I, Claudius (TV Mini Series)

Reign of Terror (1976)

Charles Kay: Gallus

Quotes 

• Gallus : I've never fully realized before how a small mind allied to unlimited ambition and without scruple can destroy a country full of clever men.

• Sejanus : I have no need of a trial to prove your guilt.

  Gallus : A song sung by every small-town corrupt policeman, which is what you are and what you should have stayed.

• Sejanus : Sign it.

  Gallus : What is it?

  Sejanus : A confession.

  Gallus : To what?

  Sejanus : Your conspiracy with Drusus to subvert the armies of the Rhine. Sign it.

  Gallus : You wrote it, you sign it.

• Gallus : A song sung by every small-town corrupt policeman, which is what you are and what you should have stayed. I've watched your career with fascination, Sejanus. It's been a revelation to me. I never fully realized before how a small mind, allied to unlimited ambition, and without scruple can destroy a country full of clever men. I've seen how frail is the structure of a civilization before the onslaught of a gust of really bad breath!... Yes. But I suppose you're not really the destroyer. We must look elsewhere for that. You're merely the putrefaction that spreads after death - the outward and visible sign of its presence... . You're a lesson in history to me, Sejanus. Proving that above all.. mankind needs... its sense... of smell... .