Oh, Maximus Decimus,
How could you stand it?
That sneering Commodus
For him to rule?
All your beliefs
They do repel it
It's not strength or honor
That is his fuel.
Maximus Meridius
Your valor, your courage
Deceived and deprived
Of all whom you love.
How could you just live it?
How could you handle
The pain, deprivations
Brought on by your trust?
Your legate, he served you
But he was a traitor
As soon as he could
He left you to rot.
Then he served Commodus
And the betrayer
Forgot all you taught him,
And just how you fought.
You did not shirk duty
Or try to avoid it
Even alone,
When against stood the odds
Your men, they all loved you,
They would not betray you
Like Cicero said,
In a night, they'd have fought.
And Marcus Aurelius,
He was like a father,
Your duty to him
You must not forget.
Though Commodus said
That he is your brother,
You know its not love
He tried to begat.
He would have just killed you
If Rome had forgotten
Your name and your deeds
As commander of troops
You led Felix III,
Those poor and downtrodden,
The exhausted soldiers
Who pray for you yet.
To give Rome its freedom,
To dispel the tyrant,
To empower the Senate,
For all this you strove
And though it all ended
On sand strewn with roses,
Your legacy never
Will be forgot
By all those who loved you
By anguished Lucilla,
Who could not be with you
The man whom she loved.
And Lucius, her boy,
Accepts you as father
And will grieve for you, too
As your son, you could not.
Fate took a hand
And made your life rotten
But never can reverence
For you be outgrown.
Rome still respects you.
The poor of the city
They have not forgotten
The valor you borne
Nor will they ever,
No, they will remember
How you have brought hope
To all in their turn.
And as you lay dieing,
Rome was all grieving
But not for the emperor
Whom they will forget.
Though you have killed Caesar
There was no crime there
And all will remember
The good things you brought.
The hope and the goodness
That were all around you
Are what people want
You've been what you sought.
And you in Elysium
Can be at peace now,
Your travails are over
Your work has been done.
And now you can be
With your family forever
In peace and in happiness,
You see the sun.
How could you stand it?
That sneering Commodus
For him to rule?
All your beliefs
They do repel it
It's not strength or honor
That is his fuel.
Maximus Meridius
Your valor, your courage
Deceived and deprived
Of all whom you love.
How could you just live it?
How could you handle
The pain, deprivations
Brought on by your trust?
Your legate, he served you
But he was a traitor
As soon as he could
He left you to rot.
Then he served Commodus
And the betrayer
Forgot all you taught him,
And just how you fought.
You did not shirk duty
Or try to avoid it
Even alone,
When against stood the odds
Your men, they all loved you,
They would not betray you
Like Cicero said,
In a night, they'd have fought.
And Marcus Aurelius,
He was like a father,
Your duty to him
You must not forget.
Though Commodus said
That he is your brother,
You know its not love
He tried to begat.
He would have just killed you
If Rome had forgotten
Your name and your deeds
As commander of troops
You led Felix III,
Those poor and downtrodden,
The exhausted soldiers
Who pray for you yet.
To give Rome its freedom,
To dispel the tyrant,
To empower the Senate,
For all this you strove
And though it all ended
On sand strewn with roses,
Your legacy never
Will be forgot
By all those who loved you
By anguished Lucilla,
Who could not be with you
The man whom she loved.
And Lucius, her boy,
Accepts you as father
And will grieve for you, too
As your son, you could not.
Fate took a hand
And made your life rotten
But never can reverence
For you be outgrown.
Rome still respects you.
The poor of the city
They have not forgotten
The valor you borne
Nor will they ever,
No, they will remember
How you have brought hope
To all in their turn.
And as you lay dieing,
Rome was all grieving
But not for the emperor
Whom they will forget.
Though you have killed Caesar
There was no crime there
And all will remember
The good things you brought.
The hope and the goodness
That were all around you
Are what people want
You've been what you sought.
And you in Elysium
Can be at peace now,
Your travails are over
Your work has been done.
And now you can be
With your family forever
In peace and in happiness,
You see the sun.