(playing cards with her two youngest children) Even Joffrey has heard, have you not?
JBJoffrey Borgia
The Pope is dead?
You know what that means?
I know there will be an election.
Juan Borgia(enters after Cesare) And the city will be bedlam until it is over.
Do you think our father can win, Juan?
Juan Borgia
Are we allowed to dream, Mother?
Your father found ways to love and care for us in this house, but I'm not sure that, as Pope, he can do the same.
Juan Borgia
As Pope, he can do what he wants.
(gives him a direct look) Are you sure? Kings and Popes and Emperors belong to their people, not to their families.
So- we allow the election to run its' course, and he won't be Pope?
What other course is there? It's in the hands of God.
(smiles) It's in the hands of the College of Cardinals, Mother. Not quite the same thing. (gestures to Joffrey to play a particular card) This one.
(having received a report from Micheletto) Della Rovere has left Florence.
RBRodrigo Borgia/ Alexander VI
With, or without satisfaction?
Juan Borgia
(dismissively) We have the Papal Armies, the Sforza armies, our allies in the Romagna, all under my command. (sits across from Cesare, slams his sword on the table) To hell with Florence!
(fiddling with a dagger) My fear is, the Cardinal might invite Apocalypse.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
He would open the Seven Seals.
No, Father, let us not talk in metaphors. My fear is, he would go to France, conspire with the French to invade us, and arrange free passage of their armies through the Republic of Florence and the Duchy of Milan.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And, the French King would-
Depose you and march south, to Naples. (pause) His armies are hardened by a hundred years of battle with England- there is nothing here to match them.
Juan Borgia
Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan- he is cousin to our sister's husband, Giovanni Sforza.
(scoffs) Lucrezia did not marry Ludovico Sforza, Brother- and they don't call him Il Moro for nothing.
Juan Borgia
(stands up, crosses the room) I hear he keeps his own cousin, caged beneath his castle floors.
(stands up, approaches the Pope) He would betray us in a moment, if he thought his Dukedom was in peril. What he fears... is that his nephew would wear his crown.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Well... perhaps we should threaten them, with just that possibility. (Juan smiles) And you should go to Florence- tease out their intentions. Those Medici bankers have a preacher, Savanarola, who accuses them of usury. (smiles) Perhaps we should offer them an excommunication- a public burning- if they support our just cause.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
King Ferrante of Naples sends his humble regards-
Juan Borgia
(smirks) King Ferrante of Naples can neither hear nor see, I believe. (Alexander swats him on the shoulder)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Son.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
He nevertheless sends his every good wish. And, in the face of all the spurious claims upon his Kingdom- from Spain, from France, from the Duchy of Milan- he would remind Your Holiness of the justice of the independent claims of Naples. An independent Naples can only be to Rome's... benefit. (Cesare glances at the Pope) And I, as his Ambassador, am proud to present a suit for your consideration, of his last unmarried daughter, Sancha, Duchessa of Squillace. (reaches for the cloth cover to Sancha's portrait)
Juan Borgia
Where is Squillace?
NANeapolitan Ambassador
(annoyed) In the Kingdom of Naples. (reveals the portrait; Alexander looks approving, while Juan is clearly drawn to Sancha's face; he stands up and takes a closer look)
Juan Borgia
(clearly jealous) My younger brother Joffre is all of thirteen years old.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
His Highness had understood the prospective groom to be the Gonfaloniere himself- the Duke of Gandia.
Juan Borgia
(offended) Me? Why, this is most irregular- I would never consider marrying the illegitimate daughter of the King of Na-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(cuts him off, sharply) Would you convey our thanks, to our friend and ally King Ferrante- whose claim to independence we fully understand- for his most generous offer?! (Juan looks angrily back and forth between him and the Ambassador) You will have our response... shortly.
(to a nearby whore) You know this man?
WWhore
No, Father- he had no name last night. (Cesare grabs Juan by the feet and yanks him out of the bed, then drags him upright by the hair, waking him up)
Juan Borgia
(sheepishly) Brother.
WWhore
(amused) You have a priest for a brother?
Juan Borgia
A Cardinal. (Cesare frog-marches him across the room)
WWhore
Cardinal? I shoulda charged you double!
Juan Borgia
(chuckles) I imagine you did- (Cesare dunks him headfirst into a bucket of water, then pulls him back up and shoves him onto a blanket)
(curtly) Your father would review the forces at his command, Gonfaloniere.
Juan Borgia
I am out of sorts this morning, Brother.
It's afternoon. (picks up a bowl of water)
Juan Borgia
Ah, no!- (vainly trys to shield himself as Cesare throws the water on him)
(smirks) You know me, Brother- I disapprove of lechery, debauchery, drunkenness.
Juan Borgia
(grins) Which is why our father made you the Cardinal.
Why, then, did he make you a Duke? (throws the rest of Juan's clothes at him)
Juan Borgia
(smugly) Because lechery and debauchery are the very marks of nobility. (Cesare grabs his arm and yanks him upright again)
Most of Italy has galloped off to the French side. They've heard a sound that is new to their Italian ears: the sound of cannon. (sharply) And the Gonfaloniere has other duties besides lechery and debauchery- there is the tedious business of war.
