you like to become one of them?
To die as your slave?
Better than to live in chains below these decks.
l will not be here forever.
No?
What would you do if you escaped?
Two people were condemned with me, my mother and sister...
...though they were innocent. l won't rest...
Do not say that you were innocent.
- Would it do any good to say it again? - No.
Consider my offer carefully. You will never escape while we are victorious.
lf we are not, you will sink with this ship, chained to your oar.
l cannot believe that God has let me live these years...
...to die chained to an oar.
lt's a strange, stubborn faith you keep...
...to believe that existence has a purpose.
A sane man would have learned to lose it long before this.
As you have.
What drove it out of you?
Go back to your oar, 4 1 .
Consul, enemy sighted.
Signal the fleet. Prepare for battle.
All the watch to battle posts.
- Stand by to load. - Make ready to fire.
Hurry, quick!
Hurry up with that resin. Get some more ammunition.
Raise oars!
Down oars!
Chain rowers!
Guard.
Unlock 4 1 .
No! l don't want to die!
l don't want to die!
4 1 , why did he do that?
l don't know.
Once before, a man helped me.
l didn't know why then.
Normal speed!
Number 1 , flame.
Fire.
Fire!
Hold withdrawal on command.
Lift oars! Raise!
Withdraw!
Steersman, right.
Extend oars!
Fire!
- Watch out! - Fire!
Steersman, ram course! Order below!
Ramming speed!
Consul, barge on ramming course.
We're going to be rammed! We're going to be rammed!
Why did you save me?
Why did you have me unchained?
What is your name, 4 1?
Judah Ben-Hur.
Judah Ben-Hur...
...let me die.
We keep you alive to serve this ship.
Row well and live.
ls the sail square?
l can't tell.
Better for us both if it's the enemy.
My death.
Your freedom.
lt's a Roman sail.
Face rear!
Welcome, consul. We had given up all hope for you.
Water.
The fleet, all lost?
Five galleys.
- And the battle? - The battle was won.
You have a victory.
- lt was a victory? - Complete.
ln His eagerness to save you...
...your God has also saved the Roman fleet.
Hail Arrius!
Right oars!
You have cleared the seaways of a great danger, Quintus Arrius.
This baton of victory has been nobly won.
This man riding beside you, who is he?
The man who saved me, divine emperor, to return and serve you.
ls that all you know about him?
No. He was accused of an attack on the governor of Judea.
But he was innocent.
lf not, there's a strange inconsistency in this man...
...who tries to kill my governor, yet saves the life of my consul.
Come tomorrow. We'll talk of it.
We have all the information on this man...
...a man of some influence in his own country.
His attack upon our governor is one upon the senate and the people of Rome.
l am convinced that no such attack was intended.
Consul, allow us to continue.
Allow us to be generous.
As a reward to you for your great victory...
...we shall not send him back to the galleys.
We give him to you as your slave.
Such is the will of the senate...
...and the people of Rome.
Not long ago, l returned to Rome...
...with a young man who had saved my life.
You all know him as the finest charioteer in Rome.
Five times, he's driven my horses to victory.
l know him as one who stands in the place of the son l lost.
l have the love and pride in a son's achievements...
...which l thought l should never have again.
Nothing could make stronger our bond...
...but tonight l wish to share it with you all.
The formalities of adoption have been completed.
Young Arrius is now the legal bearer of my name...
...and the heir to my property.
This ring of my ancestors...
...would have gone to my son.
So now it is yours.
lt's a strange destiny that brought me to a new life...
...a new home...
...a new father.
lt brought me here.
lt may take me away.
But wherever l may be...
...l shall always try to wear this ring as a son of Arrius should.
With gratitude and affection...
...and with honor.
My old friend Pontius Pilate, young Arrius.
Before you came to this city, my horses always won.
Magnificent horses, extremely swift.
Yes, but not swift enough to defeat you.
- Tell me, you come from Judea? - Yes, sir.
l hear that the climate is difficult to live in.
Not for Judeans.
lt's a terrible prospect. l am to be made governor.
- Of Judea? - Yes.
l asked for Alexandria.
But it seems the wilderness needs my particular talents.
The scorpions and holy prophets can't get on without me.
Lay the dust of Judea, at least for this evening.
Goats and Jehovah.
You're leaving.
l must.
lt's a journey l can't keep you from.
