Rome (TV Series)
How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic (2005)
James Purefoy: Mark Antony
Photos
Quotes
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Pompey Magnus : Speak, young Marcus. What have you to tell us?
Mark Antony : I have been delegated by Caesar to negotiate a compromise. Caesar wishes to avoid bloodshed. He wishes to be seen as a man of reason and probity. Therefore, when his present term as governor of Gaul has ended, he is willing to accept command of a single legion province. Illyria, by preference.
Pompey Magnus : I don't understand.
Mark Antony : Command of a province. So he will have legal immunity. And so that none of you rascals can go dragging him through the courts.
Pompey Magnus : We're here to discuss the terms of Caesar's resignation. He could've avoided prosecution by accepting a few years' banishment.
Mark Antony : [amused] Banishment for what?
Porcius Cato : For fomenting a tyranny! Illegal warfare! Theft! Murder! Treason!
Mark Antony : And what shall be your punishment, Pompey? For betraying a friend, for deserting the cause of your people, for allying yourself with these so-called "noblemen," what punishment for you?
Pompey Magnus : Impudent whelp!
Marcus Tullius Cicero : The man's term of office ends in two weeks.
Mark Antony : We say six months.
Pompey Magnus : Two weeks! He sits alone in Ravenna with one mutinous skeleton of a legion, and he dares to dictate terms to me?
Mark Antony : Caesar has many more legions than the Thirteenth.
Scipio : On the far side of the Alps.
Mark Antony : Winter does not last forever. Spring comes, snows melt.
Scipio : That's a threat!
Mark Antony : [seriously] I assure you, it is no threat. Snows always melt.
[Pompey thinks for a moment]
Pompey Magnus : If he does not get a province?
Mark Antony : Caesar will take all measures required to protect both his interests and those of the Republic.
Pompey Magnus : I am grieved and surprised. I had hoped we would have a rational negotiation. If that is his last word, we shall go.
[pause]
Mark Antony : Then we have no more business.
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Atia of the Julii : Well, this is a merry do. Octavia, my honey, look alive at least. Poor Antony must think himself dead and swimming in Lethe water. Talk to the poor man, ask him questions.
[to Antony]
Atia of the Julii : One would think she'd been raised by Germans.
Octavia of the Julii : General Antony, does my mother's screaming irritate you?
Mark Antony : Excuse me?
Octavia of the Julii : When you and my mother are in coitus, there is a deal of screaming. I find it extremely irritating. I wondered whether you did also. Perhaps you like it. A testament to your skills.
Atia of the Julii : So spiteful, and for what? You shame only yourself.
[Octavia fakes a loud, obnoxious orgasm]
Mark Antony : [to Atia] She has you exact.
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Atia of the Julii : Cicero!
Marcus Tullius Cicero : My dear Atia. A pleasure. Forgive us for imposing at such a ludicrous hour.
Atia of the Julii : Not at all, I adore it! The secrecy, the intrigue, it's most thrilling.
Porcius Cato : Comprehend, woman: this meeting is invisible.
Atia of the Julii : Be assured, Cato, I do not see you.
[there is a knock at the door; Antony enters]
Atia of the Julii : General Antony, we are...
Mark Antony : Oh, gods, your beauty is painful. You are the crucifix of Venus.
[he kisses her hand]
Mark Antony : Let me die in your arms.
Atia of the Julii : [giggling] 'Sist, Antony.
Mark Antony : Good evening to you all.
Porcius Cato : General Antony...
Mark Antony : Tribune Antony, if you please.
Porcius Cato : You are inside the sacred precincts of Rome, but yet you wear the bloody red cloak of a soldier.
Mark Antony : [feigning surprise] Che brutta figura! It completely fell from my mind. I'm most extremely sorry. Will you forgive me, friend Cato?
[he starts to remove his cloak]
Mark Antony : Atia, please, will you take this and burn it?
Marcus Tullius Cicero : That's not necessary.
Mark Antony : Is it not? Oh, bene. Then let's stop all this blathering and get down to business.
Porcius Cato : [offended] Blathering, you say?
Atia of the Julii : [clapping her hands] What a congerie of heroes! Such vim. I feel like Helen of Troy. Would you adjourn to the courtyard?
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Gaius Julius Caesar : After all these years, Pompey surprises me. I had hoped to provoke some kind of aggression, sure, but to try and kill a tribune? In the Forum? The man's found some hard, black iron in his soul.
[a dirty and bloody Antony slurps thirstily on a cup of wine]
Mark Antony : I'm sure it was yon demented little worm Cato put him up to it.
[he smacks his lips]
Mark Antony : It's excellent, this. So, what next?
Gaius Julius Caesar : Let's see what the men have to say.
[Antony steps toward a basin of water to wash himself]
Gaius Julius Caesar : Oh, don't do that! You look just right as you are. Like Leonidas at Thermopylae.
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[at the end of a long and tedious vigil]
Priest : By grace of Roma, for twelve moons hence, thou art Tribune of Plebs.
[Antony sighs in relief]
Mark Antony : About time. I need a drink.
Strabo : Indeed, sir. Perhaps AFTER the meeting?