Колин Маккалоу — Антоний и Клеопатра

<< Падение титана, или Октябрьский конь (Владыки Рима — 6)

Владыки Рима — 7

АНТОНИЙ НА ВОСТОКЕ
41 г. до P. X. — 40 г. до P. X.

  “Квинт Деллий не был военным человеком, и участвовать в битвах ему не доводилось. ...

&  Антоний полностью разделял точку зрения греков на вещи: поскольку он не поднял руки на Цезаря, он может спать спокойно. Организовать заговор — это не преступление, даже если в результате организованного заговора совершается преступление.

&  — Хорошо бы, если бы больше людей приняли подсказку Цезаря и начали ставить точку над первой буквой нового слова. Я теперь это делаю. Так делают Поллион, Вентидий и, к сожалению, Октавиан. Это позволяет очень быстро прочитать даже длинный свиток.

---

&  — Но Октавиан — племянник Цезаря! Разве происхождение Цезаря не безупречно?
     — О, у Цезаря было все: происхождение, ум, красота. Благороднейший из благородных патрициев. Даже его плебейская кровь была самой лучшей: мать из рода Аврелиев, бабушка из рода Марциев, прабабушка из рода Попилиев. А Октавиан — мошенник! Капля крови Юлиев, а остальное — мусор. Кто такие Октавии из города Велитры? Абсолютно никто! Некоторые Октавии вполне респектабельны, но не из Велитр. Один из прадедов Октавиана делал веревки, другой пек хлеб. Его дед был банкиром. Низко, низко! Его отец удачно женился во второй раз на племяннице Цезаря. Хотя и в ней кровь не чистая — ее отец был богатым ничтожеством, которое купило сестру Цезаря. В те дни у Юлиев не было денег, они вынуждены были продавать своих дочерей.
     — А разве в племяннике не на четверть крови Юлиев?
     — Он внучатый племянник, этот маленький позер! Одна восьмая крови Юлиев. Остальная часть отвратительна! — рявкнул Нерон, теряя терпение.

&  — Демонстрация силы, знак императору Цезарю...
     — Кому?
     — Императору Цезарю. Мы не зовем его Октавианом. И Рим тоже не зовет.

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Колин Маккалоу — По воле судьбы

(Владыки Рима—IV) Женщины Цезаря <<

Владыки Рима — V

БРИТАНИЯ
НОЯБРЬ 54 Г. ДО P. X.

  “Имелся приказ: пока Цезарь в Британии, никакой корреспонденции ему не пересылать, разве что в самых экстренных случаях. ...

&  Цезарь считает, что человек должен сам выполнять свою работу, даже самую неблагодарную.

&  Кодексы были нововведением Цезаря, которому надоело, что свитки постоянно сворачиваются и приходится держать их обеими руками или ставить на них грузы. Он стал пользоваться листами бумаги Фанния, которые велел сшивать по левому краю, чтобы законченную работу можно было перелистать. Получавшиеся прошитые стопки он называл кодексами, уверяя, что они гораздо удобней, чем свитки. Для легкости чтения он разбил площадь каждого листа на три столбца, вместо того чтобы тянуть строку чуть ли не до обреза бумаги. Он задумал это для своих посланий в Сенат, всегда казавшийся ему сборищем полуграмотных недоумков. Мало-помалу кодексы стали преобладать в канцелярии Цезаря. Однако у кодексов был серьезный недостаток, который сводил на нет их способность заменить свитки: при многократном использовании листы отрывались и легко терялись.

---

ДЛИННОВОЛОСАЯ ГАЛЛИЯ
ДЕКАБРЬ 54 Г. ДО P. X. — НОЯБРЬ 53 Г. ДО P. X.

&  Человека, легко и непринужденно занимающегося несколькими делами одновременно, можно недолюбливать, но ненавидеть определенно нельзя.

&  Эти стойкие парни ничего не боялись. Рослые, белокурые, светлоглазые, они были потомками галлов, вторгшихся в пределы Италии несколько столетий назад. Однако кровное родство не вызывало у них симпатии к тем, кого они теперь покоряли. Больше того, они ненавидели галлов — белгов, кельтов, не имело значения. Солдат может уважать противника, но не обязан любить и жалеть. Ненависть — лучшее из того, что может испытывать хороший солдат к неприятелю...

&  Даже рядовые солдаты регулярно писали домой, рассказывая своим семьям, как они живут, что поделывают, в каких сражениях принимают участие и с какими ребятами делят палатку и тяготы воинской службы. Многие были грамотными еще до поступления на службу, а неграмотных понуждали учиться чтению и письму. Особенно такие командиры, как Цезарь, который еще ребенком, сидя на коленях у Гая Мария, жадно впитывал его наставления. В том числе о пользе грамотности для легионеров. «Грамотность схожа с умением плавать, — говорил ему Марий, кривя перекошенный рот. — И то и другое может однажды спасти тебе жизнь».

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Колин Маккалоу — Женщины Цезаря

<< Фавориты Фортуны (Владыки Рима—3)

Владыки Рима — 4

ИЮНЬ 68 Г. ДО Р. Х. — МАРТ 66 Г. ДО Р. X

  “— Брут, мне не нравится твоя кожа. ...

&  Сервилия с иронией посмотрела на сына.
— Фукидид был довольно лаконичен, но все же ему понадобилось написать несколько книг, чтобы изложить всю историю конфликта между Афинами и Спартой. Какой прок в том, что ты ломаешь его прекрасный греческий язык, чтобы ленивые римляне могли прочесть твое изложение, а потом поздравлять себя с тем, что знают о Пелопоннесской войне все?
— Литература становится слишком пространной, — упорствовал Брут. — Человек не может охватить ее всю, не прибегая к конспектам.

&  — Я не задаю вопросов никому, кроме тебя, Цезарь. Так я избегаю лживых ответов.

&  Оставаться на переднем плане в сложном мире римской политики, приобретать и накапливать влияние, власть, клиентов, заручиться поддержкой всадников из коммерческих сфер, приобрести последователей всех сортов — все это Цезарь обязан делать сам и исключительно от своего имени. Ни в коем случае он не должен выступать как один из boni или какой-либо другой группы. Любая фракция настаивает на том, чтобы все ее члены думали одинаково. А еще предпочтительней — чтобы не думали вовсе.

---

     Но амбиции Цезаря простирались дальше создания собственной фракции: он хотел стать Первым Человеком в Риме. Primus inter pares, первым среди равных, обладавшим максимальными auctoritas и dignitas. Первый Человек в Риме был олицетворением гигантского влияния. Что бы он ни сказал, его слушали, и никто не мог его свергнуть, потому что он не являлся ни царем, ни диктатором. Первый Человек в Риме сохранял свое положение исключительно благодаря личным способностям, а не из-за должности и даже не имея армии за спиной. Старик Гай Марий добился всего собственным трудом, победив германцев, потому что у него не было знатных и знаменитых предков. У Суллы предки имелись, но такого титула он не получил, потому что объявил себя диктатором. Просто он был Сулла — великий аристократ, автократ, обладатель венца из трав, полководец, не знавший поражений. Военная слава вкупе с головокружительной политической карьерой — вот что значит Первый Человек в Риме.

&  Еще одно проклятие Рима — государственные слуги. Но в конце концов, казна есть казна. Деньги необходимо правильно сажать, возделывать, собирать их урожай, даже если это означает огромное количество государственных слуг.

&  Юлия оказалась очень способной и старательной ученицей, любившей литературу, как и ее отец. В математике и географии ее способности были более умеренными. Она не обладала удивительной памятью Цезаря. И очень хорошо, разумно заключили все, кто ее любил. Сообразительные и умные девочки — это хорошо. Но девочки-интеллектуалки — это никому не нужно. Прежде всего, это неудобно для них самих.

