31 quotes
Debate Over Kingship in Rome
Caligula
I want your honest advice. Should I make myself king of Rome?
Claudius
King? Well... But this is a republic, isn't it?
Caligula
Very well, then. I shall make myself king of the republic.
Longinus
But you're already greater than any king, Caesar.
Caligula
I am a god, or at least I will be when I'm dead.
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Acceptance of Leadership in Rome
Caligula
At the insistence of the senate and the people of Rome, I accept humbly the highest office of our great republic.
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Power and Loyalty in Caligula's Court
Caligula
Did you see their faces when I told them they had to swear not only to me, but to you?
Drusilla
They were appalled.
Caligula
I do hope so!
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Transformation Aspirations in Roman Leadership
Tiberius
Help me, Nerva. Help me transform this young barbarian into a Roman Caesar.
Nerva
There have been three Roman Caesars; ], ] and yourself. Which do you want him to be?
[[Julius Caesar|Julius; [Augustus]
Tiberius
The best.
Nerva
That would be your father Augustus.
Tiberius
You see, Caligula? I'm insulted to my face.
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Struggles with Fate and Friendship
Tiberius
Cretins... why did you permit him to do it? Bind his wrists... BIND HIS WRISTS! You must not go, you must not leave me, you are my friend, my only friend.
[seeing Nerva has cut his wrists; to Nerva]
Nerva
I've lived too long, Tiberius, I hate my life.
Tiberius
Leave us! Both of you!
[to the slaves]
Nerva
For a man to choose the hour of his own death is the closest he will ever come to tricking fate, and fate decrees that when you die, ] will kill me.
[[w:Naevius Sutorius Macro|Macro]
Tiberius
I'll arrest him and have him executed.
Nerva
You can't. He controls you. Anyway, even with Macro dead, how could I go on living with this reptile?
[Looks at Caligula]
Tiberius
You will respect my friend always, won't you, reptile?
[To Caligula]
Caligula
I've always respected him, lord.
Tiberius
You hear?
[To Nerva]
Nerva
Tiberius, you were wise once.
Tiberius
Ah, don't taunt me. I am old.
Nerva
I've watched you grow into a monster! One by one, I've seen you murder your whole family, your friends, the noblest men in Rome.
Caligula
That is treason!
Nerva
No, it's the truth.
Tiberius
I am and I always have been surrounded by enemies. In my own family, in the senate... You are cruel!
Nerva
No, honest. Old men can sometimes see the future. So, from evils past, and the evils yet to come, I now choose to escape.
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Questioning Paternity in Caligula's Marriage Plans
Caligula
I've told Caesonia that I would marry her
Drusilla
Don't...
Caligula
But only after she has borne me a son.
Drusilla
How will you ever know its yours?
Caligula
Don't worry. I've got her very well guarded.
Drusilla
Then you can be sure one of the guards will be the father.
Caligula
No, they're all homosexuals who've been castrated.
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Reflections on Caligula's Reign and Madness
Quotes about Caligula
* ], (22 September 1980)
[[Roger Ebert; http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/caligula-1980 ''Caligula'']
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Power and Fear in Political Conflict
Caesonia
They hate you now.
Caligula
Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.
Caesonia
They are senators and consuls. They are important men.
Caligula
So important that they approve all I do? They must be mad. I don't know what else to do to provoke them.
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Critique of Caligula's Artistic Value
Quotes about Caligula
Caligula is sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty.
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The Eternal Existence of Caligula
Caligula
I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night. Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man, and therefore I am a god.
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A Conversation on Life and Afterlife
Caligula
Nerva, what's it like?
Nerva
Warm, no pain. Just drifting away.
Caligula
Do you see her?
Nerva
Who?
Caligula
The goddess, ].
[[w:Isis|Isis]
Nerva
So you're one of those who believe.
Caligula
Do you see her?
Nerva
No.
Caligula
Are you sure? You're almost dead. What's it like? What's happening to you now?
Nerva
Nothing.
Caligula
You're lying. You can see her, I know you can. What is she like?
Nerva
No. Nothing at all. Just sleep.
Caligula
Liar!
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Caligula's Blessing for the Wedding
Caligula
You see how I have exhausted myself to make your wedding holy. My blessings to you both.
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Fear vs. Love in Leadership Dynamics
Tiberius
Serve the state, Caligula, although the people in it are wicked beasts.
Caligula
But they love you, lord.
Tiberius
No, they fear me, and that is much better. I have no choice, you see. No choice.
Caligula
No choice?
Tiberius
All I wanted was private life. I did not truly want to become emperor, but I had to.
Caligula
Had to?
Tiberius
If someone else had become emperor, I would have been killed, as you will be.
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Caligula's Declaration of Identity with Rome
Caligula
I am Rome. Wherever I am, Rome is, and there is the senate and the people of Rome.
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Beauty and Marriage in Ancient Rome
Caligula
I'm going to marry you.
Drusilla
You can't. We're not Egyptians.
Caligula
I know. We are much more beautiful.
Drusilla
Rome is not Egypt, and stop looking at yourself like that.
Caligula
Let's go to Egypt then.
Drusilla
You are a fool.
Caligula
Caesar cannot be a fool.
