Maximus:
You sent for me, Caesar?
Marcus Aurelius:
Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here?
Maximus:
For the glory of the empire, sire.
Marcus Aurelius:
Ah, yes. Ah, yes, I remember. Do you see that map, Maximus? That is the world which I created. For 25 years, I have conquered, spilt blood, expanded the empire. Since I became Caesar, I have known four years without war, four years of peace in twenty. And for what? I brought the sword. Nothing more.
Maximus:
Caesar, your life...
Marcus Aurelius:
Please. Please, don't call me that. Please, come sit. Let us talk together now, very simply, as men. Maximus, talk.
Maximus:
Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing.
Marcus Aurelius:
And what would you believe?
Maximus:
They fought for you and for Rome.
Marcus Aurelius:
And what is Rome, Maximus?
Maximus:
I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.
Marcus Aurelius:
Yet you have never been there. You have not seen what it has become. I am dying, Maximus. When a man sees his end... he wants to know there was some purpose to his life. How will the world speak my name in years to come? Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant...? Or will I be the emperor who gave Rome back her true self? There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter. Maximus, let us whisper now, together, you and I. You have a son. Tell me about your home.
Maximus:
My house is in the hills above Trujillo. A very simple place. Pinkstones that warm in the sun. A kitchen garden that smells of herbs in the day, jasmine in the evening. Through the gate is a giant poplar. Figs, apples, pears. The soil, Marcus- black. Black like my wife's hair. Grapes on the south slopes, olives on the north. Wild ponies play near my house. They tease my son. He wants to be one of them.
Marcus Aurelius:
Remember the last time you were home?
Maximus:
Two years, 264 days, and this morning.
Marcus Aurelius:
I envy you, Maximus. It's a good home. Worth fighting for. There is one more duty that I ask of you before you go home.
Maximus:
What would you have me do, Caesar?
Marcus Aurelius:
I want you to become the protector of Rome after I die. I will empower you to one end alone: To give power back to the people of Rome, and end the corruption that has crippled it. Will you accept this great honor I have offered you?
Maximus:
With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius:
Maximus, that is why it must be you.
Maximus:
But surely a prefect, a senator, somebody who knows the city, who understands her politics?
Marcus Aurelius:
But you have not been corrupted by her politics.
Maximus:
And Commodus?
Marcus Aurelius:
Commodus is not a moral man. You have known that since you were young. Commodus cannot rule. He must not rule. You are the son that I should have had. Commodus will accept my decision. He knows that you command the loyalty of the army.
Maximus:
I need some time, sire.
Marcus Aurelius:
Yes. By sunset, I hope you will have agreed. Now embrace me as my son, and bring an old man another blanket.