We are in danger of losing the initiative, Your Highness! (King Charles motions for him to shut up) Your Highness, I strongly urge you to-
You will wait! (pause) I will not harm her.
Juan Borgia
(to Lucrezia) Lucrezia! My God-
They hold us hostage, Brother.
Juan Borgia
"Us?"
Julia Farnese and I. We were riding to Rome-
Juan Borgia
Then ride on.
Would you survive this day, dear Juan?
Juan Borgia
We have a battle to fight.
Believe me, you have lost it already-
Juan Borgia
It is hardly begun!
(sharply) I have heard one roar of cannon! A hundred more, and your whole army will be dead and bleeding, and you have yet to see their pikes!
Juan Borgia
(stubbornly) I will not accept defeat-
Then do not call it that! Call it common sense! Say the French King asked for terms. You offered...
Juan Borgia
...What did I offer?!
His safe passage to Naples, in exchange for... his bloodless entry into Rome.
Juan Borgia
Lucrezia, he will pillage the place! Depose our father!
Leave that to me. (she returns to Charles) It was my brother, Your Highness!
The Gonfalionere of the Papal Armies. He thought you meant to sack Rome, like the Goths and Vandal hordes! I told him you're a gentleman- you had no such idea. (Charles glances away ashamedly) You had no such idea, had you?
Your goal is Naples. (Della Rovere looks quickly at the King)
(smiles) So... my brother, the Duke of Gandia, the Gonfaloniere of the Papal Armies, bids you welcome to Rome.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
So... Cardinal Della Rovere is still alive.
I would... hardly call it living.
Juan Borgia
(snidely) You need lessons in killing, Brother.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Enough! (pause) And King Charles of France, what of him?
(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.
Juan Borgia
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.
Juan Borgia
"'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.
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.
Juan Borgia
Family.
(slightly hesitant) Family.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
...Family.
Who walks with me?! (they don't answer; he breaks into a run, turns a corner and sees another cloaked man ahead of him) I mean you no harm, kind sir, whoever you may be! (he tries to flee but is caught by the other two men, who drag him forward; the third man removes his hood, revealing himself to be Juan)
Juan Borgia
Suicide. A sin even a Pope can't forgive. (puts a noose around Paolo's neck and tightens it) Because dead men can't confess.
Juan Borgia
... Holy Father.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(curtly) Have you come to confess? (Juan comes over to his chair, kneels and puts his arms around his father's shoulders)
Juan Borgia
That I am sorry, and-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sharply) For what?!
Juan Borgia
... For my sister... and for her loss.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(takes Juan's hand in his own) You... will choose a bride, in your ancestral homeland, Spain. You will travel there... And you will become the Borgia... that I always hoped you would be! (shoves Juan's hand aside and storms out)
Juan Borgia
(limps into Lucrezia's room after her son's baptism) Sister. So, finally the bastard has a name. (Lucrezia glares at him as the maid leaves) Blessed by our Holy Father, and saved from damnation.
(coldly) And you, dear Brother- will you be saved from damnation?
Juan Borgia
(puts his hand on the crib) The angels smile on me-
(swats his hand away) Please don't! (Giovanni starts to fuss)
Juan Borgia
(leans malevolently close to her) One day, you'll realize that everything I've done has been for your own good. If you had tried to marry that waster from Genoa, the one with the paintbrush... I would've taken good care of him.
(sarcastically) For the good of the family, no doubt?
Juan Borgia
(stares at her for a moment) Always. (limps across the room and sits)
(angry and sad) Like you "took care" of Paolo- a stableboy- for the good of the family?!
Juan Borgia
(stares at her, indifferent) Exactly so. Everything I do is for the family. (Lucrezia looks nauseated) Were it not for our father's affection for your bastard son... I would've tossed that piglet into the Tiber at birth. It's the only baptism it deserves.
We are all bastards. You, me, our brothers- we are all bastards!
Juan Borgia
Yes- perhaps. (stands up, limps menacingly close to her and Giovanni) But, we... are Borgia bastards. And there, dear Sis, lies the difference. (limps around the cradle, sets down his cane and picks up Giovanni) Hello, little piggy- time for a little dance, I think. (he walks onto the second floor the main hall, Lucrezia comes after him, frantic and enraged)
Leave my baby! Juan, leave my baby alone! No, No!
Leave my baby alone! (she finally manages to wrestle her son back from Juan's hands and flees back to the nursery)
Juan Borgia
(high from the opium) Brother. (limps towards Cesare) Have you come to beg forgiveness for your insult?
Juan Borgia
(claps him on the shoulder) You are already forgiven.
Juan Borgia
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.
Juan Borgia
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.
Juan Borgia
... 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.
(face contorted with emotion)... Yes. I am in pain.
Juan Borgia
... You would end your pain. (embraces Cesare)
... Yes. (pause) And I would end yours.
Juan Borgia
My Brother... what is this? (Cesare's face hardens again)
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.
...You killed your father.
And still, I stand in awe.
The Borgias · 70 quotes
