RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
So... Cardinal Della Rovere is still alive.
Cesare BorgiaI would... hardly call it living.
(snidely) You need lessons in killing, Brother.
Cesare Borgia
From you?!
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Enough! (pause) And King Charles of France, what of him?
Cesare Borgia
(smiles) He has been struck with the Neapolitan disease.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(nods) As we had hoped. So... Now, is the time of reckoning, for those who betrayed us.
What- the Vitelli, the Orsini, the Sforza?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
All the great families of the Romagna and the Papal States. Our task... is vengeance. We believe that the Cardinals will now, from henceforth, do our will- but now it is time to make sure their families feel the wind of our displeasure.
"'Vengeance is mine', sayeth the Lord."
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(smiles and shakes his head) Vengeance... will be ours. (looks at both of his sons) We shall subdue the arrogance of those Papal States, one by one by one. We will force them back into the arms of Rome. But, above all, the Sforzas... their betrayal of our Papacy shall be avenged.
Cesare Borgia
By whom? (indicates Juan contemptuously) This headless cock? (Juan lunges at him, Rodrigo forces them apart and cuffs them around the heads)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
WILL YOU STOP THIS DISCHORD?!! (gestures forcefully at them) WE ARE FAMILY! WE ARE ONE! And, we will only triumph AS ONE! (long pause) For, we have a second task -it is called renewal. We would restore Rome to its' former glory. Under the Borgias, it shall shine, as it did beneath the Caesars. But, if we are to achieve this greatness- your birthright- it will be together. As one! As family. Now, let me hear you speak that word. (takes Juan's wrist and holds his hand to his own) Give me your hand, Cesare. (Cesare does so, reluctantly, and Rodrigo holds it to his and Juan's) Family.
Cesare Borgia
(slightly hesitant) Family.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
...Family.
Cesare Borgia
(watching Lucrezia's baby sleep) Can I hold him?
And wake him? That would be cruelty indeed.
Cesare Borgia
I must hold you, then. (he hugs her) Tell me again, my love- who was his father?
(smiles sadly) A groom, Paolo. But I called him Narcissus, so divine was his face.
Cesare Borgia
Should I envy him, then?
(smiles up at him) You have read your romances, dear Brother; you must know that such a love is impossible.
Cesare Borgia
Impossible loves- I am very much afraid they can become an addiction.
... There is one your heart must find room for, Cesare. One you must love before you can love anyone.
Cesare Borgia
And, that one would be?...
(squeezes his hand) Yourself.
(returns to her apartments after her midnight meeting with Paolo) Is he sleeping, nurse? (pulls back the curtains around her son's bed to reveal Cesare sitting next to it)
Cesare Borgia
(mildly disapproving) He did miss his mother.
Cesare Borgia
You have a lover, Sis?
No, Brother. (closes the curtains, walks around the cradle) But, this child has a father.
Cesare Borgia
A stablehand.
Cesare Borgia
Ah- unwise.
Cesare Borgia
Not yet, but I know those who would.
Cesare Borgia
Your brother.
(sighs, sprawls over her own bed) My husband whipped him. My brother would flay him.
Cesare Borgia': Which is why you go out hooded.
At night, like a phantom. (pause, she sighs, Cesare looks down) Cesare, he suffered for me in absolute silence. He would've died for me. The least I can do is let him see his child-
Cesare Borgia
You loved him, Sis?
(smiles slightly)... I did. Perhaps, I do.
Cesare Borgia
(stands, approaches her) Then you must see him.
Cesare Borgia
(sprawls over the bed next to her) Once, and only once. Just... tell me what to do.
Find us a room, where we can spend one night together away from prying eyes-
Cesare Borgia
(meets her eyes) One night. You promise?
Cesare Borgia
(pause) Go to our mother's house, tomorrow evening. She needs to see her grandchild, does she not?
Cesare Borgia
Leave the rest to me.
(fully armored) You make a manly figure on your horse, Cardinal- but the French cannon will soon break down your walls, and you will be impotent in the face of them. (Giovanni Sforza smirks)
Cesare Borgia
(calmly) My walls may yet prove stronger than you think, my Lady.
FSFrench soldiers
Part for the King! The King! Make way! (Charles, fully armored but still sick, rides out to join them)
(coldly) We have Italian friends, Cardinal Borgia, but our business... is all French.
Cesare Borgia
And, that business is?
To gain entry to the city of Rome. The easy way... or, the hard. You have decorate the walls of Rome with flags and pennants- to welcome us, I presume?