&  — Я очень хочу, — сказала Аврелия, — чтобы женщины смеялись, когда они счастливы! А вместо этого добрая половина их ревет.

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Rome 2x10

De Patre Vostro
(About Your Father)

& Mark Antony: All my life... I’ve been fearful of defeat. But now that it has come, it’s not near as terrible as I’d expected. The sun still shines. Water still tastes good. Glory is all well and good, but... life is enough, ne?

& Cleopatra: He asks me to bring eternal dishonor on my name.
    — And in return... your empire, your people, Majesty’s life.
    Cleopatra: My life for my honor.
    — Good enough. Better than death.
    Cleopatra: That is a slave’s answer.

& Mark Antony: Anything to be rid of this fucking hangover.

& Cleopatra: Is he a good man?
    Lucius: Define good.

& Cleopatra: Which leaves one looking best? I want no bloating or discoloration.
    The Old Witch: The snake, but...
    Cleopatra: Is it quick?
    The Old Witch: 40 breaths.
    Cleopatra: The snake, then.

---

& Caesarion: Who is this man?
    Pullo: Name’s Titus Pullo.
    Caesarion: I do not like your manner!
    Pullo: Handsome, isn’t he?

& Atia: My congratulations. You’re as good as king now.
    Octavian: Not king... Merely first citizen.

& Newsreader: Today we celebrate the glory of our beloved imperator Gaius Octavian Caesar! And the glorious rebirth of our republic!

& Livia Drusilla: Excuse me...
    Atia: Yes?
    Livia: Oh, I don’t mind really, but it is I who should go first. You will find if you consult the priests, the wife takes precedence.
    Atia: I don’t give a fuck what the priests say. I’m not letting a vicious little trollop like you walk ahead of me!.. I go first.

& Atia: I know who you are. I can see you. You’re swearing now that someday you’ll destroy me. Remember, far better women than you have sworn to do the same. Go and look for them now.

& Caesarion: So?
    Pullo: He bought it.
    Caesarion: Brother Osiris, let me live to spit in his face and remind him of this day.
    Pullo: Didn’t I tell you there’d be no more of that blather?
    Caesarion: Blather? It is my sacred duty! By my blood, I’ll not rest until I have avenged my mother and redeemed my father’s name.
    Pullo: Listen, about your father...

--
+ on Imdb.

The End

Rome 2x9

Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus
(No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)

& Mark Antony: Well, if that doesn’t make the little shit declare war, I don’t know what will.
    Cleopatra: He’s a cautious beast. Perhaps you should simply cut the cord and declare war yourself.
    Mark Antony: Declare war... on Octavian? On my most trusted and beloved colleague? On Rome? On my own people? No, no, no. No, that wouldn’t do. When I return home, it will be as a savior, not as a conqueror.

& Pullo: So far it’s just the old and the sick that are dying. But by next moon, our granaries will be empty.
    Maecenas: I understand that dogs make good eating...
    Pullo: They do. Taste like pork if you cook ’em right. All gone.

& Octavian: Pullo... Tell me what the people are saying. Tell me who they blame for this famine.
    Pullo: ... You, they say. You’re the man in charge.
    Octavian: Not Antony?
    Pullo: They hear the newsreaders saying that he’s holding back the shipments and all that, but... well, it’s Antony, innit? Why would he starve them? They’ve always loved him and he’s always loved to be loved. Whereas you... Well, you’re you, aren’t you?
    Octavian: Cold and heartless?
    Pullo: I’ll not say that. But you’ve never been the affectionate type now, have you?

---

& Agrippa: If he wants a war, why not give it to him?
    Octavian: You heard Pullo. You might as well declare war on wine and song.

& Atia: I? Go to Egypt?.. You are joking?
    Octavian: I cannot remember the last time I made a joke.
    Livia Drusilla: Last market day. You said something about fishes which made me laugh quite distinctly.
    Octavian: I was speaking figuratively.

& Atia: How will you pay us for our trouble?
    Octavian: What do you want?
    Atia: Pompeii’s become vulgar. I’d like a villa in Capri.

& Cleopatra: Let’s kill them, then.
    Mark Antony: What? What did you say?
    Cleopatra: Atia will not be humiliated... because Atia will be dead. Octavian will know that you’re not a man to be outmaneuvered. It’s perfect.

& Atia: Gods, what a ghastly* place.
    Octavia: Big, though.

& Lucius: Sir, your wife instructed me to tell you something... She instructed me to tell you that you are cowardly scum.
    Mark Antony: She did, did she? And... and what’s your opinion of that?
    Lucius: It’s not my place to have an opinion, sir.
    Mark Antony: Nah. Tell me anyway.
    Lucius: Is that an order?
    Mark Antony: Yes. That’s an order.
    Lucius: You’re no coward. But you do have a strong disease in your soul. A disease that will eat away at you... until you die.

-- Dict:
ghastly — ужасный; страшный

On the Imdb.

Rome 2x8

A Necessary Fiction

& Octavian: ... In the future, I shall enact laws that reward fertility and sanctity in marriage. I shall enact laws that severely punish adultery, promiscuity and vice of all kinds.

& Maecenas: Caesar, may I present Alfidia and her daughter Livia?
    Alfidia Drusilla: Honored.
    Octavian: Tell me, how would you like to be married to me?
    Livia Drusilla: I would like that... if my husband does not object.
    Octavian: What is his name?
    Livia: Claudius Nero.
    Octavian: I know the family. They’re good, patriotic people. They will not say no to a divorce.
    Livia: I’m sure not, sir.

& Maecenas: But you were robbed as if you were some petty grocer!
    Octavian: Tell me, why do you take such personal offense at this?
    Maecenas: It is a gross personal insult to you.
    Octavian: Someone is always insulting me. It’s the price of fame.

---

& Octavian: You should know that when we are married, I shall on occasion beat you. With my hand... A light whip... When I do so you must not think you have offended me. I do it because it gives me sexual pleasure. So remember that and don’t be upset.
    Livia: Yes, sir...
    Octavian: I think we should get along very well.

& Lucius: He’s always been loyal. Never had to doubt him before.
    Pullo: No one’s a traitor until they are.

& Cleopatra: Antony...
    Mark Antony: Cleopatra...

--
+ on Imdb.

Rome 2x7

Death Mask

& Servilia: Atia of the Julii, I call for justice.

& Mark Antony: You tell your eminent friends to shut their mouths. Tell them to go look on Cicero’s hands in the Forum and remember what happens to those that prattle of tyranny.

& Mark Antony: What are you proposing?
    Octavian: I suggest we divide the territory of Rome into three. Each one of us shall assume command of one region.
    Mark Antony: ... Sounds reasonable. Who gets what?
    Octavian: I haven’t considered that yet.

& Pullo: This was a mistake. This never happens again.
    Gaia: Shame. You and me go nicely together, don’t you think?

& Newsreader: All citizens be aware that the vassal Prince Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, has come to the city. By order of the Triumvirate, during his residence here, all mockery of Jews and their one God shall be kept to an appropriate minimum.

& Mark Antony: That is what I call a good morning’s work.
    Posca: Indeed. A good morning’s work. May I inquire what my share will be?
    Mark Antony: Share? Share of what?
    Posca: Of Herod’s gift.
    Mark Antony: What gift? {...} Let me be clear. There was no gift. Herod came here today to discuss administrative issues of taxes on olive groves, of border defenses against the Parthians. There was no gift.

