It’s been more than 20 years since the movie Gladiator came out and it’s still as entertaining as ever.
To recall the movie’s most important moments, I’ve compiled a collection of 80 Gladiator quotes that are truly epic.
I guarantee you will be entertained!
10 Epic Gladiator Quotes To Entertain You
1. “Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?” — Maximus
2. “Are you in danger of becoming a good man, Proximo?” — Maximus
3. “Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.” — Lucilla
4. “And now we are free. I will see you again… but not yet… Not yet!” — Juba
5. “Brothers, what we do in life… echoes in eternity.” — Maximus
6. “I think you’ve been afraid all your life.” — Maximus
7. “Gladiators… I salute you.” — Proximo
9. “Listen to me. Learn from me. I was not the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd and you will win your freedom.” — Proximo
10. “I knew a man once who said, “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.” — Maximus
See also: 150 Deep Dark Quotes About Life, Death, Pain & Love
Powerful Gladiator Quotes
1. “You have a great name. He must kill your name before he kills you.” — Juba
2. “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and 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.” — Maximus
3. “He sleeps so well because he is loved.” — Commodus
4. “All I’ve ever wanted was to live up to you, Caesar. Father.” — Commodus
5. “Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear.” — Maximus
6. “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
7. “Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to.” — Cicero
8. “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
9. “Father. I would have butchered the whole world… if you would only love me!” — Commodus
10. “Imagine where you will be, and it will be so.” — Maximus
11. “Marcus Aurelius is dead, Maximus. We mortals are but shadows and dust. Shadows and dust, Maximus!” — Proximo
12. “What am I going to do with you? You simply won’t… die. Are we so different, you and I? You take life when you have to… as I do.” — Commodus
13. “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.” — Gracchus
14. “Commodus: Father, congratulations. I shall sacrifice a hundred bulls to honor your triumph.
Marcus Aurelius: Save the bulls. Honor Maximus. He won the battle.” — Gladiator
15. “If only you had been born a man, what a Caesar you would have made.” — Marcus Aurelius
See also: 70 Marcus Aurelius Quotes To Change Your Outlook On Life
16. “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.” — Maximus
17. “Why don’t they know they’re already dead?” — Maximus
18. “If they lie to me, they don’t respect me. If they don’t respect me, how can they ever love me?” — Commodus
19. “Marcus Aurelius had a dream that was Rome. This is not it. This is not it!” — Maximus
20. “If you’re very good, tomorrow night I’ll tell you the story of emperor Claudius who was betrayed by those closest to him, by his own blood.” — Commodus
See also: 150 Betrayal Quotes To Help You Cope And Grow Stronger
21. “And now they love Maximus for his mercy. So I can’t just kill him, or it makes me even more unmerciful! The whole thing’s like some crazed nightmare.” — Commodus
22. “Commodus: Rise. Rise. Your fame is well deserved, Spaniard. I don’t think there’s ever been a gladiator to match you. As for this young man, he 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.