Cesare Borgia
(smirks) Your Highness is indeed welcome... to march on, past Rome.
(furious) I warn you, Cardinal: I shall RAZE your city! Take terrible revenge on YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND THE PAPACY ITSELF!
Cesare Borgia
You must enter, first.
My cannon will gain me entry! Twelve hours, I have been assured, to batter down those walls!
Cesare Borgia
... Perhaps my cannon will make their statement, first.
CANNONS, FORWARD! (the "cannons" are rolled into the attack position)
(to herself) How did they manage to?...
(looking equally worried) Our battle line is still forming, my Liege.
Cesare Borgia
I must compliment Your Highness on his ingenuity. Chained cannonballs can take apart a regiment, like... a knife through butter. (Charles looks away) Are you not well, Your Highness?
We have the Neapolitan fever.
Cesare Borgia
(nods) Perhaps battle should wait, then- until his full health returns. Or, perhaps he should trace his gracious path home- to fair France. (turns and rides back inside the gates)
Do I give the signal, my Liege?
Do I look like a fool, General?!
You should spare yourself this, Your Eminence.
Cesare Borgia
Why? Why should I spare myself? (he walks through the burned-out nunnery, Micheletto follows with a torch) I should've foreseen this. (he looks up at the fresco he commissioned, with Ursula Bonadeo's face)
... Your Eminence. (Cesare enters the next room to find Micheletto standing over the body of Ursula, with her ears cut off)
Cesare Borgia
...Ursula. (he kneels next to her and touches her bloodstained face) She chose God, Micheletto... and God repaid her with mutilation.
I know little of God, Your Eminence.
Cesare Borgia
(full of grief and rage) God is deaf, God is blind- God is pitiless. (pause) She has released my heart... of all emotions, but one. (looks up at Micheletto) Vengeance.
(nods) Vengeance is sweet.
Cesare Borgia
So, who did this, my friend?
The French. (picks up the remnants of a banner and examines it) This flag belongs to the cavalry of Gascony- these women were sport for army scouts.
Cesare Borgia
Scouts?
They're renowned for their savagery- necklaces of severed ears. (Cesare removes his cloak and covers Ursula's body with it)
Cesare Borgia
We must give them a lesson, then- in outrage. (they walk away) You were once a stray dog, Micheletto- masterless.
I found my master in you.
Cesare Borgia
There must be other stray dogs out there, in Rome.
There are many. Sons of warlord families, condottiere who long have outlived their usefulness.
Cesare Borgia
Search out a dozen of them- whom we can school in the art of vengeance.
Cesare Borgia
(on Francesco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua) He talks of honor, Father. There is nothing-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Interesting concept, honor, isn't it? It's like its' cousin, valor.
Cesare Borgia
(sarcastically) Honor has cousins?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Oh, it has many cousins.
Cesare Borgia
Rather like Cardinal Sforza.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(nods) And, they've all led Kings and armies to their doom.
Cesare Borgia
So, why should we now make common cause with Milan?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Because, when the French have left this "fair paradise", the Milanese will still be with us.
Cesare Borgia
So?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(smiles and shakes his head) This 'League'...cannot beat the French. Even in their weakened state. And, I doubt the French can beat this League. (pause) So, if the two armies batter each other to death... as the lawyers often say, qui berne?
Cesare Borgia
(nods) "Who benefits?"
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(nods) Mmm. A weakened Venice, a weakened Milan, a weakened Mantua. (shrugs) Has to be worth a weekend in Tuscany, surely. (Cesare smiles at his father's cunning, Rodrigo chuckles and slaps him on the shoulder)
(giving Cesare a tour of Forli Castle) My son, Benito, longs for a soldier's career.
Cesare Borgia
Mmm- It has much to recommend it.
BSBenito Sforza
You bear arms yourself, Signore Borgia?
No, my love- he wears a Cardinal's skirt.
BSBenito Sforza
(glancing at Cesare's military garb) But, your dress is that of a-
Cesare Borgia
I am a civilian, today. An ambassador.
He comes bearing a message from his father, the Pope of Rome. (turns to face Cesare) Have I guessed correctly, Cardinal?
Cesare Borgia
(smiles) You think so little of your charms?
(smiles back) Oh- you've come to sample them, perhaps?
Cesare Borgia
Perhaps. (removes his cloak)
While bearing a message from the Pope of Rome.
Cesare Borgia
The Pope does send his best regards, and would request your... beauteous presence at the Chair of St. Peter's.
