The Emperor's Club

23.976

Is everything okay, sir? Fine. Thank you.

Here. Let me, uh-- That's not necessary, sir.

As I've gotten older, I realize I'm certain of only two things.

Days that begin with rowing on a lake are better than days that do not.

Second, a man's character is his fate.

And, as a student of history,, I fiind this hard to refute.

For most of us, our stories can be written long before we die.

There are exceptions among the great men of history,,

but they are rare, and I am not one of them.

"I am a teacher"-- simply that.

I taught for 34 years.

One day I stopped teaching.

Those were the facts of my life's chronicle.

The last chapter had been written. My book was closed.

Hello?

Hello. Hello?

Mr. Hundert? Yes. Hello.

Can you hear me, sir? I can.

Hello. Mr. Bell wanted to make sure you were comfortable.

I'm quite comfortable. Thank you. And-And, please,

thank Mr. Bell for the beautiful fruit basket.

It's quite... comprehensive. Yes, sir.

Mr. Bell also wanted me to tell you he's added an event...

on the morning following the competition--

a breakfast in your honor.

Mr. Hundert? Yes-- Yes.

Th-Thank you. Thank you.

The others will be heading down to the bar in 20 minutes, sir.

Uh, very well. Twenty minutes.

In the bar. I'll be there.

Th--

I couldn't tell you exactly why I had agreed to come.

I'm not sure I knew. It had something to do with hope.

The young men that were gathering here were among...

the most successful and influential of their generation.

But I knewthem before any of that.

I knewthem as my students...

at Saint Benedict's School for Boys.

Looking closer, under the bishop's miter,

are the words, "''Non sibi''..."

or''Not for oneself.''

This embodies our philosophy at Saint Benedict's.

The wisdom gained here should be used for others...

as well as for oneself.

And fiinally, ''Finis origine pendet.''

These three words are emblazoned across your hearts...

under the great seal of Saint Benedict's.

It is our academy's motto. Simply.

''The end depends upon the beginning.''

The end...

depends upon the beginning.

Hey, Greg. How are you doin'?

Hi, Mr. Hundert. Mr. Ericks.

Ex-Excuse me. Huh? What me?

Yes, sir. What is your name? Uh, Louis.

-Just Louis? - Louis Masoudi, sir.

Mr. Masoudi, could you defiine the word ''path'' for me?

Well, there are several defiinitions, I suppose.

Would ''a route along which someone or something moves'' be among them?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah. No. Yeah. I'm s-sorry, sir.

Followthe path, Mr. Masoudi. Walk where the great men before you have walked.

Yes, sir. It's, uh-- It's better for the grass.

It's better for "you."

Mr. Hundert. Mr. Ellerby.

I wanted to thank you. For what?

Mr. Woodbridge let slip that you were instrumental in my procuring this job.

"Bene exeat," sir. Bene meritus.

It's always good to have another friend of the classics.

I'll tell you, the way he talks about you--

''Just listen to Mr. Hundert. He'll be running the place one day.''

- Your name, sir? - Robert Brewster, sir.

- Very good. And you? - Deepak Mehta, sir.

And your name? Eugene Field, sir.

Field. And you? Martin Blythe, sir?

- Is that a question? - Uh, no, sir.

Uh, my name is Martin Blythe, sir.

Very good. You all know your own names.

Question is, do I?

- Mister... Blythe. - Me, sir?

Yes, you. Not Mr. Field to your right...

or Mr. Grey to your left "or Mr." Diebel "behind you."

You, sir. Will you do me a favor and walk to the back of this classroom...

and read for us the plaque which you see hanging over that door?

'''I am Sh-Shu--'''

- "'''I am Sh"-"Shutruk"-"Nahhunte'''?" - Very good. A little louder, please.

Yes, sir. '''I am Shutruk-Nahhunte, King of Ansham and Susa,

'''sovereign of the land of Elam.

I destroyed Sippar and took the 'stel-ah' of--''' ''Stele.''

'''Took the stele of Naram-Sin and brought it back to Elam,

''where I erected it as an offering to my god.'

Shutruk-Nahhunte, 1158 B.C.''

Well done, Mr. Blythe. Thank you. You may be seated.