Drusilla
But he's trying very hard.
Caligula
Caesar cannot be a fool!
Drusilla
Little Boots", they'll throw you in the Tiber if you attempt to move the government. So, you're going to marry a respectable Roman lady of the senatorial class.
Caligula
No, I'm not.
Drusilla
Yes, you are! You've got to have an heir.
Caligula
Who will kill me when he grows up!
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The Senate's Betrayal of Caesar's Authority
Tiberius
Every senator believes himself to be a potential Caesar. Therefore every senator is guilty of treason, in thought if not in deed. The senate is the natural enemy of any Caesar, "Little Boots". They offer to prove any law I made before I made it. I said: What if I go mad? What then? No answer. They were born to be slaves.
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Desire for absolute power over Rome
Caligula
If only all Rome had just one neck!
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Reflections on Caligula's Reign
Quotes about Caligula
* ], as quoted in "Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980". Penthouse: 112–118, 146–115.
[[w:Bob Guccione|Bob Guccione]
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Controversy Surrounding Explicit Content in Film
Quotes about Caligula
The fact that we have used celebrated movie personalities to make a film with sexually explicit passages is probably the source of the controversy. People talk about the violence, of course, but it's easier and more sophisticated to say that you're shocked by the violence rather than the sex.
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Curiosity About Rome's Details
Caligula
I am interested in all that is Rome, even down to the length of a toga.
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The Paradox of Loyalty and Treason
Proculus
Divine Ceasar, PLEASE! What have I done? Why am I here?
Caligula
Treason!
Proculus
Treason? I have always been loyal to you!
Caligula
That IS your treason! You're an honest man, Proculus, which means a bad Roman! Therefore, you are a traitor! Logical, hmm? Ha, ha, ha!
[laughs insanely]
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Fate and Divinity in Caligula's Dialogue
Tiberius
I'm old.
Caligula
Yes, lord. But you will live forever.
Tiberius
All my family are dead but you, the child ], and that ], that uncle. They were struck down by fate, and it is fate, "Little Boots", that rules us, not any god.
[[w:Tiberius Gemellus|Gemellus; [w:Claudius|Claudius]
Caligula
You are a god, lord.
Tiberius
No I'm not, not even when I am dead.
Caligula
Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, they are gods.
Tiberius
So say the senate, and so the people prefer to believe. Such myths are useful.
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Fear of the Unknown
Caligula
With ], there's always something to fear.
[[Tiberius]
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Artistic Intent Behind Caligula's Controversial Imagery
Quotes about Caligula
I don't see the film as being pornographic, and I certainly didn't set out to make a pornographic movie. It's a question of definitions. To me, pornography is a work of bad art, as opposed to good art. And I don't think Caligula qualifies under the heading of bad art. It was a huge commercial undertaking, and at the same time we wanted to make a serious statement. We've done with cinematic images what so many authors and historians have done with words - we have re-created a complex life-style that flourished before Christ and the Judeo-Christian philosophy came into being.
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Emperor's Mood Compared to the Weather
Caligula
Tell me, how is the emperor?
Nerva
Old, like me.
Caligula
I mean, how is his mood?
Nerva
Like the weather.
Caligula
The weather is good today!
Nerva
Changeable. I've heard that during the last month, seven of my colleagues in the senate have been put to death for treason.
Caligula
Nine, to be exact. Five of them cheated. They killed themselves. That wasn't playing fair. Don't you agree, ]?
[[w:Marcus Cocceius Nerva (jurist)|Nerva]
Nerva
They were all good men.
Caligula
If they were good men, how could their beloved emperor find them guilty?
Nerva
You have a gift for logic, prince.
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Mastering Your Own Destiny
Ennia
Now you are a man, Caligula. What are you going to do? You must be the master of your own destiny. Take it with both hands.
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A Disagreement on Marriage Choices in Rome
Caligula
That will be my wife.
Drusilla
Oh no! Not ].
[[w:Caesonia|Caesonia]
Caligula
You're impossible!
Drusilla
She's the most promiscuous woman in Rome.
Caligula
Perfect!
Drusilla
Caesonia's been divorced. She's extravagant, always in debt.
Caligula
I want her.
Drusilla
But not for a wife.
Caligula
Send her to me now.
Drusilla
No, "Little Boots". I won't let you do it. It wouldn't be wise.
Caligula
Yet such is the will of the senate and the people of Rome.
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Nursing a Viper in Rome
Tiberius
I am nursing a viper in Rome's bosom.
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The Futility of Resistance Against Authority
Caligula
As if there ever could be an antidote against Caesar!
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Reflections on Rome's Decline and Moral Decay
Tiberius
When Rome was just a city, we were just citizens, known to one another, you see. We were frugal, good, disciplined and dignified. The Romans I rule are not what they were. They lust. They lust for power and pleasure, money, the wives of other men. Oh yes, I am a true moralist, and stern as any ]. Fate chose me to govern swine. In my old age, I am become a swineherd.
[[Cato]
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Oaths of Loyalty to Emperor and Sister
Caligula
From this moment, all official oaths will contain the following phrase; I will value neither my life nor the lives of my children any more highly than I do the emperor and of his sister ].
[[w:Drusilla (sister of Caligula)|Drusilla]
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