He would sample my charms also?
Cesare Borgia
(shrugs) Perhaps. He would feel your lips on his... Papal ring.
(pause, steps towards Cesare) He would have me kneel to him. Bow.
Cesare Borgia
The whole world must bow to the Holy Father.
(doesn't take her eyes of Cesare) Whom does your mother bow to, my son?
BSBenito Sforza
(proudly) Nobody.
(smiles) You heard him, Cardinal. His mother bows to nobody.
Cesare Borgia
And, if "Nobody" were to sit at her table?...
She would not bow. But there are other forms of obesence. (she walks into the dining room)
BSBenito Sforza
(follows her) Other, Mother?
Indeed, my son. There is a form of surrender which implies no submission. It gave birth to you.
BSBenito Sforza
... I confess that I'm lost, Mother.
(chuckles) Indeed, you are truly a soldier, made of hard wood! (pats his cheek, meets Cesare's gaze) But, the Cardinal must know... I only kneel when it suits me. As must the Holy Father.
Cesare Borgia
If you do not come willingly-
Oh, hush, Cardinal, hush! You are our guest this fine evening- I'd have no discord between us. You can relay the Holy Father's message in its' fullness tomorrow.
Cesare Borgia
(sees Giovanni Sforza enter the room, starts and then smirks) My Lord Sforza.
GSGiovanni Sforza
I arrived in the early hours.
Cesare Borgia
You must have. You have... business with your cousin?
GSGiovanni Sforza
Matters of state? Always. (takes some food from the table and nibbles it)
Cesare Borgia
So she requested your presence here.
GSGiovanni Sforza
She told me it would be... appreciated.
Cesare Borgia
Mmm. And, can you tell me why?
GSGiovanni Sforza
To talk of your father's proposal to her.
Cesare Borgia
My father- the Pope?
GSGiovanni Sforza
Mmm- I can only think of him as your father. The father of that... slattern I was tricked into marrying-
Cesare Borgia
(exhales sharply in anger) Be careful, Lord Sforza.
Cesare Borgia
I hold my sister's interests dear.
GSGiovanni Sforza
(smirks) Hmm- I'm aware of that. (pause) You humiliated me, before the whole of Rome. (Cesare smiles thinly)
(enters the room) You shall have your answer, Cesare Borgia.
Cesare Borgia
It is why I am still here, my Lady.
My answer is simple. It is no. (Giovanni smirks, Caterina starts to leave)
Cesare Borgia
Let me be clear. (she stops) You refuse to come to Rome? (Caterina smiles and leaves)
GSGiovanni Sforza
My cousin refuses to debase herself before that... swine that wears the Papal Tiara
Cesare Borgia
(with burning anger) That question was for her, my Lord.
GSGiovanni Sforza
And you have her answer.
Cesare Borgia
Yes- and you will have mine. (he stabs a knife into Giovanni's hand, pinning it to the table-top. Giovanni wrenches it free with a yell of pain; they scuffle, but Cesare quickly gains the upper hand, forcing his knife nearer and nearer to Giovanni's throat) I promised my sister your heart, on a dinner-plate! (finally forces the knife deep into Giovanni's throat, then turns him around and stabs him repeatedly in the belly and lower chest) But I can find no heart!
Cesare Borgia
(enters Lucrezia's quarters to find her watching her sleeping son Giovanni) The sleep of the innocent. (pause) I promised you a heart, Sister.
Cesare Borgia
I promised you the heart of Giovanni Sforza- on a dinner plate. (Lucrezia looks shocked) His blood... on this knife will have to suffice. (unwraps the bloodstained blade and shows it to her)
... What does it say of us, Brother, that you...promise me this, and I would accept?
Cesare Borgia
Do you accept? (Lucrezia looks up at him, then walks across the room)
I would rather have my innocence back. Be as I was, before I married that... vile man.
Cesare Borgia
(strokes her cheek) Impossible, I'm afraid- for either of us. (the Pope walks into the room)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Prime has been sung, terse approaches (kisses Lucrezia) yet some barely rouse their souls! (opens the window to let in sunlight and sighs in satisfaction) Darkness...into light!
Father, Giovanni is sleeping.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Oh, yes yes yes! (lowers his voice, to Cesare) You have, um... broached the matter, my son?