"''Shutruk"-"Nahhunte.''" Is anyone familiar with this fellow?

Texts are permissible.

But you won't fiind it there.

"Shutruk"-"Nahhunte.! King.!"

Sovereign of the land of Elam! Destroyer of Sippar!

Behold, his accomplishments cannot be found in any history book. Why?

Because great ambition and conquest...

without contribution...

is without signifiicance.

What will your contribution be?

How will history remember you?

Shutruk-Nahhunte-- utterly forgotten.

Unlike the great men "you see around you"-- Aristotle,

Caesar,

Augustus,

Plato, Cicero, Socrates--

giants of history, men of profound character.

Men whose accomplishments surpassed their own lifetime...

and survive even into our own.

Their story,...

is our story.

My name is Mr. Hundert.

Welcome to Western Civilization:

The Greeks and the Romans.

Welcome to Saint Benedict's!

Lights out in fiive minutes, gentlemen.

It's awfully loud, Mr.Jones. Please turn it down.

Did you-- Her titties are so-- After that, though--

No. After that, I was walking back to get my books.

And I was walking along the grass, and Hundert comes up to me and says,

- ''Mr. Masoudi'' and I turned around but I took care of it. - "Yeah, I know. Yeah."

And then, he's like, ''Follow the path, Mr. Masoudi.

Walk where the great men before you have walked.''

- "Very, good, Mr. Masoudi." - I was just lettin' him know. That's why I was tellin' him.

To bed.

Yeah. Right. See you tomorrow.

Lights out in fiive minutes, gentlemen.

Just why am I-- Huh? No. I'm going.

Good night, Mr. Bllythhe. Yeah. Good night. Good night.

Jesus Christ. I am such an asshole.

Carthaginians. Uh--

Yes, sir.

Hamilcar Barca seems like an outstanding commander.

Yes, who had the misfortune of being on the losing side.

You do realize that Hamilcar Barca is not part of the course reading list?

Yes, sir.

Very good.

Lights out.

9:00, gentlemen.

Good night.

Hi.

- Hello. - Oh, hi.

- " " - Welcome back.

It's great to see you! You too. How are you?

I'm fiine. You sure you're all right?

Ye-Yeah.

What did you think of Athens? Oh. I loved it.

I knew you would. Tony hated it, but you know the British.

''Too many Greeks.''

Tony's Tony. Here.

I told the man in the store I wanted something...

for a very serious scholar of antiquity.

The Parthenon.

- It's smaller than I remember it. -

I don't have one of these. Thank you.

I found it in the agora.

Tony couldn't understand why I wanted to go there. It's a little touristy now,

but I kept hearing your voice in my head.

And I kept seeing it exactly the way you described it,

with Socrates teaching right in front of me.

And... there was Tony, falling asleep from the heat and ouzo,

and me eating my shish kabob.

I thought about "you a lot. Um"--

- I wished you were there. - It would've been a little odd though...

with you and me and Socrates...

and your sleeping husband.

Yeah. A little.

And with the monarchy's demise, two new systems...

"of government"-- "the fiirst," ruled by the few, known as?

Mr. Brewster. Uh, tyranny?

In spirit, perhaps, but etymologically, no.

More precisely, oligarchy.

Tyranny is what we have in this classroom. It works.

Mr. Bllythhe? Antisthenes: ''We must have richness of soul.''

Oh, it was, uh, Heraclitus, when he said a man's character is his fate or-or his destiny.

Precisely. ''Not to know what happened before you were born...

is to be forever a child.''

Mr.Julius Caesar...

is a Saint Benedict's tradition.

It is a contest held each year in two phases.

The fiirst, is a series of quizzes...

that will narrowthe fiield of competitors to three.

The second is a public tournament...

where these three will take the stage at Saint Benedict's Hall...

and answer questions about Roman history,.

The last man standing will be declared the winner...

and crowned Mr.Julius Caesar.

- "Your father was a winner" was he not, Mr. Bllythhe? - Yes, sir.

Mm-hm. Would you point him out to us, please?

Ah.

A noble honor indeed.

Well, carry on, gentlemen.

Thank you, Mr. Woodbridge.

Finally, Caesar arrives at the Rubicon,

a small little river which divides-- Mr. Field?

Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. Correct.