Залитый солнцем мир вокруг меня был полон теней. Те, кого я считал мертвыми, вернулись к жизни. Того, кого я знал лучше всего на свете, я не знал вообще. Истина ясно видимого момента никогда не может быть достоверно известна, поскольку все действительно важное происходит в головах других, и ни один человек не может этого видеть. Я не мог ясно видеть даже внутри себя. Был ли это мир, носивший маску обмана, или я был человеком, неспособным видеть за завесой своих собственных иллюзий?

I could not see clearly even inside myself? Was it the world that wore a mask of deceit, or was I the veiled one, unable to see beyond the veil of my own illusions?

The truth of a moment clearly seen could never be surely known, for everything of real importance happened inside the heads of others, where no man can see.

‏״Я римлянин, Гордиан. У меня нет ни манер, ни страха. Вот как нам удалось завоевать мир. ״

‏״Чтобы разрушить город, требуется столько же продуманной инженерии и упорного труда, сколько и для его строительства. ״

"A man can get used to just about anything in this world-any man who's ever been a slave can tell you that."

The pain of not knowing gnaws at a man, robs his sleep, poisons every breath.

What is it to be a lemur, after all, but to be written out of the world's story, to become a name spoken in the past tense, to mutely watch from the shadows while others carry on the tale of the living?

Uncertainty allowed for doubt, and doubt allowed for hope; but false hope was surely crueler than the grief of certain knowledge.

"You're merely using the Catilinarians, then?"
"As they hope to use me. They disgust me. I suppose I disgust them. But we have one thing in common: We're all homesick. We want to go back to Rome. We want to go home."
"So do I, Gaius Verres," I whispered. "So do I"

"Mad our two friends may be, but they're right about one thing: Caesar does want the eagle standard. Oh, not for some mystical purpose. And not for political reasons, either; all the old Marian supporters have already rallied to his side. No, he wants it for sentimental reasons. Marius was his mentor, after all, and a kinsman; and Catilina was his friend. I've always suspected that Caesar would have openly supported Catilina, if the moment had been right."

Closeness can breed contempt. Familiarity can turn love to hate.

Nothing comforts the wretched like having someone even more wretched to despise.

It seemed to me that in my younger days I had always been methodical and cautious, slow to take any step that might be irrevocable, fearful of making a mistake that might lead to the worst possible outcome. How ironic that in my years of hard-earned wisdom I should become a creature of impulse, a taker of wild risks. Perhaps it was wisdom after all for a man to turn his back on fear and doubt and trust to the gods to keep him alive.

Since the day Caesar crossed the Rubicon, everyone wears a mask. Intrigues and deceptions… secrecy for secrecy's sake…

Were we playing a game of shadow puppets, each aware of the truth but wary of revealing it to the other?

‏״Ничто так не утешает несчастного, как возможность презирать кого-то еще более несчастного.״