 if there are gods, they have  decided what he will do so it doesnt matter whether he is good or bad; if  there are no gods, then it simply doesnt matter if he leads a good or a bad  life; and if he himself is a god, then he gets to decide what is good or bad.  That is why, if you listen carefully, you can hear the gods laughing... The  omission of this scene explains that incredibly abrupt cut from them going  upstairs to Commodus trying to force a drink on the German girl. There are a  number of cuts in the other versions, most notably the second scene with  Marcus Aurelius and Drusilla; most of Timonides big speech to the Senate  about accepting the barbarians into the Empire; and the scene where Livius  tries to appeal to the Senate after failing to sway Commodus in the temple  only for them to turn against him and arrest him. In some prints, the first  scene after the intermission, of Drusilla leaving Marcus Aurelius  meditations in the temple for safekeeping is also dropped. Sadly, the only  version that was ever released uncut was the Super 8mm feature release back  in the early 1990s, which was taken from the original 16mm neg that was  struck before any of the cuts were made but which was prohibitively  expensive.