do you think he's really dying?
i think he's really dying this time.
he has to be bled every night now.
i've been so informed.
if he weren't really dying he wouldn't have sent for us.
and the senators. he wouldn't have summoned them if --
the first thing i shall do is honor him with games worthy of his majesty.
why have we stopped?
where is my father?
is the battle won?
my sister wants a bath, take her to the camp. take me to my father.
have i missed it?
have i missed the battle?
father. congratulations. i shall sacrifice a thousand doves to honor your triumph.
general, rome salutes you and i embrace you as a brother.
your spaniards seem invincible. may the gods favor the felix regiment now and always.  here, father, take my arm.
she's at the camp. she had no desire to see the gore of the battlefield.
he's dying.
poor old man.
hail, warriors. my congratulations.
my old friend, my father tells me you're returning to spain?
a pity. i'll need men like you in my army.
there are larger division that might appeal to you. even the praetorian guard. you've never been to rome. imagine arriving as head of the praetorians! they have really splendid uniforms.
general maximus, may i present senators gaius and falco. beware of this gaius, he'll pour a honeyed potion in your ear and you'll wake up one day and all you'll say is "republic, republic, republic"
you've had my ear since we were children. you could be a valuable ally in the senate.
there -- i warned you.
not a word about that sodomite bastard.
i won't tolerate it. his incessant criticism exhausts me. the man can speak for five hours without taking a breath.
enough.  maximus, i would like to inspect the felix regiment at dawn. please arrange it.
excuse me?
of course, how foolish of me. some other time.
caesar retires early tonight.
i search the faces of the gods for ways to please you.  to make you proud.  and i can never do it. one kind word -- one full hug where you pressed me to your chest and held me tight -- would have been like the sun on my heart for a thousand years.  what is it in me you hate so much? my eyes are your eyes. my hands are your hands. all i have ever wanted was to live up to you. caesar. father.
why does maximus deserve what i could never have? -- why do you love his eyes over mine? -- i would butcher the whole world -- if you would only love me.
lament with me, brother, our great father is dead. i want --
general, the gods' have taken the great man and left me alone. my first desire as emperor is that you take my hand in friendship. i need you at my side, maximus, at this moment above all others. stand with me.
the surgeons say it was his breath that gave out.
take my hand, maximus. i only offer it once.
even as the gods curse this dark day with clouds, so too does the sun begin to shine forth on a promised tomorrow. even as we mourn the passing of our father, so too do we celebrate the coming of a bright, new age for rome. at my side, brothers, you shall pull fresh glories from the heavens. at my side, brothers, you shall know the adoration of the gods. doubly-dark is this day because my friend, your noble commander maximus meridas, has been called to rome to deal with urgent matters of state.
until his promised return i appointed quintus domitian to serve in his stead. i salute you, legionnaires!
caesar is honored to accept your tribute, citizen scholar.
it is the most sacred duty of the emperor to oversee the education of the young. if i could leave no other legacy than the scholarship of all children my life would be blessed. tutors, you hold the future of rome in your hands. teach them well so that they will bring honor to the empire. i salute you.
look at them, senators.  my truest gift to rome.
very well.
peace, good gracchus, peace.
my beloved father was a careless shepherd to his flock. i shall be a good father to my children. i shall remain in rome and show them how they are loved.
you see that's the very problem, isn't it, my old, old friend? my father spent all his time at study. at books and learning and philosophy.
he spent his twilight hours reading scrolls from the senate. all the while, the people were forgotten.
i doubt many of the people eat so well as you do, senator gracchus.
i doubt many of the people have such splendid armor, captain marcellus. or such fine mistresses, senator gaius. no.  only their true father knows what the people need. i shall show them they are loved. i shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly --
no. but if you interrupt me one more time i assure you that you shall. i will emulate the immortal caesars of the past. i will give the people what they truly want. starting this day i will draw all of rome to the colosseum. i will give them bread. and they will want nothing more.
not just any games, senator! a series of games that will make the gods envious and leave my children happy! i will subsidize the arena from this day forth -- and i will culminate this celebration in a great spectacle the likes of which the world has never seen! a great spectacle to honor my father! magnificent, unending weeks of festivity all in the name of marcus aurelius!
that is not your concern.