(looks at Cesare)... What matter? (Cesare looks away guiltily)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... The matter of Forli. (gives both of them a direct look) Our need for... the most sacred alliance. (pause) The matter, in a word, of marriage-
(angry) Ah, I see. I am to be put back in the marketplace. (glares at Cesare, who folds his arms) Did you know of this, Brother? (turns to their father) And how secure did the last alliance you sold me into prove to be?!
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(firmly, but guiltily) It is your father's wish- we would have you married! It's as simple as that.
(laughs sarcastically) I will not marry. Never again. So, there let it rest.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
We are shocked by this... ingratitude!
Even so, I will not marry.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sharply) It is a daughter's duty to marry her father's choice! (Giovanni begins to wake)
So, I am to have no voice in the matter?! I am to lie on my back and wait to be ravaged by a beast of your choosi-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Enough! Enough! This language... does not become you. (points at Cesare) And save your salt- say nothing.
Cesare Borgia
(coldly) I haven't uttered a word.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
No, but we can hear you thinking. (gestures at Lucrezia) This will come to pass- you shall see. Even if we drag you to the Basilica! (storms out as Giovanni begins to fuss, Lucrezia glares at Cesare and goes to quiet him)
Cesare Borgia
(sighs and sits down) Like me, you have just declared a war.
Cesare Borgia
(sees Machiavelli walking through Rome at night) Signor Machiavelli. (Machiavelli joins him, they walk into an ally) Welcome... to Rome.
(sarcastically) I appreciate the informality of your welcome.
Cesare Borgia
What is the news from Florence?
Ah- Officially, I am here to open the shutters on the Villa Medici for my master, Piero de Medici. Stones have been thrown at his house in Florence- large stones. He believes he will be safer here in Rome.
Cesare Borgia
Not without our protection.
(nods) The Medici have made many enemies, that cannot be contested.
Cesare Borgia
What of the Medici bank? Is it a sinking ship?
Oh, I am not a banker, but... it may have already sunk.
Cesare Borgia
You may not be a banker, but you are the Medici's Ambassador. You... know these things.
(shrugs) True, I have been privy to sensitive negotiations. Signor de Medici values my opinion- especially as he does not... have one of his own. But, I am really nothing more than a nuncio- a messenger boy. (they walk on)
Cesare Borgia
And what message does the boy bring? What of the Vatican funds?
(flatly) Every penny could be lost. (Cesare stares at him in disbelief) That is the sad truth of it.
Cesare Borgia
... Where has the money gone?
That is the golden question- you are not alone in wanting an answer. There are funds; the question is, where might they be?
Cesare Borgia
(impatient) Do you know?
I am told that what remains is on the move. Some here, some there... although, not on its' way to whom it belongs.
Cesare Borgia
Where?!
That, I do not know. Not yet. Until such time, it is as I told you: I am here to open the shutters of the Villa Medici.
Cesare Borgia
(gritting his teeth) Signor Machiavelli, a more... specific insight into this matter would be much appreciated. (he and Machiavelli bow to each other and depart)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Friar Savanarola berates us daily. He preaches... heresy. That God speaks to him, and him alone. He must be silenced. (pause, looks at Cesare) We charge you with this task- and this will require all your patience. (slaps Cesare on the arm) You will travel to Florence, and you will ban him from preaching the word of God.
Cesare Borgia
(scoffs) He will laugh in my face.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
of course. And then, we will charge him with heresy.
Cesare Borgia
He will laugh in your face.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Of course. And then, we will excommunicate him.
Cesare Borgia
(frowns) He will... deny your right to do so.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(smiles) Of course. And, then... we will burn him. (pause, Cesare smiles) Vengeance, you see, can wait...a lifetime, if necessary.
These people trust their fates- their fortunes- to the power of spells. Come. (they follow the growing crowd) Savanarola understands that what haunts a man's mind in the night, is what rules him. He trades in the fear of Hell.
WWoman
Untie me! Untie me! Please, I've done nothing!
(grimly)... Here is a different kind of bonfire.
WWoman
God will punish you!
Cesare Borgia
(sickened)... What is her crime?
(shrugs, pretending it is obvious) She is a witch. People believe she has the power to cast them into Hell.
Cesare Borgia
(nods) Fear.
Fear of damnation. And, the hope of a better life in the next world. (they observe as the stake is affixed to the ground and wood piled around the shrieking woman) That is what Savanarola promises- he trades in miracles. Show him to be wrong... the man will burn. Just like the witch.
If Angels can fall, from Heaven into Hell... then, so can we all. The Demon waits to devour us.
Cesare Borgia
... Then we must go wrestle with the Demon.