---

& Levi: He’s worse than his father. He’ll make our people slaves and idolaters. He should die. The bastard should die!
    Timon: Well, it would be a mitzvah, no doubt.
    Levi: I’m serious.
    Timon: Come on. Us?
    Levi: If not us, then who? Herod is here. We are here. The future of our people is in our hands.

& Octavian: This arrangement of ours cannot work if you seek every opportunity to aggrandize* yourself at my expense.
    Mark Antony: Aggrandize myself? This from the boy who... whose so-called father has been declared a god.
    Octavian: An honor he well deserves.
    Mark Antony: You only did it so that you might be known as the son of a god. You have no accomplishments of your own, so you seek to borrow the glory of others.

& Mark Antony: I’ll have the newsreader say something, “Renewed vows of amity” and so forth.
    Atia: No one believes what the newsreader says.
    Octavian: You have some notion you wish to suggest?
    Atia: I do. If a marriage was to happen between our two houses... no one could doubt all was well.
    Mark Antony: Well, I don’t care if all Italy burns, I’ll not marry him.

& Atia: What?
    Octavian: If we are to discuss a marriage contract, it’s inappropriate for a woman to be present.
    Atia: Yes, sorry. Carry on. Be sure to leave enough time for my dressmaker to make me something nice.

& Agrippa: Why did Octavian do this?
    Maecenas: Simple. Octavia is more likely to provide children. And what is marriage, if not a machine for the production of babies?

& Octavian: Please try to see beyond your own desires. I couldn’t very well let you marry Antony. Everybody knows you were lovers. The public would assume it was a marriage of mere sentiment, of lust*. Whereas this match is clearly a political statement of unity.

& Mark Antony: You cannot stay in here. Our guests will wonder where you are.
    Atia: Well, our guests can go and fuck themselves!

& Mark Antony: There was no choice. Your son would have it no other way.
    Atia: And he is your master?
    Mark Antony: He is my political partner. Policy dictates that...
    Atia: Policy be damned. Speak plain. You love power more than you love me.
    Mark Antony: They are two completely different things. This marriage has nothing to do with us. It changes nothing. Love, and you and I... It changes nothing.

--
aggrandize — возвеличивать
lust — похоть; вожделение; страсть

+ on Imdb.

Rome 2x6

Philippi

& Brutus: Look up, Cassius. Look around. Is it not wonderful?
    Cassius: I see only 100,000 mouths to feed.
    Brutus: You have no poetry in you, Cassius. We ride with these men to save the Republic.
    Cassius: Yeah, well, sorry to be prosaic, before we do any saving of republics, we have Octavian to defeat.

& Mark Antony: Do you understand what I’m saying, or shall I speak more slowly?
    Octavian: No, making use of strategic surprise is obvious... To that end, there is a list of the most prominent friends and supporters of Brutus and Cassius left in Rome. We should kill them before they learn what we’re about.
    Mark Antony: ... You are a ferocious* little cunt... with a pen.

& Mark Antony: Goodbye, my love.
    Atia: I shall miss you. We’re forever saying goodbye. It’s becoming tiresome.
    Mark Antony: One little campaign in Greece and we shall never be parted again.

& Lucius: Good luck.
    Pullo: It’s my middle name.

& Cicero: I daresay your work today will earn you immortality.
    Pullo: How’s that?
    Cicero: I will be in all the history books. My killer’s name, no doubt, will live on also.
    Pullo: My name... Thought you meant me.

---

& - But where’s the point in that?
    Levi: Zion is the point! We’re redeeming the Kingdom of Zion. Remember, friends. Remember who we are. We are the chosen people. Not slaves, not animals. The chosen people.

& Atia: Octavian, please. If only for my sake, be good to Antony.
    Octavian: I am pledged to it, mother.
    Atia: He’s an arrogant shit, but he’s a good and honest man.

& Brutus: Happy birthday. Sorry there’s no cake.
    Cassius: Next year. You can bake me an extra big one.
    Brutus: I shan’t forget.
    Cassius: No cinnamon. Makes me sneeze.

& Mark Antony: If you need to urinate, now would be the time.
    Octavian: I’m fine, thank you.
    Mark Antony: You sure?.. Let us begin, then. Watch closely, boy. This is how history is made. Now... let’s have some fun. Advance!

& Octavian: What is happening? Do you know?
    Mark Antony: No idea. On my command, follow me!
    Octavian: Where are you going?
    Mark Antony: When in doubt, attack!

& Mark Antony: Breathe deep, boy. The smell of victory.
    Octavian: Smoke, shit and rotting flesh.
    Mark Antony: Beautiful, isn’t it?

--
ferocious — свирепый; жестокий

+ on Imdb.

++ oskinpavel, "Я думаю "Рим"- это основоположник всех сериалов!":

Брут: За нами Сенат и все высшие сословия...
Антоний: А за мной разъярённая толпа, которая поджарит высшие сословия на углях догорающего сената!

Цезарь: Ты не прав. Я не тиран. Я законно захватил власть...

Я стану хорошим правителем, даже если это меня убьёт... или убьёт кого-нибудь другого...

Rome 2x5

Heroes of the Republic

& Cicero: My dear boy... You are a hero of the Republic. Caesar himself could not have conjured a finer victory.
    Octavian: I am Caesar himself... technically speaking.

& Octavian: If I cannot have a triumph, I was rather thinking of taking the Consul’s chair.
    Cicero: You wish to be consul?
    Octavian: It’s a vanity, I know. But I think I deserve it, and it would please my men.
    Cicero: You’re 19! You’re too young to be a senator, leave alone consul. My dear boy, you’ve been listening to bad advice. You have no experience. You have no connections.
    Agrippa: He has an army!
    Cicero: Well... I’ll speak with the other senators. We’ll see if it’s possible. Though if you were to be consul... you must promise to be guided... by my counsel.
    Octavian: It is an office of high complexity. And I am well aware of my inexperience. I will not utter a word without your advice, your... consent*.

& Pullo: If both of you were drowning in the river, I’d save you first. No question.
    Eirene: Swear?
    Pullo: I swear. ... You’re half his weight.
    Eirene: Half?
    Pullo: Half his weight. Not so heavy. Easier to save. Never mind.

---

& General Lepidus: I confess I had no idea how popular you are with the rank and file.
    Mark Antony: Soldiers like a little spit and dirt in their leaders. You were too noble for them, perhaps... Too aristocratic.

& Mark Antony: Would you be willing to act as my second in command?
    Lepidus: Dear me! That’s very generous of you. I...
    Mark Antony: Yes or no?
    Lepidus: Well, I... I can’t really say no, can I?
    Mark Antony: No, you can’t.

& Cicero: We welcome this new beginning by swearing in the youngest consul in the history of Rome. Gaius Octavian... Caesar.
    Octavian: Esteemed senators... I take this first moment before you not to glorify myself, but to honor my father. In his honor I declare that my term as Consul shall usher in a new era. An era of moral virtue, of dignity. The debauchery and chaos we have had to endure will now end. Rome shall be again as she once was — a proud republic of virtuous women and honest men.

& Octavian: As my first act in this reborn republic, and in honor of my father, I propose a motion... to declare Brutus and Cassius murderers and enemies of the state.
    Cicero: Outrageous! ... My dear boy, this is not what we agreed.
    Octavian: It is not. Nevertheless, here we are.
    Cicero: Brutus and Cassius still have many friends. You will split the chamber, the unity of the Republic!
    Octavian: Step away from my chair! My father died on this floor. Right there. Stabbed 27 times. Butchered... by men he called his friends. Who will tell me that is not murder? Who will tell my legions, who love Caesar as I do, that that is not murder? Who will speak against the motion?

