The Fall of the Roman Empire Page #4

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Egypt, Syria,

the entire eastern half of the empire

that if there is the

least resistance to my orders,

I will destroy them.

You will also let them know,

they must forget

the weakness of my father.

The tribune Polybius and his legion,

death marched, ambushed.

Barbarians. Human sacrifice. Romans.

Attack!

Balimar! Balimar!

Lay down your weapons and swords.

We have fought each other long enough!

You will never drag me

and my people through

the streets of Rome as slaves.

Balimar!

You or your people will never be slaves!

This I pledge you on my honor!

Caesar will never accept this.

They are prisoners of war.

They must be sold as slaves.

Let us die killing Romans!

Put them in chain! Put them in chain!

Until we can talk to them as men.

We are asking only that

you give us your words,

and your chains will be removed.

You don't seem to understand.

Gaius Martellus Livius

wishes to remove your chains.

He wishes to make free men,

free women of you.

Wishes to make you Romans.

Is it that you doubt the word of Livius?

Tell me, I want to help you.

This is Wotan,

our god of war.

If your gods are stronger than ours,

they will give you strength.

If they are not, you will

reach out and touch Wotan.

You are surrounded by Roman soldiers.

At my first scream

they will fall upon you and kill you.

We have lost the battle,

Wotan says we must die.

Let us look upon this logically.

You wish to know

if our god are stronger than your god.

One, what will you know if

I touch your god.

Only that I am weak.

Two...

We wish to help you,

To free you.

If I scream you will all die.

Although I've been a slave,

I'm not accustomed to pain.

All I am is a philosopher,

I am weak.

They're not worthy of it.

Barbarians!

Monsters! Animals!

Then touch Wotan and we'll know

your gods are weak.

I cannot,

I cannot bear this.

It's beyond all human endurance.

I cannot.

Oh, Livius.

What a world...

when its future rests in such as these.

I have no intention of turning...

My faith was not strong enough!

You did not even scream.

There's no reason to take our god.

That's no reason to change your ways.

Don't you want us, Roman?

You miserable, uneducated, half men.

You are not at all what we fought for.

And yet...

Yes, we want you.

We want you.

Sister!

If he'd not been Caesar,

he'd been the greatest gladiator in Rome.

Yes! You do belong in the arena.

You mean to say you came

all this way to sharpen your wits.

Everything you do has a purpose.

I came to tell you

what your friends dare not.

You are pushing our eastern provinces

to rebellion.

Oh, I see.

You've come to scold me.

May I remind my sister,

that her younger brother can

no longer be ordered about and ridiculed.

You seem to forget that I'm Caesar.

I do as I wish.

Do you? Do you?

You've had only one idea,

to smash and destroy

everything father did.

You've always resented me, Lucilla.

Why?

What have I ever done to you?

It's what you are doing now!

You're lying.

Don't you suppose I know that it was you

who poisoned father against me.

I did not have to.

Father knew about

the cruel things you did.

How is it he never

knew about the cruel things you did,

especially to our own mother.

I was in the room when she died.

when our mother died...

Remember!

I heard her beg you:

"Lucilla..."

"Why do you hate me so?"

"If I've done anything to hurt you,"

"forgive me."

And you let her die without a word.

Wasn't that cruelty?

There was a reason.

Reason?

What was it? Tell me?

Nothing.

Tell me.

Tell me!

Caesar!

You are unarmed.

Even a woman with a dagger

can be dangerous.

She has no dagger.

She is my sister.

Leave us.

So, you came to warn me.

No other reason.

Didn't you know Livius

was on his way back to Rome?

I did not know.

Do you know why he is coming?

Stay here with me, Lucilla.

We'll find other ways

to ensure the loyalty

of Armenia.

Gaius Martellus Livius.

I heard a whisper that

Lucilla is here in Rome.

Have you not also heard them

saying that anything is possible now

that Commodus has become Caesar?

I've been hearing these

wild rumors

that you've come with

your head full of ideas

for a new Rome.

The Rome of my father.

And that you intend to come

before the Senate

with these ideas?

These wild schemes of yours?

What would you do

if I were to say, Livius...

I don't want you to do this.

Just that, nothing more.

I would still do

what I believe must be done.

Abandon this plan, Livius,

and I will see to it that you

and Lucilla can always be together.

Oh, Livius.

Oh, what will I do?

I'm not as strong as I thought I was.

I have not learned to live without you.

There is no life for

either of us apart, Lucilla.

I told you this before

but you would not listen.

I thought you had betrayed my father.

But now I know.

You've found your own way of

making the world he wanted.

And yet if I try to make that world,

Commodus will keep us apart.

Make that world, Livius,

and then let's see,

what will keep us apart.

Hail Livius, conqueror of the Germans.

Hail Livius Germanicus!

Honorable fathers!

And Senators of Rome.

Have you heard what is being proposed?

Gaius Martellus Livius,

has asked that we, the Roman Senate

should give

these barbarians,

these savages

Roman citizenship

and settle them on Roman lands.

To treat these wondering murderers

as brothers,

equals.

And what of our other provinces?

What of Gaul? So loyal to us.

What of Syria,

and Egypt which sends us our grain?

If we make Romans of these barbarians,

can we withhold

Roman citizenship from them?

No! Then what becomes

of the precious prize

Roman citizenship once was?

It becomes a cheap, common thing.

It will be given away like bread.

I say no!

We are Romans! Warriors!

Let us rid our minds

of this poisonous idea.

Crucify their leaders.

Sell the rest as slaves.

Teach them once and for all

what it is to make war on Rome.

That...

is the Roman way.

Honorable fathers of Rome!

You have greeted me as a soldier,

who came in small triumph from the wars.

And I thank you for it.

But you will have

a hard decision to make here today!

And it must not be I as a soldier

swayed your vote.

I ask, therefore, of Caesar,

that a man who is

neither soldier nor senator,

but a philosopher,

a man of reason,

be permitted to speak for me.

Fellow Romans!

Greek! Greek!

Born a Greek, I became

a Roman by choice.

Slave! Slave!

Born a slave...

I won my freedom.

Fellow Romans.

I am a teacher,

and as a teacher I know that when I have

tried to teach the same lesson

for a hundred times

and still the pupil does not understand,

then I am forced to the conclusion that

perhaps there's something wrong,

Either with the lesson

or with the teacher.

A hundred times we have taught

those we have called barbarians

what it means to make war with Rome.

We've burned their villages,

we've crucified their leaders.

we've enslaved their young.

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