Cesare Borgia
Girolamo Savanarola, I am Cardinal Cesare Borgia- and I come bearing the authority of His Holiness Alexander the Sixth, Pope of Rome!
(points degradingly at him) Here is the Pope's messenger: his bastard son! (smirking) One of many, we hear- Father across the nation! (the congregation laughs and applauds, Cesare advances through them)
Cesare Borgia
Brother Savanarola, you stand accused of defying Papal orders to cease your heretical preaching, and of refusing to present yourself in Rome to bend your knee to our Holy Father!
I recognize no such power! My authority comes from a higher being than your Godless Pope in Rome! (the congregation cheers)
Cesare Borgia
(smiles dangerously, draws level with Savanarola) Then we must put it to the test. (Savanarola looks confused, Cesare lifts his torch) A trial by fire; the whole of Florence can be judge and jury. (the congregation begin to mutter, shocked) I challenge you, here, in this temple of God- as Christ our savior walked on water, if you can walk through fire untouched... then I will follow you through the flames.
(fiercely, but more hesitant than before) God speaks through me. I am not afraid. I will walk through the fire... and he, he that follows me... will burn!
(high from the opium) Brother. (limps towards Cesare) Have you come to beg forgiveness for your insult?
Cesare Borgia
... I have.
(claps him on the shoulder) You are already forgiven.
Imagine... that you're sitting on the edge of a vast well, your feet dangling over the edge. Moving slowly around the walls of the well, like smoke, there's... a world of wonders reaching down, as far as the eye can see.
You see, these wonders... are your life. (pause) I glimpse us, Cesare. Two brothers in harmony, walking together. (smiles) All these visions are the work of tears.
Cesare Borgia
...Tears of blood?
... No. (stops) Tears of the poppy. Everything is there for you to see. Your birth... and, of course, your death. But... but the miracle is, that there's no pain. (laughs shakily) I've been in pain, Cesare, for all my years. (pause) And, you... you are in pain, Brother. I can feel it.
Cesare Borgia
(face contorted with emotion)... Yes. I am in pain.
... You would end your pain. (embraces Cesare)
Cesare Borgia
... Yes. (pause) And I would end yours.
My Brother... what is this? (Cesare's face hardens again)
Cesare Borgia
Only God forgives. (stepping forward, he stabs Juan twice more in the stomach) We're Borgias. We never forgive. (He and Micheletto both grab Juan, holding him upright)
... I stand in awe, Your Eminence.
Cesare Borgia
...You killed your father.
And still, I stand in awe.
Cesare Borgia
(triumphantly, brandishing the forged confession) Holy Father, I bring you the signed confession of the heretic Girolamo Savanarola of Florence! (he sees Juan's body and stops) What happened?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(gestures to Juan tearfully) He was... dragged from the Tiber. Dogs, cats... the stillborn offspring of prostitutes... and our son. (turns away)
Cesare Borgia
Leave us, Cardinals. (Sforza, Piccolomini and Versucci exit)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(embraces Cesare) Who would do such a thing? Who would dare?! Who had cause to wish him harm?
(coolly, staring down at her brother's body) Any one of the many he harmed. (Julia and Vanozza stare at her)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(spins around) What? (Cesare releases him and moves towards Lucrezia) What did you say?
(looks away) Nothing, Father.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(angrily) What do you say?!
(finally meets his eye) You asked, "who would do such a thing?" The answer is many people, Father. Many people.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(shocked and offended)...That does not stand! (gestures at Juan) Here lies your brother- murdered, in cold blood! And, you speak as if... (looks in disbelief at Cesare, Julia and Vanozza) "Many people?!" Many people, you say? Do you count yourself among that number?!
Cesare Borgia
Father-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
LET HER SPEAK!
(steps forward, tearful and angry) What would you have me say?! You know what he did to me! What he took from me- you all do! And you stood by, for the honor of the family. (pause) I have wished him dead a thousand times. And now, you want me to mourn him? I'm sorry, Father, I cannot. (she steps back, next to Cesare)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(stunned, hurt and angry, to Cesare)... And you? He was your brother- you show no tears? Are you stone?
Cesare Borgia
... I wept them all out for him, long ago. Over and over, I watched him fail, and I wept. (resentfully) You should know- you were there. And still, you- you granted him your every favor!
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(quietly, but with barely-contained rage) Take... yourselves, both... away from our SIGHT! (Cesare leads Lucrezia out)
The Borgias · 70 quotes