Maximus : My name is Gladiator.” — Gladiator
23. “I have only one more life to take. Then it is done.” — Maximus
24. “Lucius will stay with me now. And if his mother so much as looks at me in a manner that displeases me, he will die. If she decides to be noble and takes her own life, he will die. And as for you, you will love me as I loved you. You will provide me with an heir of pure blood, so that Commodus and his progeny will rule for a thousand years. Am I not merciful? AM I NOT MERCIFUL!” — Commodus
25. “Do you remember what it was to have trust, Proximo?” — Maximus
See also: 150 Best Trust Quotes To Help You Cope With Trust Issues
Gladiator Quotes To Inspire You
1. “I don’t pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people.” — Gracchus
2. “My powers will pass to Maximus, to hold in trust until the Senate is ready to rule once more. Rome is to be a republic again.” — Marcus Aurelius
3. “Commodus. Your faults as a son is my failure as a father.” — Marcus Aurelius
4. “Ancestors, I ask you for your guidance. Blessed mother, come to me with the Gods’ desire for my future. Blessed father, watch over my wife and son with a ready sword. Whisper to them that I live only to hold them again, for all else is dust and air. Ancestors, I honor you and will try to live with the dignity that you have taught me.” — Maximus
5. “You asked me what I want. I too want to stand in front of the emperor. As you did.” — Maximus
6. “Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead!” — Maximus
7. “I know that you are a man of your word, General. I know that you would die for honor, for Rome, for the memory of your ancestors. But as for me? I’m an entertainer.” — Proximo
8. “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.” — Maximus
9. “I am tired of being strong. My brother hates all the world and you most of all.” — Lucilla
10. “You’re good, Spaniard, but you’re not that good. You could be magnificent.” — Proximo
11. “Ultimately, we’re all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but, what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men.” — Proximo
12. “Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.” — Gracchus
13. “Quintus, free my men. Senator Gracchus is to be reinstated. There was a dream that was Rome, it shall be realized. These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius.” ― Maximus
14. “You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: Wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness, courage, perhaps not on the battlefield, but… there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you. But none of my virtues were on your list. Even then it was as if you didn’t want me for your son.” — Commodus
15. “Your Emperor asks for your loyalty, Maximus. Take my hand, I only offer it once.” ― Commodus
See also: 130 Loyalty Quotes On A Virtue Worth More Than Gold
16. “Some of you are thinking that you won’t fight. Others, that you can’t fight. They all say that, until they’re out there.” — Proximo
17. “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?” — Marcus Aurelius
18. “You should see the Colosseum Spaniard. Fifty-thousand 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. It rises up like a storm. As if you were the thunder god himself.” ― Proximo
19. “I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob, conjure magic for them and they will be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they’ll roar.” — Gracchus
20. “When a man sees his end… he wants to know there was some purpose to his life.” ― Marcus Aurelius
Iconic Gladiator Quotes
1. “You have proven your valor once again, Maximus. Let us hope for the last time.” — Marcus Aurelius
2. “People should know when they are conquered.” — Quintus
3. “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.” — Lucilla
4. “To my son – I tell him I will see him again soon. To keep his heels down while riding his horse. To my wife… that is not your business.” — Maximus
5. “I’ve seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.” — Maximus
6. “How dare you show your back to me! Slave, you will remove your helmet and tell me your name.” — Commodus
7. “Those giraffes you sold me, they won’t mate. They just walk around, eating, and not mating. You sold me… queer giraffes. I want my money back.” — Proximo
8. “Your fame is well deserved, Spaniard. I don’t think there’s ever been a gladiator to match you. As for this young man, he 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.” — Commodus
9. “Let us pretend that you are a loving daughter, and I am a good father.” — Marcus Aurelius
10. “I will give the people the greatest vision of their lives.” — Commodus
11. “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
12. “I search the faces of the gods… for ways to please you, to make you proud. 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 that you hate so much?” — Commodus
13. “Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home?
Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.” — Gladiator
8. “You loved my father, I know. But so did I. That makes us brothers, doesn’t it? Smile for me now, brother.” — Maximus
14. “The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! But now, the people want to know how the story ends. Only a famous death will do. And what could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great arena?” — Commodus
15. “I may die here in this cell or in the arena tomorrow. What possible difference can I make?” — Maximus
16. “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.” ― Marcus Aurelius
17. “There was once a dream that was Rome.” — Marcus Aurelius
18. “Please be quiet, brother! Your constant scheming gives me even more of a headache!” — Lucilla
19. “I am required to kill, so I kill. That is enough.” — Maximus
20. “The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end. Highness.” ― Maximus
21. “It vexes me. I’m terribly vexed.” — Commodus
22. “Gracchus: Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?
Commodus: No, but if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you will.” — Gladiator
23. “Marcus Aurelius: Won’t you accept this great honour that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.” — Gladiator
24. “If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead!” — Maximus
25. “A soldier has the advantage of being able to look his enemy in the eye.” — Maximus
Final Words
I’d love to hear from you too: which one from these Gladiator quotes is your favorite? Let me know in the comments section below!
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