- Pontius Pilate: My boy, I've heard such ideas, a long time ago. They are dreams - beautiful dreams, I know, but dreams nonetheless.
- Flavius, as a Man: Was it a dream that once I knew a man who said "Love thy neighbor as thyself"?
- Marcus: There never was such a man, I tell you.
- Pontius Pilate: Don't lie to him, Marcus. There was such a man.
- Flavius, as a Man: What happened to him?
- Pontius Pilate: I crucified Him.
- Marcus: Money is all that matters. Well, I can get money! It's easy to get money! All you have to do... is kill.
- Cleon, the Slave Dealer: I don't think you should look down on me, my friend. Aren't we in the same business? We both furnish amusement for the people.
- Marcus: I risk my life with the man I'm fighting. You buy and sell wretches to be slaughtered as a spectacle. I'm not proud of myself, but, by Jupiter, compared to you I'm a holy man.
- Cleon, the Slave Dealer: You will never be an old one. It isn't bravery that survives; it's brains.
- Marcus: Yes, it is well known that the rat lives longer than the lion, but who wants to be a rat? I wouldn't do your dirty work - not to save my life!
- Prefect: What do you keep behind these locks and bolts?
- Marcus: My fortune, excellency. It's a safe place.
- Burbix: Would the prefect like to inspect the barbarians - the Britons who are to fight tomorrow?
- Marcus: Yes.
- [to the prefect]
- Marcus: Captives from Agricola's campaign.
- Prefect: I wonder why we Romans trouble ourselves with that wretched island? After it's conquered, what good is it?
- Marcus: Don't you believe we can ever civilize the Britons?
- Prefect: Those people? They'll always be barbarians. What will they ever do?
- Pontius Pilate: [carelessly, after Marcus has thanked him for a payment] What have I done/
- [Suddenly stricken with guilt]
- Pontius Pilate: What have I done?
- Marcus: Excellency!
- Pontius Pilate: Forgive me. I am not myself. Just now I have been forced to condemn a Man. Poor Man, I found no fault in Him. But I must try to keep the peace.
- Marcus: He still believes in things.
- Pontius Pilate: And you and I are wiser? Perhaps... What is truth?
- Cleon, the Slave Dealer: [pandering] If you're a rich man, a few coppers wouldn't interest you.
- [giving Marcus a coin]
- Cleon, the Slave Dealer: This is for your work...
- [he gives him a second copper]
- Cleon, the Slave Dealer: ... and this is for saving my life.
- Marcus: [laughing with contempt] Just about what the job is worth!
- Gaius Tanno: You remind me of an acrobat in the arena walking on a rope stretched high in the air.
- Marcus: Walking on a rope?
- Gaius Tanno: Yes, a rope no wider than my thumb.
- Marcus: [laughing] I'm not walking on a rope.
- Gaius Tanno: Oh, yes, you are. Every poor man is. You think you're balanced nicely, but only money can make you safe. Some little unexpected thing, and you're down... smashed!