Original artwork, not a still
All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
— Life of Brian · 1979
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A revolutionary tries to rouse a crowd and is taken apart by his own audience, which is why the line is quoted whenever a thing under attack has plainly done some good. Reg is also the film's portrait of rebel infighting, fiercer with rivals than with Rome. 'What have the Romans ever done for us?' now works as a debating-club retort on almost any subject.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Life of BrianShow the scene
The People's Front of Judea meets to plan a strike, and its leader Reg (John Cleese) gives a rousing speech asking what the Romans have ever done for them. His audience starts answering him, naming the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water and public health, and when one of them adds peace, Reg snaps at him to shut up. He then lays out the plan to kidnap Pilate's wife, which falls apart inside the palace when a rival group, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, turns out to have had the same idea.
Sources (2)
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (Wikiquote)Dialogue: Reg's speech and the palace sceneReference checked
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (Wikipedia)Plot and CastReference checked
Context reviewed