& Atia: Exactly what are you doing with my daughter in the middle of the night?
    Octavia: He... abducted me. I was at a perfectly nice party with Jocasta, and this impud... impudent brute abducted me.
    Atia: And brought you home to Mother. That’s a strange abduction.

& Vorenus: Family!

-- Dict:
consent — согласие; разрешение

+ quotes on the Imdb.

Rome 2x4

Testudo et Lepus (The Tortoise and the Hare)

& Octavia: If you know it’s her, why are you torturing him?
    Atia: Because it isn’t a legal confession unless there’s torture.

& Pullo: You won, then?
    Octavian: So it seems.
    Pullo: How? I mean no offense.
    Octavian: I can’t take much credit. The legions under Hirtius and Pansa did heroic work. The rest I owe to Agrippa.
    Pullo: Anyroad, congratulations.

& Mark Antony: How many dead in total?
    Tribune: 8,000 men, sir, give or take.
    Posca: 8,000?!
    Mark Antony: Oh, do cheer up. You’re still alive, aren’t you?
    Posca: I do hope so. If this is the afterlife, it is extremely disappointing.

& Lucius: You talk too much.
    Pullo: We all have our faults.

---

& Agrippa: Your brother will return with his army. He’ll be here within the month.
    Octavia: With his army?! Why with his army?
    Agrippa: ... Politics.

& Agrippa: I... If I may, I am compelled to speak. Ever since I met you, my soul has burned...
    Octavia: So is my brother eating properly?

& Cicero: He’s bringing his army to Rome? Why? He has no enemies in Rome. Why bring his army?
    Agrippa: I am just a messenger. I’m sure when he arrives, Caesar will be happy to tell you.
    Cicero: Caesar, he calls himself. Another Caesar. Just what we need.

& Agrippa: I assure you, he has only the interests of the Republic at heart...
    Cicero: I’m sure he believes that. I thought the same when I was a young man. But it is all vanity*, you know... All vanity.

& — What is it, an otter*?
    Pullo: It’s the fucking Sphinx! Mark of Caesar.

& Lucius: Where’s my daughter?!

--
vanity — тщеславие
otter — выдра

+ quotes on the Imdb.

Rome 2x3

These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero

& Atia: I’m no snob, Octavia, and I don’t mind that you bring home a tradesman’s daughter... but let’s just stop there, shall we? No actors, no gladiators, or that sort of thing, ne?

& Atia: You came in very late last night.
    Mark Antony: Business.
    Atia: Business involving wine, vomit and sex?

& Mark Antony: Buying up all the fools and cripples in Campania is hardly raising an army.
    Cicero: You are right, no doubt. But many are veterans also. Eighth Legion men. Seventh Legion.
    Mark Antony: Sat on their backsides taking his money to cheer him as he goes by. Caesar my arse.

& Mark Antony: I just prefer Gaul.
    Cicero: But you understand why the Senate would not pass such a measure?
    Mark Antony: You are the Senate, Cicero.

---

& Cicero: Please, go on. Make your threats. I don’t like to submit to mere implication.
    Mark Antony: There is a question I’ve always wanted to ask you... Your old friend Crassus, when he was captured by the Parthians, is it true that they poured molten gold down his throat? Because that would really sting.
    Cicero: ... Thank you. It is correct, what you say. The weather in Macedonia is... dreadful.

& Atia: I have no son!

& Cicero: Write a note. To Octavian... Caesar, rather. Tell him I have exposed Antony for the debauched rat he is. At this time, the Republic would be most grateful to accept Caesar’s offer of assistance. We shall need his army at once.

& Pullo: The gods are playing tricks. “Go back to Rome,” they say. “Talk to Vorenus.” Then they hide him from me. I did as I was told. If he’s not here, he’s not here. I can leave him a letter.
    Eirene: “Dear Vorenus, I don’t fuck your wife.”?
    Pullo: Something like that.

--
On Imdb.

Rome 2x2

Son of Hades

& Pullo: You can’t sit here the rest of your life.
    Lucius: I’ve caused the death of my wife. I’ve caused the death of my children. I have caused the death of Caesar. What would you have me do now? Run a butcher’s shop?

& Atia: What sort of woman is she?
    Mark Antony: Who?
    Atia: The Egyptian girl.
    Mark Antony: Oh, her. I barely met her. Skinny thing. Talks too much.
    Atia: Well, she must have something to lure a cold fish like Caesar.
    Mark Antony: She’s a queen. Caesar would’ve fucked Medusa if she’d worn a crown.

& Cleopatra: It is not permitted to touch.
    Mark Antony: Nice manners... for a whore.
    Cleopatra: If I must prostitute myself for the good of my country and my family, I will. But the customer pays first, does he not?

& Cicero: It appears to be a list of every dishonest rascal* in the city.
    Mark Antony: Very droll*. It is a list of candidates for next year’s elections drawn up by our beloved Caesar just before he was taken from us. Posca found it amongst his papers.
    Cicero: Another lucky find? You are prodigious, Posca.
    Mark Antony: I want your endorsement of the names. For the sake of unity and amity, et cetera, et cetera.

& Mark Antony: Now... would you like a chance to redeem yourself, Centurion?
    Lucius: There’s no redemption.
    Mark Antony: No man is beyond redemption, Lucius. Not even you.

& Mark Antony: She was in mourning. She was very gray and formal. She was quite the little mouse.
    Atia: On Jupiter’s stone?
    Mark Antony: On Juno’s cunt.

---

& Atia: Servilia, my love, it’s good of you to come.
    Servilia: I am here under protest. Mark Antony’s insistence.
    Atia: He’s a terrible bully, isn’t he? You must be very scared.
    Servilia: Not in the slightest.
    Atia: Well, you need have no fear of me. I wish you no harm, truly. It’s enough for me to know that I have won and you’ve been humbled. We’ve both suffered enough.
    Servilia: You are mocking me, I believe.
    Atia: Not at all. I’m offering you friendship and reconciliation. What do you say? Two friends together?

& Cleopatra: Come here, boy. This is my darling Caesarion. Does he not look exactly like his noble father?
    Mark Antony: Uncanny.
    Atia: Looks nothing like him.

& Cleopatra: Consul, farewell. Your vassal queen shall weep till she sees you again.
    Mark Antony: I shall see you soon, then, I hope.
    Cleopatra: Atia, I have made a friend for life. I feel it.
    Atia: Indeed.
    Cleopatra: Kiss me.
    Atia: Die screaming, you pig-spawn trollop*. ... Safe journey, Your Highness.

& Lucius: As killer of Erastes Fulmen, I claim his captaincy of the Aventine collegium as my rightful spoils. The Aventine is now mine.

& Octavia: Why are you making all this fuss over the money? It was obvious he’d never give it to you. All you’re doing is making mother anxious.
    Octavian: Sister, you must promise me never to speak of what I tell you now.
    Octavia: Oh, gods. I promise.
    Octavian: The Republic is on the brink of an abyss. Antony... Antony’s a destructive brute. The Senate is weak and cowardly, and the plebs are roiling in want and anger. Rome is in need of new leadership. I can provide that leadership.

& Lucius: See, Pullo, I told you I know what I’m about.
    Pullo: It’s not right. The gods don’t like it.
    Lucius: Yeah. What more can the gods do to me? How can they punish me now?

--
rascal — мошенник
droll — смешной
spawn — метать икру
trollop — шлюха; неряха

+ on Imdb.

Rome 2x1

Passover

& Atia: What did you do then?
    Mark Antony: What did I do? Why, nothing I could do. Caesar was dead. I was unarmed.
    Atia: Well, I would have ripped them to pieces with my bare hands.
    Mark Antony: That’s easy for you to say. You know nothing of violence. 12 mangy dogs can kill a lion.
    Atia: Well, if you say so.

