“I am dying, Maximus. When a man sees his end, he wants to know there was some purpose to his life. 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?"
It was a cut from Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic historical film “Gladiator”
The old man is Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (161 to 180 AD) and a philosopher.
He was the last of the rulers known as the “Five Good Emperors”, and the last emperor of the golden age of the Roman empire.