all my desires are splitting my head to pieces -- there's so much i want to do -- but all my efforts to show my children they are loved go unappreciated by those dragons in the senate --
all i want is to be a good father to my people. why don't they understand that?
i must take a firmer hand with them. they must know their father can be firm. as our father was firm with us.
yes.  yes.  you always know the way. you were always so wise in these matters.  you know if i didn't have my duty to rome i think i should be an artist. i should go away and paint pictures of the sea and leave all the politics to you.
will you stay with me?
still. always.
my dreams would terrify the world.
and after.  just sit with me. keep me safe.
slave! who are you?
slave! who are you?
slave! who are you?!
why is he still alive?
he shouldn't be alive. that vexes me. i am terribly vexed.
there, that's better. do you like the platform here?
i do too. simple, elegant.
father would have wanted something more ornate but he's dead now.
maximus meridas haunts me. i see father turning away from me and gazing at him. how many times did i suffer that indignity, i wonder?
i'm going to kill him.
oh, you're too clever, sister. don't tell me part of you won't weep for him.
no?
he wounded you deeply, didn't he? long ago.
nonetheless, your political acumen is, as always, unerring.
i am sorry to have kept you away.  i needed this time to think.
i limited my world to these four walls so as to let my mind free.  again and again my mind settles on but one question.  what kind of world are we making when the people of rome prefer a slave in the arena to their father?
it is my responsibility to make the world as it should be. how is it i have made this world?
they are not "the mob," lucilla, they are the people. they are my children and all i want to do is love them.
our father loved maximus.  and i love him still.  yet he defies me, he tasks me in front of my children. and they love him for it. just as marcus loved him for it. tell me why, lucilla.
and what do i do but fight for them?! i give them games to please them. i strangle dissent to give them peace. i empower the praetorians to give them order. what more can i do?!
say i should fight him, in the arena. let my children see who the gods truly favor.
a god is more powerful than a man.
but i need to know -- why do they love him?
and for that moment in the arena they are merciful too. for a moment.  they are gods. offering life.
but who can be more merciful than the emperor of rome?
brother.  we've taken a sad path since we were children at capri, have we not?
for my own part.  i am sorry it came to this. and to you alone of all men, i acknowledge my errors. and my regret. i shall live with my sin for all my days.
as the first act of my contrition i offer you the wooden sword of freedom.
take it, brother. stand at my side as a free man worthy of your ancestors.
take it, maximus. let us heal that fatal wound together.
will you always mistrust me?
you think this is power? i could show you power, slave --
where is my sister?
where?
where is my sister?
sister.  join us. i've been reading to dear lucius.
yes, he's a very smart little boy. he'll make a grand emperor one day.
join us, sister.
we've been reading about the great julius and his adventures in egypt.
and just wait until you hear what happened to some of our other ancestors! if you're very good, tomorrow night i'll tell you the story of emperor claudius. he was betrayed! by those closest to him.  .  by his own blood.  they whispered in dark corners and went out late at night and conspired and conspired.
but the emperor claudius knew that they were up to something dire. he knew they were busy little bees. and one night he sat down with one of them and he looked at her and he said: "tell me what you have been doing, busy little bee, or i shall strike down those dearest to you. you shall watch as i bathe in their blood." and the bee knew he spoke the truth, for the emperor always speaks the truth. and what do you think happened then, lucius?
the bee told him everything.
why that's a bonfire, lucius. i arranged it just for you.
oh.  that's for my sister.
rome.  this is the day that was foretold. this is the day when your father takes away all fear.  with these hands i shall destroy your enemies so that you may sleep always and forever in peace. from this day forth let it be known that i, lucius aelius aurelius commodus, have surmounted mortality. that i, lucius aelius aurelius commodus, assume my destined place.  at the side of the gods.
and as a righteous god, i shall ever protect you. i shall cradle the world on my benevolent hands and clasp it to my heart. so i have spoken! and let the heavens tremble at my might!
this day i reclaim rome for her people. i shall give you the rebirth of your empire! reborn and cleansed of her enemies!
i will make a new rome! founded as it was at the beginning! archers -- give us blood!
as it was at the beginning so is it now. the great she-wolf of rome will again suckle us, again ravage our enemies -- and bring us a world reborn!
so it was for romulus and remus, sons of mars, so shall it be for us! the great she-wolf will --
get the boy!
kill the boy!