& Posca: ’I leave to Gaius Octavian, who is henceforth to be regarded for all intents and purposes as my lawful son and sole heir.’
    Atia: Octavian? My Octavian?
    Mark Antony: What else?
    Posca: He stipulates that the slave known as Posca... that is I... am to be given my liberty with an appropriate stipend.
    Mark Antony: ... I give you joy of your freedom.

& Atia: Oh, my strange, brave, pompous little boy, we’re going north...
    Octavian: I’m head of the family. Strictly speaking, it is for me to say where we go.

& Octavian: Antony, listen. Brutus is in a legal bind. I think we can force him into making a deal with us.
    Mark Antony: Go on.
    Octavian: Brutus must declare Caesar a tyrant, else the act of killing Caesar is murder. But all the acts of a tyrant are unlawful. Including those appointing Brutus as Praetor, Cassius as Proconsul, and so forth.
    Mark Antony: And then so?
    Octavian: If Brutus honors the law, he loses all rank and position.
    Mark Antony: It’s lawyers’ prattle.
    Octavian: I don’t think so. If you offer them amnesty in return...
    Mark Antony: Amnesty?! I’m gonna eat their livers! Amnesty...
    Octavian: You’re not following me.
    Atia: Enough! You think you know better than Antony?
    Octavian: But you don’t understand.
    Atia: Juno’s cunt, must I slap you?
    Octavian: If the will stands, and it might, you are mother to the richest man in Rome. If the will is broken, Servilia has that honor.

---

& Eirene: No, thank you, master.
    Pullo: You’ve got to stop calling me that.
    Eirene: What shall I call you, then?
    Pullo: Anything you want. Husband? Honey?

& Cicero: Immortals! Immortals, I say. You noblemen have carved your names deep in the eternal stone. That is very high praise indeed. I would embrace you all but I’m desolated that you did not enlist me in your cohort of heroes. To wield the liberators’ knife... what joy you have denied me.
    Cassius: Forgive us. But we rather thought you’d prefer not to know.
    Cicero: It is done. I cannot share in your glory. I can only applaud. Now tell me, is the city secure?

& Cassius: Caesar’s people have fled. The city is ours.
    Cicero: Excellent, and Mark Antony? The dog is dead I hope?
    Brutus: He is not.
    Cicero: Mark Antony is alive?! An error! I think, a deep error.
    Brutus: We are senators, not hired thugs.
    Cassius: Kill him yourself if you want it so.
    Cicero: Well, well, you know best what is the right thing to do. I must go. I’m away to the country. Another tedious lawsuit... I just wanted to salute you before I left. Immortal liberators.
    Mark Antony: Friend Cicero...

& Servilia: Tell us, Antony... to what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?
    Mark Antony: Listen. ... Why so quiet?.. A tyrant is dead. Surely the people should be happy... Where is the cheering throng at your door? Where are the joyous cries of liberty?

& Servilia: Why would you do that?
    Mark Antony: Neither of us can win outright. Not without much blood spilled to prove the issue. I want no more blood. I want peace and stability.
    Brutus: How?
    Mark Antony: First, a general amnesty. ... Caesar is not declared tyrant, nor you declared killers. All Caesar’s acts, and his will, shall stand. We shall all keep our posts. It will be as if he were struck by lightning. A natural death.
    Brutus: Go on.

& Brutus: And if we do not wish to be reconciled with you?
    Mark Antony: Well, if we cannot be friends, then we shall be enemies. And I will do my very best to annihilate you.

& Brutus: We have no right to take his life.
    Cassius: Damn the law! He’s too dangerous to live.
    Brutus: You exaggerate him. He is a vulgar beast. Without Caesar he will destroy himself soon enough.
    Cassius: He is...
    Brutus: He is a guest in my house.
    Servilia: He is not in the house. He is on the street.
    Brutus: You too, Mother?

& Brutus: Consul Antony... we shall be friends.
    Mark Antony: Friends, eh?

& Pullo: Sorry about your uncle.
    Octavian: I am made his son by will.
    Pullo: ... Congratulations?

& Pullo: You’ll be wanting vengeance, then?
    Octavian: At some point.

& Atia: Have you forgotten what day it is?
    Mark Antony: What day is it?
    Atia: Don’t play with me! I’m not up for it today.
    Mark Antony: Relax. It’s gonna be my day. I can feel it. I don’t think I’ve ever fucked a woman in a funeral dress before.

& Mark Antony: Please, speak sense to your son. Him and his friends must leave the city. I cannot answer for their safety.
    Servilia: Do not look so pleased with yourself. You’re a liar and a breaker of oaths, and you’ve roused your rabble, nothing more. A pantomime actor might have done what you did today.
    Mark Antony: Lucky then it was me that did it, eh? Else you would now be on your knees sucking pantomime’s cock... I have no wish to abuse or humiliate you. I only wish you gone.
    Servilia: We’re going nowhere.
    Mark Antony: No, not you, at least. The men shall leave. You will stay here in the city with me as my guest.
    Servilia: Hostage, you mean.
    Mark Antony: As you like.

--
+ quotes on the Imdb.

Rome 1x12

Kalends of February

Season 1, Episode 12

& Pullo: What... are... you doing?
    Painter: Sorry, sir, sorry, sir. Just taking your likeness, sir.
    Pullo: Taking my likeness? What do you mean? Speak, thief!
    Painter: Sir, Aventine cloth dyers* association are paying me to do a mural* of you and Lucius Vorenus in the arena, sir.
    Pullo: Explain yourself. Why would anybody do that?
    Painter: Why, sir? You’re famous, sir. There’s paintings of you all over.

& Lucius: You should be in the hospital at Avernum.
    Pullo: And miss all the fun? Why am I tied up?
    Lucius: What fun is that?
    Pullo: We’re famous, aren’t we? Heroes. Songs, plays, pictures on walls, eh?

& Lucius: I humbly apologize, sir. I have no excuse.
    Caesar: You present me with a dilemma. By right, I could have you thrown off the Tarpeian rock. But the people, simple souls that they are, have made great heroes out of you and Pullo. If I were to punish you, the people would be made extremely angry. I do not wish to make the people angry, ergo, I cannot punish you. If I cannot punish you, I must reward you, else I shall seem weak. Listen to this now, Cicero. By popular acclaim, I shall name Lucius Vorenus a senator of Rome. Good, eh?.. Now you’re all astonished.

& Cicero: Forgive me, but really I must, as a friend... I must protest! A lowly pleb in the Senate?! That’s going too far! No offense to you, Vorenus.
    Caesar: I do not wish to jump in any arenas, Cicero. I must please the people in some other fashion.
    Cicero: Build yet another temple. Kill someone. The people are easy to please. Not this!

---

& Mark Antony: You’ll make a lot of men very angry with your Gauls and your Celts and your plebs and such. I’ll have to double your guard.
    Posca: That’s what I told him. Will he listen?
    Caesar: Guards can keep my enemies away. They can do nothing about my friends.

& Brutus: Gentlemen, this is not some cheap murder! It is an honorable thing that we do, and it must be done honorably. In daylight. On the Senate floor. With our own hand. With my hand.

& Atia: Why would she want to see me?.. She hates me.
    Mark Antony: So do I. It’s no bar to friendship.

& Newsreader: Senate in session today. No assemblies in the vicinity. No gaming. No prostitution. May all the gods bless our sacrosanct father Gaius Julius Caesar.

& Servilia: So you see, the tyrant is dead, the republic is restored, and you are alone. Would you like some honey water?..
    Atia: I won’t, thank you.
    Servilia: Please don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you. Not yet.


