Gracchus Quotes in Gladiator (2000)

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 still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the coliseum. He'll bring them death - and they will love him for it.

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 my bosom and embrace them tightly...

Gracchus: Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?

Commodus: No, but if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you will.

Gracchus: I don't pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people.

Gracchus: 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.

Gracchus: And after your glorious coup, what then? You take your five thousand and... leave?

Maximus: Yes, I will leave. The soldiers will stay here for your protection, under the guidance of the Senate.

Gracchus: So, after Rome's all yours, you just give it back to the people. Tell me why.

Maximus: Because that was a dying man's last wish. I will kill Commodus. The fate of Rome, I leave to you.

Gracchus: Marcus Aurelius trusted you. His daughter trusts you. I will trust you. Give me two days, and I will purchase your freedom. And you, stay alive, or I'll be dead.

Gracchus: He enters Rome like a conquering hero. But what has he conquered?

Falco: Give him time, Gracchus. He's young, he may do very well.

Gracchus: For Rome? Or for you?

Lucilla: Is Rome worth one good man's life? We believed it once. Make us believe it again. He was a soldier of Rome. Honor him.

Gracchus: Who will help me carry him?

[Gladiators surround Maximus to carry him out of the arena]

Gracchus: But the Senate IS the people, sire. Chosen from AMONG the people. To speak FOR the people.

Commodus: I doubt if any of the people eat so well as you, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius.

Gracchus: You and I have a tendency towards corpulence. Corpulence makes a man reasonable, pleasant and phlegmatic. Have you noticed the nastiest of tyrants are invariably thin?

Julius Caesar: I thought you had reservations about the gods.

Gracchus: Privately I believe in none of them - neither do you. Publicly, I believe in them all.

[last words]

[looking at two daggers, picks one]

Gracchus: Prettier...

Gracchus: This republic of ours is something like a rich widow. Most Romans love her as their mother but Crassus dreams of marrying the old girl to put it politely.

[deleted scene]

[last words]

Gracchus: [to his maid Julia] The new master of Rome will be calling on me tomorrow, he wants me to make a speech. Take him to wherever I am and show me to him. And Julia, when I meet you in paradise, describe to me the expression on his face when he saw me dead. Now go away. Go away!

Batiatus: Come with us. See to it I don't misuse the money.

Gracchus: Don't be ridiculous. I'm a Senator.

Batiatus: There I was, better than a millionaire in the morning and a penniless refugee by nightfall with nothing but these rags and my poor flesh to call of my own. All because of Crassus decides to break his journey at Capua with a couple of capricious, over-painted nymphs! These two daughters of Venus had to taunt the gladiators, force them to fight to the death and before I knew what had happened, *revolution* on my hands!

Gracchus: What revenge have you in mind?

Batiatus: I sold Crassus this woman, Varinia. May the gods give her wens. There was no contract, but she was clearly his slave as soon as the deal was made. Now she's off with Spartacus killing people in their beds. And Crassus, no mention of the money, no!

Gracchus: You never offered me this woman. Why not?

Batiatus: Well, she's not remotely your type, Gracchus. She is very thin and...

Gracchus: Look around you. You'll see women of all sizes. 500 sesterces deposit on Varinia. Since he hasn't paid, this gives me first call over Crassus.

Batiatus: May the Gods adore you! Why would you buy a woman that you have never seen?

Gracchus: To annoy Crassus, of course, and to help you.

Gracchus: Will you please leave, before the soldiers get here?

[an overcome Varinia embraces Gracchus]

Gracchus: Oh... oh, this would make Crassus really jealous. Go now, and make my joy complete. Save your tears now, save them for the journey.

Marcus Licinius Crassus: In every city and province, lists of the disloyal have been compiled. Tomorrow they will learn the cost of their terrible folly... their treason.

Gracchus: And where does my name appear on the list of disloyal enemies of the state?

Marcus Licinius Crassus: First.

Marcus Licinius Crassus: Did you truly believe 500 years of Rome could so easily be delivered to the clutches of a mob? Already the bodies of 6000 crucified slaves line along the Appian Way. Tomorrow the last of their companions will fight to their death in the temple of my fathers as a sacrifice to them. As those slaves have died, so will your rabble... if they falter one instant in loyalty to the new order of affairs. Arrests are in progress. The prisons began to fill. In every city and province, lists of the disloyal have been compiled. Tomorrow, they will learn the cost of their terrible folly... their treason.

Gracchus: Where does my name appear on the list of the disloyal enemies of the state?

Marcus Licinius Crassus: First. Yet, I have no desire of vengeance upon you. Your property shall not be touched. You will retain the rank and title of a Roman Senator. A house... a farmhouse in Picenum has been provided for your exile. You may take your women with you.

Gracchus: Why am I to be left so conspicuously alive?

Marcus Licinius Crassus: Your followers are deluded enough to trust you. I intend that you shall speak to them tomorrow for their own good, their peaceful and profitable future. From time to time thereafter, I may find it useful to bring you back to Rome to continue your duty to her, to calm the envious spirit and the troubled mind. You will persuade them to accept destiny and order and trust the gods!

Gracchus: [after offering Batiatus 500,000 sesterces to kidnap Virinia from Crassus and Batiatus still cowering] Let's add courage to your new found virtues. Make it 1,000,000 sesterces.

Batiatus: Crassus does seem to dwindle in the mind.

Gracchus: Julia, I don't like the sound of weeping. This is a happy house, please stop.