Quotes from Steven Saylor

Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil.

Writing a first novel takes so much effort, with such little promise of result or reward, that it must necessarily be a labour of love bordering on madness.

Jealousy and pride were equally vain.

Plotina laughed. "I don't intend to. The way I go into this house is the way I hope to be carried out of it.

Epictetus was a living example of the Stoic philosophy he embraced, which placed great value on the dignity of the self and a graceful acquiescence to those things over which the self had no control.

Constantine said, 'I am an emperor and a warrior, not a bishop or a martyr. A ruler by necessity must continue to sin until the very last day of his life.' Eusebius tried to object, but Constantine silenced him. He said, 'I have much to do in this life before I am ready to put sinning behind me.

The idea of new imperial commissions gave Gaius a feeling of well-being starkly at odds with the horror of watching the amphitheater burn. There was no disaster so universal that it did not bring good fortune to someone. Was it hubris, to think such a thing?

To write about long-dead people is one thing. To write about one's own lifetime is different. And of course I must take care to avoid writing anything that gives offense to the emperor. Yes, I'm finding it difficult. But never fear, I shall finish it, and Philip will be impressed.

men ran to fill all ten positions. To pull that off required the cooperation of men who would normally have been your rivals." "And the same thing will happen again this year, because the people will demand it!" Lucius thought otherwise

Nero wanted only to be an actor; Commodus, to be a gladiator; and young Antoninus Ã¢â'¬Â¦ to be Venus!

Thus does the mob delight in the humiliation of powerful men," Titus whispered. The scribe cocked his head, not quite catching the words. "Yes, write that down," said Titus. He repeated the phrase, thinking it rather good. "Well, I think I can guess where your thoughts have taken you," said Philostratus. "Pupienus and Balbinus." Titus nodded.

No city is conquered unless its people have offended the gods; for the conquerors to kill or enslave the inhabitants is pleasing to the gods. The people of Roma have always known this. The humiliation of our enemies is one of the ways by which we please the gods, and by pleasing the gods, we continue to prosper.

But surely, to ascribe certain events, clearly the outcome of deliberate human acts, to the Fates or the gods does the immortals a disservice as well—indeed, it approaches impiety. It is certainly not 'truth' in any meaningful sense. I might as well simply make it all up, as if I were writing a novel about imaginary people, set in some invented land!

Amazing as it might seem, the emperors and the empire of Rome have been instruments of his will all along. With the final demise of the persecutors, and with power in the hands of divinely inspired men like Constantine and Licinius, the Roman Empire is now ready to assume a new role in the history of mankind.

Still, Marcus was acutely aware that he served at Hadrian's pleasure. In a state ruled absolutely by one man, no matter how enlightened that man might be, every other man was at his mercy.

Consider all the mortals that populated the earth before us, generation upon generation, extending back through countless centuries. All are dead, all turned to dust—so many, one wonders how the earth has room to hold them all.

My talents, such as they are, have usually been employed in finding the truth of some event that's already taken place. I've never claimed to have any talent for prevention or precognition. I can't foretell the future.

forgotten how

Lucius recalled an ancient Etruscan proverb: "Sit too near the flame and your cloak will catch fire.

My old friend Pliny, not long before Vesuvius put an end to him, wrote that the ostrich hides its head in a bush when attacked and thinks its whole body is concealed," said Martial. "See how the attendants have placed bits of shrubbery all around the arena, so that the bird may demonstrate its foolish behavior?

new city. With

Why every hundred and ten years?" "Because that is thought to be the longest possible length of a human life, and thus the schedule makes true the claim—any given man will see only one in his lifetime, if indeed he sees one at all. Thus the old joke: An athlete loses every competition at the Saecular Games, but he is comforted by a friend who tells him, 'Cheer up! I'm sure you'll win at the next Saecular Games!

Yes, indeed, Senator Pinarius. It's because the author mentions his dealings with the late Marcus, blessed be his memory, and with Commodus, blessed be his reign. Anything to do with the imperial family is always guaranteed to sell, and with today's awful news, people are hungry to read anything to do with the beloved Marcus.

History and legend conspire to convince us that there are men who rise above the common lot of humankind, who are set apart from the rest of us by birth or achievement or the favor of the gods; but no man, regardless of his pretensions to greatness, is immune from death, and the death of the so-called great is often more squalid and terrifying than the deaths of their most humble subjects.