-- Dict:
mural — фреска
dyers — красильщики


+ on Imdb.

And this was

The End of Season One

Rome 1x11

The Spoils

Season 1, Episode 11

& Caesar: What would they have me do? I cannot make farmland.
    Mark Antony: Certainly you can. It’s called eviction.
    Caesar: And who shall I evict?
    Mark Antony: Your enemies.
    Caesar: Enemies? I have enemies still?.. Strange to say. I shall make friends of them in time.
    Mark Antony: And make enemies of your veterans... Unless something is done.
    Caesar: Is it possible they turn on me?
    Lucius: They would never fight against you, but if they’re not satisfied they will turn to banditry and raiding.
    Mark Antony: In your name. Not good.

& Caesar: Tell Mascius I respect his honesty. Tell him my veterans are as sons to me, and to all loyal veterans I shall give good lands in... Pannonia. Good fertile bottomlands.
    Lucius: Pannonia?
    Caesar: Speak freely.
    Lucius: It’s hard country, Pannonia, and far away. Mascius will refuse it.
    Caesar: Does Mascius have the men’s full trust? Can he sway* them either way?
    Lucius: He can sway the 10th men, and what the 10th men do will sway other legions.
    Caesar: Make him a personal offer then.
    Lucius: To what limit?
    Caesar: You be judge of that.

& Newsreader: “By claim of the Senate and people, our beloved father, Gaius Julius Caesar, has been declared dictator for life. Furthermore, the fifth month is henceforth name July* in his honor.”

& Brutus: I am no coward, nor am I blind. I know what Caesar is. I can see. But I have pledged myself his friend... No, I am his friend!
    Cassius: So for friendship you would let the republic die?..
    Brutus: I am just a man. The life or death of the republic is not in my hands!
    Cassius: You are precisely wrong. The republic is in your hands. The people will not accept a tyrant’s death unless a Brutus holds the knife.

---

& Lucius: If our brothers accept Pannonia, Caesar will be extremely grateful to you.
    Mascius: How so?
    Lucius: 5000 denarii.
    Mascius: I don’t understand you.
    Lucius: I think you do.
    Mascius: I have been true to my brothers since I first spilled blood. You think I would betray them now for 5000 denarii?
    Lucius: Seven then.
    Mascius: It might be 20000... I am not so greedy as some.
    Lucius: Not so greedy as who?
    Mascius: I merely say that my honor is not for sale so cheap.
    Lucius: In favoring Pannonia, you would not betray our brothers. If they will not have Pannonia, they will have nothing.
    Mascius: Men with swords never starve.
    Lucius: But they still die, captains first.
    Mascius: 15.
    Lucius: 10.
    Mascius: 12.
    Lucius: 12.

& Caesar: So... What does Mascius say?
    Lucius: He will accept Pannonia for 12.
    Caesar: Very good. I did not think he would sell himself so cheap. I must send you to negotiate all my corruptions.
    Lucius: I would rather not, sir.
    Caesar: I spoke in jest.
    Lucius: I understand.
    Caesar: Please. ... You have corrupted one man and saved thousands from banditry. I often wish I were back in Gaul... There is something pleasingly simple about warfare.

& Octavian: Vorenus...
    Caesar: Magistrate Vorenus, if you please. He outranks you now, my boy.
    Octavian: Excuse me, magistrate Vorenus.

& Mascius: Still, I can’t call the boys off now.
    Lucius: Why not?
    Mascius: Because it makes me look bad.
    Lucius: You could look far worse. You will tell them?
    Mascius: ...... I will if I have to. ... Look at us, brother. How has it come to this?..
    Lucius: It is for the good of the republic.
    Mascius: It’s a worthy cause then.
    Lucius: Just call them off.

& Caesar: Be reasonable! You’re on every wall with a knife at my throat! I would be foolish to ignore it.
    Brutus: Only tyrants need worry about tyrant killers. And you are no tyrant. Haven’t you told me so many times?
    Caesar: ... You may go.

& Gladiator 1: Stand up and fight!
    Pullo: I don’t want to.
    Gladiator 1: That’s not how it works. You’re supposed to resist.
    Pullo: Not if I don’t want to. I just want to die, all right? So go ahead and kill me and be done with it.
    Gladiator 2: Bollocks! ... Move!
    Gladiator 1: What’s wrong with you? Where’s your dignity?..
    Gladiator 2: Hey, soldier, wake up! Why don’t you come here and suck my cock?
    Gladiator 1: Look, just hold your sword. Just stand up and hold it, that’s all, you don’t have to run about or anything.
    Gladiator 2: You’re naught but a bloody molly! You and the whole Thirteenth! Naught but bloody mollys!
    Pullo: Don’t talk the Thirteenth.
    Gladiator 2: Eh?.. I piss on the Thirteenth!
    Gladiator 1: Pigspawn, all of them.
    Gladiator 2: Why don’t you and the whole Thirteenth all line up and suck my...? .....

& Brutus: Mother?.. I owe Caesar no more friendship. I must do my duty.


-- Dict:
sway — влияние; власть

+ on Imdb.

__ Corruption!

Rome 1x10

Triumph

Season 1, Episode 10

& Cicero: ... On this eve of his most glorious triumph, I move that Gaius Julius Caesar be made imperator and granted absolute power over Rome for a period of 10 years.

& Caesar: Many of you here today fought against me. Many of you wished me dead. Many of you perhaps still do. But I hold no grudges and seek no revenge. I demand only this... That you join with me in building a new Rome, a Rome that offers justice, peace and land to all its citizens, not just the privileged few.
    Support me in this task, And old divisions will be forgotten.
    Oppose me... And Rome will not forgive you a second time.
    Senators... the war is over.

& Octavia: This is the Great Mother's house. The Great Mother wants nothing from me. I'm a worm in her sight.
    Octavian: You are not a worm. You are a daughter of the Julii. It looks very ill, you running away like this. Reflects badly on the whole family if it were known publicly.
    Octavia: For a moment I thought you wanted me back because you missed me.
    Octavian: Don't be silly. We've missed you terribly. Your mother has missed you. I believe even the servants and other animals have missed you.

& Caesar: I think it’s too purple. I want to suggest purple without actually wearing it.
    Posca: It will look less loud in direct light.
    Caesar: What do you think?
Mark Antony: Jupiter in life. Resemblance is uncanny*.
    Caesar: What do you find amusing?
    Mark Antony: It’s absurd, isn’t it? Dressing up, playing at being god?..
    Caesar: Playing? I’m not playing. This is not a game.
    Mark Antony: As you wish.
    Caesar: It is not a game. Something more red.

---

& Posca: ... So you see the fourth clause of the previous statute only applies in cases of fire and flood, unless otherwise stipulated in the appendix. Do you see?
    Lucius: Not clearly.
    Posca: I’m not sure I can explain it in simpler terms. Surely this can wait until after the election.
    Lucius: There’s no point learning all this if I lose.
    Posca: You will not lose.
    Lucius: You’re very sure of that. There are other candidates... I believe I warned you about mocking me!
    Posca: Forgive me, sir. I had thought you understood the system. The other candidates are straw men*.
    Lucius: Straw men?!
    Posca: It saves a great deal of useless strife* if there’s no opposition, but it would look ill if Caesar’s man was the only one standing. These facts disturb you somehow?
    Lucius: The elections are sanctioned by Jupiter Capitolinus! They are sacred.
    Posca: Caesar also is sanctioned by Jupiter, is he not? By augury, by triumph, by acclaim of the people. Anything he does is sacred. In a way, he is a demigod.
    Lucius: For one day only. For the rest, he is a mortal man like you and me.
    Posca: Mortal or not, he is trying to save the republic.
    Lucius: By corrupting the elections?
    Posca: The Roman people are not crying out for clean elections. They are crying out for jobs. They are crying out for clean water, for food. For stability and peace. You can do great things for your people. You can help save the republic. Or you can go back to your shop and resume selling mutton* and pig... Have dirty hands but a clean conscience.