Your eyes have never left it all these months. l can recognize pain.
But still, my counsel is to wait.
Gratus is to be replaced.
The governorship goes to Pontius Pilate.
When?
Very soon.
lt's very much to our purpose.
Nothing is to the purpose if, when l come back to Judea, l come too late.
That is the thought which has punished me every moment l've spent here.
Will Rome see you again?
Here is a part of my life which you have made for me.
l shall remember it.
Whoever the gods are, they take small interest in an old man's hopes.
They have their way.
Forgive me.
You're a stranger here.
Would you be from Nazareth?
Why do you ask?
l thought...
...you might be the one...
The one that l have come back from my country to find.
He would be about your age.
Who?
When l find Him...
...l shall know Him.
Oh, but forgive me. l am Balthasar of Alexandria.
l am the guest of Sheik llderim.
Sack of flesh without brains!
No! No! Not the whip!
That is my host.
Gently! Gently!
Fool! Headless toad! You know nothing of horses!
Whip my children once and l'll drain every drop of your blood.
Now, gently around the first turn, and let them run! Go on!
lKeep my words in your head! Let us see some wisdom!
Beautiful horses.
Now! Now! They are ready! Let them go!
Watch. They'll never hold the turn.
No! No!
Abadon, stop him!
Stop that whip!
l'll kill him! l'll kill...!
Moonhead! Give me those reins, you fool!
You think you can treat my horses like animals?!
Drive cows and goats! That's all you're fit for!
Get off, idiot!
Drive goats, not horses!
l am doomed. You saw what happened here?
This traveler told what would happen before it happened.
Your horses are very fine, but they're not a team.
Not a team?
But one of them held steady, the one on the outside.
- Antares. - The slow one?
He should run on the inside where he can steady the others in the turns.
You have a keen eye. Where did you acquire it?
ln the circus in Rome.
You have driven in the great circus?
Tell me, my friend, could you make my four run as one?
l'm on my way to Jerusalem.
Would your caravan rest until tomorrow?
We have time enough to eat, drink and talk.
Come into my tent and refresh yourself.
And let me hear how you raced in Rome.
lf l had a voice to sing, l would sing you the psalm of horses.
No other animal has descended so in scale...
...from the first innocent falling of the world.
And tomorrow, l shall put Antares on the inside.
When you do, shorten the yoke. lt will help them in the turns.
Judah Ben-Hur.
You're a Jew, yet you drove in the great circus.
Yes.
By a strange choice and a stranger fortune.
Your coming here was so fit, so right.
We might have achieved wonders!
You have to go.
l make a journey which will not wait.
Ah, well, then perhaps you will come back.
And when you do, bring your friends, your wives.
l have no wives.
No wives at all?
l have six, no, seven.
l've counted eight.
And that is because he is traveling. At home, he has more.
Believe me, it is a great advantage to have many wives.
- Someday, l hope to have one. - One wife!
One God, that l can understand. But one wife, that is not civilized.
lt is not generous.
- Was the food not to your liking? - lndeed.
Thank you. Thank you.
And take my advice, my friend. Buy yourself some wives.
And now l must say good night to my beauties.
When ready for sleep, they get impatient and jealous.
They wait to see which one l will embrace first.
- l'll make my farewells then. - No, no, no, stay.
Stay and see them.
Come, my children. Come.
Strangers make them shy.
Come.
Come, do not be afraid. Come.
There, my children.
They are descended from the Arabians of the Pharaohs...
...and l have named them for the stars.
Come, Antares.
You are the slowest, and you can run all day without tiring.
What? Yes, yes.
Yes, l love you too. There's my good Antares.
Come, Rigel.
We've both supped well, and the world is good.
There's my good Rigel.
Yes, you are ready for sleep.
The day's work done for you, eh?
Yes, well, you can go to sleep in a minute.
Good night. Good night, my treasure.
Steady, Aldebaran. l haven't forgotten you.
No. You are the swiftest, but you must be steady.
Never seen finer horses, even in Rome.
You should see their mother, Mira.
l dare not bring her. My people couldn't bear her absence.
All right, all right.
You are their friend, and they do not give their affections readily.
Come, Antares, Rigel, it is late.
Altair, Aldebaran, go to sleep.
You must be strong and swift.
Go, my children. Go.