& Servilia: Rome has fallen into the hands of a corrupt monster. You, direct descendant of the father of the republic, what do you do?
    Brutus: What would you have me do?

& Brutus: You do believe me?
    Caesar: My dear friend, of course I believe you. You have never lied to me. Besides, why would you put your name to a thing and then deny it?
    Brutus: Well, exactly! And anyone... Anyone may forge my name to a thing to give it weight.
    Caesar: We shall just have to become used to it, no doubt. I wonder who it was that wrote it...
    Brutus: I wish I knew.
    Caesar: Someone of talent. Anyhow, I’ve seldom seen a bad case so well put. I shall have to write a reply...
    Brutus: Well, as long as you and I know where we stand...
    Caesar: Where do we stand?
    Brutus: I hope we are the best of friend, are we?
    Caesar: We are, we are. Brutus, I have never doubted your friendship or fidelity. Even when we were enemies.

& Erastes Fulmen: I will always have a job for you...
    Pullo: I’m a soldier, not a murderer!
    Erastes Fulmen: These days, Pullo, is there really any difference?.. Have a drink on me. When you’ve sobered up, come and see me. We’ll talk a little business...


-- Dict:
uncanny — сверхъестественный; жуткий
straw men — подставные лица
strife — борьба
mutton — баранина

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Rome 1x9

Utica

Season 1, Episode 9

& Caesar: Octavian? How would you proceed, were you me?
    Octavian: Proceed with?..
    Caesar: Putting the republic to rights.
    Octavian: How to proceed... I would start a large program of public works... Employ citizens and free men, repair the aqueducts, levee the river... That sort of thing. I would create at least 100 or so new senators, that I could be sure were my creatures rather than my secret enemies.

& Octavia: What are you reading?
    Octavian: A guide to the interpretation of prodigies.
    Octavia: Is it good?
    Octavian: It’s dull beyond conception. If I am to be a pontiff, I must be familiar with their ludicrous jargon.

& Octavia: Either you were lovers, or some god has cursed Caesar. Which is it?
    Octavian: Sister, there are no gods.
    Octavia: Don’t be horrid*.
    Octavian: There is doubtless a prime mover of some sort, but a community of beings that look like us and meddle in our affairs?.. Highly improbable.

---

& Octavian: Why?
    Octavia: Why not?
    Octavian: I can think of several reasons.
    Octavia: When you were little, you would come to my bed every night.
    Octavian: Not every night. Only when I was scared.
    Octavia: You were scared a great deal.
    Octavian: I’m not scared now.
    Octavia: Pretend.
    Octavian: I have no skill at pretending. ... I’m embarrassed now.

& Octavia: Brother, tell me something...
    Octavian: Ah!
    Octavia: What do you mean, “ah”?
    Octavian: Now comes the price.

& Niobe: No, don’t, you’ll dirty it.

& Saul: What’s the hat for?
    Timon: Yom kippur.
    Saul: Is that today?
    Timon: You call yourself a Jew?
    Saul: What? Are you my rebbe now?


-- Dict:
horrid — ужасный; противный; мерзкий; отталкивающий


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Rome 1x8

Caesarion

Season 1, Episode 8

& Pothinus: We have a gift for you, Glorious Excellency, that we think you will be very pleased with.
    Ptolemy: We were going to make him a body, moving arms and legs, and do a mime show with real animals and everything...
    Caesar: Silence! Shame on the house of Ptolemies for such barbarity. Shame.
    Pothinus: But... you are enemies.
    Caesar: He was a consul of Rome! A consul of Rome. To die in this sordid way... Quartered like some low thief... Shame!

& Cesaer: You will take half the men, return to Rome immediately. You shall have the honor of announcing Pompey’s death. I shall follow you... when I’ve settled things here.
    Mark Antony: Settled things? Settled what things? Civil war is in the air.
    Caesar: It must be prevented.
    Mark Antony: Why? Let the wretches fight it out.
    Caesar: War will disrupt the grain supply. Without Egyptian grain, Rome goes hungry. It would be... unwise not to intervene.
    Mark Antony: And how will you intervene with only half a legion?
    Caesar: I do not intend to fight. I shall merely arbitrate the various factions.
    Mark Antony: You make it sound so easy. Those various factions are united only by their hatred of Rome.
    Posco: He’s right. Ptolemy might use you to rouse the people against a common enemy.
    Caesar: I have conquered Gaul. I have defeated Pompey Magnus. I think I can handle a small boy and a eunuch.

& Pullo: What a dump! Gyppo gods must be right wasters to make a place like this.
    Lucius: Don’t speak ill of the gods in their own country.
    Pullo: Gerrae*. I’ve seen their gods. Titus Pullo isn’t scared of any bastard with a dog’s head on him.
    Lucius: More fool you. These gods are old and powerful. Egypt was a great nation long before Rome.
    Pullo: Was it? Mumped it up now, then, haven’t they?

& Cleopatra: As long as Caesar is a man, I will have him.
She seems very sure of herself.
    Cleopatra: I have him... or I die. So I will have him.

---

& Charmian: So red!
    Lucius: Your Highness, how can I be of service?
    Cleopatra: Leather. Olives. Not so bad. He will do.
    Charmian: Majesty commands you will enter her.
    Lucius: I do not understand.
    Charmian: You have coitus with her.
    Lucius: You have it wrong. “Coitus” means to make babies.
    Charmian: Exact! So, make babies.
    Cleopatra: Don’t be scared.
    Lucius: I’m not scared, I just cannot do what you ask! It is not... It is not in our custom. Roman men are not used by women in this way.
    Charmian: Come, you will enjoy it. My queen is an excellent lover.
    Cleopatra: What is he waiting for? He must do as he is told!
    Charmian: Let me give you a hand.
    Lucius: Get off! I must ask forgiveness of Your Majesty, but I cannot comply! I am no slave to be commanded so! With all respect.

& Cleopatra: He refuses? This... insect refuses me?! You dare refuse the daughter of a sun god?

& Lucius: Pullo! Report immediately to princess Cleopatra and do as she says!
    Pullo: Eh?
    Lucius: You heard!
    Pullo: What’s going on?
    Lucius: Just go.

& Pullo: ... Legionary Titus Pullo reporting for duty, ma’am.

& Cleopatra: Have you secured the upriver ports? You must do so immediately. Whoever controls the ports controls Egypt.
    Caesar: Good advice, no doubt, if I wanted to control Egypt.
    Cleopatra: Of course you do. Why else are you here? And why save me so heroically from death... if not to use me as your... puppet queen?
    Caesar: Do you dislike the notion?
    Cleopatra: My wishes are immaterial. You redeemed me from captivity. I am your slave.

& Cicero: Are you well?
    Brutus: Well enough though I do not sleep. I write very bad poetry through the night and in the morning I give it to the cook to stoke the kitchen fire. It’s a form of magic. My ill conscience is transformed into roast birds and pastries.
    Cicero: You should have no ill conscience. We only did what we had to do.
    Brutus: No doubt Saturn said something of the sort after eating his children.


-- Dict:
Gerrae = Bullshit

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Rome 1x7

Pharsalus

Season 1, Episode 7

& Posca: Maps never redraw themselves, if that’s what you’re waiting for.
    Mark Antony: He’s right. We shall just have to fight the wretches here where we stand.
    Caesar: And beat them.
    Mark Antony: We shall crush them, doubtless. Dinner for worms, the whole damn lot of ’em.
    Caesar: Dinner for worms.

& Posca: We will accept battle?
    Caesar: Certainly. Why not?
    Posca: We are outnumbered, three to one on foot and five to one a horse. What uninjured men we have are scared and hungry and desperate.
    Caesar: That is the advantage, we must press home.
    Posca: I was not aware irony had military usage.
    Caesar: We must win or die. Pompey’s men have other options.

& Caesar’s Guardian: Halt! In the name of Rome! Who are you and what’s your purpose?
    Cicero: We are Rome, boy, what’s left of it. Come to surrender to your chief.

& Cicero: I am come here honorably, with no request for mercy, to surrender my arms and my horses as is...
    Caesar: We’ll have no talk of surrender. We’ve merely quarreled a little. Brutus: Now we are friends again, eh?
    Cicero: That is most generous of you and natural to your manly nature, but I cannot...
    Caesar: My poor boy.
    Brutus: I’m sorry. I am so sorry.
    Caesar: It is I am sorry. I presented you with an impossible dilemma. You did only what you thought honorable, I’m sure. I kiss you for it.
    Brutus: Thank you. I will not forget this grace.

---

& Pompey: What is your name?
    Lucius: I am Lucius Vorenus. Prefect of the evocati of the 13th legion of Gaius Julius Caesar. Titus Pullo, legionary of same.
    Pompey: Salve, Lucius Vorenus. I am... Aeneas Mella... of Pergamum.
    Lucius: Aeneas Mella... You must consider yourself under my charge.
    Pompey: I do not understand!
    Lucius: Consider yourself a prisoner of the 13th legion.
    Pompey: I’m just a merchant!
    Pullo: We know who you are, sir.

& Lucius: I must ask you, sir, if I may. How did you come to this road? Surely... Pompey had Caesar at greater disadvantage.
    Pompey: He did. He did. It didn’t seem possible to lose. That’s always a bad sign. The battlefield was on a plain by a river, at the foot of some... low hills. Like this, you see. ...

& Pullo: Unwise and unfriendly, I call it. Unwise and unfriendly. And for why? Why? We had him. We had him. Horses... Never mind, horses. Never mind gold. Caesar would have given us farms and fields and orchards and great flocks of slaves and cattle and Dis knows what...
    Lucius: ’Sist! Pompey Magnus is no damn slave to be sold for money.
    Pullo: Don’t see why not!
    Lucius: There’s a great deal you don’t see.
    Pullo: There’s a great deal he doesn’t see neither.

& Lucius: Sir, in course of our journey here, we encountered Gnaeus Pompey Magnus with his family, and a party of servants. {...} He intends to take ship for Egypt, sir.
    Caesar: Family and servants, you say. No soldiers?
    Lucius: None, sir. Not one man left, not one.
    Caesar: Poor wretch. Why then, be that so, did you not apprehend him?
    Lucius: Now here’s the onion. I thought it would be wrong to do so.
    Caesar: Explain yourself.
    Lucius: His hands trembled, sir. His clothes were dirty, there was water in his eyes... He is broken... I saw no need to apprehend him. I’d like to add that legionary Pullo took no part in my decision, sir.
    Caesar: You saw no need... Do you not see that Pompey may be broken like a Dacian catamite and still be dangerous?! If he is still living, he will be a standard around which our enemies will gather! As long as he can be propped on a horse, he’s dangerous! But you saw no need to apprehend him?..
    Lucius: I did not, sir.
    Caesar: Who by the sons of Dis gives you the right to make such judgment?!
    Lucius: Sir, I am aware that I have not done my duty, and I respectfully ask your pardon.
    Caesar: My pardon, he asks... I ought to have you scourged and crucified. In future you will remember that it is I that offers mercy. No one else.

& Mark Antony: I do not like to disagree with you, but you are being far too lenient with him. He let Pompey go and you let him live?! The man should be made an example of!
    Caesar: Any other man, certainly. But those two... They found my stolen standard. Now they survive a wreck that drowned an army and find Pompey Magnus on a beach. They have powerful gods on their side, and I will not kill any man with friends of that sort.

& Caesar: Posca. Tell Fulvio to start breaking camp. We’re going to Egypt.


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Rome 1x6

Egeria

Season 1, Episode 6

& Lucius: Pullo, awake! Wake up! Mark Antony’s waiting.
    Pullo: Mump off and die, you pigfucker.

& Pullo: Thank you, my honey.
    Lucius: You shouldn’t thank slaves.
    Pullo: No harm in it.
    Lucius: It’s bad for discipline.

& Mark Antony: Servilius, my dear old friend. How are you?
    Servilius: Healthy healthy, I thank you. Forgive me, have we met before?
    Mark Antony: Have we not? No idea. I always pretend so with civilians. It’s more politic, nay? And this must be your beautiful wife, whose name escapes me.
    Servilius: Poppaea.

& Servilius: ... I don’t understand.
    Mark Antony: Too many slaves, you see? They’ve taken all the work, which causes unemployment amongst the free populace. Now, we need to create more jobs for our citizens.
    Servilius: But it will be hugely expensive!
    Mark Antony: It will. But only to those few rich men who own all the land. And they shall have the consolation of having done something eminently patriotic.
    Servilius: It seems rather... extreme to say the least. Ruinous even.
    Mark Antony: You may well be right. But frankly, I do not care whether it is the rich, poor, or, indeed both that suffer. Caesar wishes this law to be made. He is my friend, I will have it made. If you prefer, I could always bypass the Senate, call an assembly of the people and you can put your arguments to them. A fine orator like yourself might just persuade them that Caesar is wrong.
    Servilius: That won’t be necessary.
    Mark Antony: Good. Good. That’s it then.
    Servilius: I don’t know what to say.
    Mark Antony: Say nothing then. It’s often best.

---

& Pullo: So they tell me. Dead. Killed.
    Lidia: It isn’t true!
    Pullo: My advice, best forget about him. Best get on with your life.
    Lidia: It isn’t true!
    Pullo: It’s not so bad. You’ve still got people that love you. Look to them, eh? Isn’t that right, Niobe? Best she gets on with her life. Best she looks to the people that love her. Forget Evander. Forget the past.

& Atia: I’ll get Merula make you a toga. What else?
    Octavia: Perhaps you can arrange he kill someone...
    Atia: That will happen in due course. We, Julii, always have the needful enemies.

& Atia: You’ve put off this moment long enough, my dear.
    Octavian: Mother...
    Atia: You will penetrate someone today or I will burn your wretched books in the yard.

& Pullo: Don’t worry, young master. There’s nothing to it.
    Octavian: If there is nothing to it, why is such a fuss made of the thing?
    Pullo: You’ll soon find out.

& Niobe: Tell me.
    Lucius: Mark Antony does not intend to go to Greece to help Caesar. I have sworn loyalty to a man of no honor.
    Niobe: Well you don’t have to go to Greece then. We’ll be together.
    Lucius: It’s true, but still.
    Niobe: Haven’t you always said Caesar’s cause is wrong?
    Lucius: That is not the point. There is a moral principle involved.

& Newsreader: A fleet of ships has set sail for Greece carrying the army of general Mark Antony. This month’s public bread is provided by the Capitoline brotherhood of millers. The brotherhood uses only the finest flour. True Roman bread, for true Romans.

& Pullo: This is cack, this is! I’m wet through.
    Lucius: We’re perfectly safe. A very good offering was made to Triton.
    Pullo: If Triton can’t keep me drier than this, he can suck my cock!
    Lucius: Why can’t you learn to keep your fat mouth shut?!


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