Debra May Macleod > Quotes

“Yet Cicero’s ultimate desire was for peace and order to be restored to Rome. He had calculated that the new Caesar was the man most likely to make that happen and so had begrudgingly thrown his support behind Octavian; however, that clearly hadn’t protected him from Antony’s wrath.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“Octavian hadn’t just lost his best friend. He had lost the man who had helped him build the world’s greatest empire. Agrippa had literally fought Octavian’s battles for him, and the latter’s relative cowardice on the battlefield was well-known. It was rumored that he had once hidden behind a bush while Agrippa had roared his legions ahead to victory, all under the red banner of the new Caesar.”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“You were raised to a great height by our friendship, but mostly through your own extraordinary accomplishments, which all men acknowledged.”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“His mistress, although High Priestess of Rome, had been summoned by the Senate no differently than a slave being summoned by her master. And the Senate itself ? Was that not just a gathering of Caesar’s wealthier slaves in good togas?”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“What do you think killed the general?” asked Lucasta. “The same thing that kills all of us,” Pomponia replied. “Living.”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“Perhaps you will face a crisis with the temple or the order, or perhaps you will face a personal crisis. When this happens, it is wise to look to the past and to follow the exempla maiorum. The ways of our ancestors. Their lives are our history, and history is always the best adviser.”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“This Caesar knew how to keep the senators rich, the public happy, and the soldiers busy, while at the same time achieving the impossible: peace.”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“The Mundus reminds us that life and death are just two parts of the same monument. At some point, we all pass through the door.”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“Tarpeia patted his chest. She remembered something Rhea had said to Romulus only days before he had killed Remus: A strong king must have a strong stomach. It made her feel a pang of sadness for her husband, sadness for the weight of it all.”
― Debra May Macleod, Tarpeia

“The choice of the wise,” said Cicero, knowing Antony neither forgave nor forgot. “Mea sententia, General.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“There is an old saying: Arx Tarpeia Capitoli proxima. It means that it is easy to fall from a place of high power.” Pomponia pulled her palla tighter around her shoulders. “Nowhere is that more true than in Rome.”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“she helped Fabiana into the lectica and stepped in after her, Pomponia thanked the goddess for making her a priestess and freeing her from the obligation to marry. As a Vestal, she would step down from the order, if she so wished, with wealth, property, and privilege. As a Vestal, even a retired one, she would never be forced to marry a man she didn’t want to, nor would she ever be subordinate to a husband’s will or whims. She would never be forced to bear children for him, again and again, until her body wore out in the quest to give him the perfect son he could parade around as his legacy.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“But Pomponia was content with the current empress. Nota res mala optima. A known evil is better than an unknown one.”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“She took Octavia’s hands in her own. “Congratulations on your marriage and the success of your family, Lady Octavia. You have married one of Rome’s great men, and your brother is Caesar. Fortuna smiles on you.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“I should already be free. My former master—” “Ah well,” Taurus mumbled through a mouthful of apple. “Who among us is truly free, my friend?”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“Romulus approached the nearest slave and held a dagger to the man’s throat. “Rome or Hades?” he asked. The slave, a middle-aged man with a silver-streaked beard, cautiously lowered himself to the ground, setting his dagger at the king’s feet. “Rome,” he said. The other slaves followed suit.”
― Debra May Macleod, Tarpeia

“Agrippa was Octavian’s second self. It wouldn’t have mattered how poorly Julia treated him: Agrippa would never have permitted her exile. He cared for Octavian. He would not have let him grow so distant from his only daughter.”
― Debra May Macleod, Empire of Iron: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“This is why Fabiana made you the Vestalis Maxima. You always do what must be done.”
― Debra May Macleod, To Be Wolves: A Novel of the Vestal Virgins

“Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis,” she had told them. Times change, and we change with them.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“The haruspices think the more time it takes them to study the entrails, the more impressed we are at their divinations. They mistake our relief at the end of their study for awe.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“can see how you’d like to take credit for that, Claudia,” said Livia, “but she didn’t do it for a man. The woman is sexless. It was a quid pro quo between her and Caesar. She gave him Antony’s will, and he agreed that any future accusations of incestum against a Vestal would be dealt with under a fairer process by the Pontifex Maximus and the quaestio. She probably thinks it’s better than relying on miracles.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome

“The Vestal took another sip of the cucumber water, hoping it would help her face cool from the quiet confrontation. Livia had retreated, but she wouldn’t wait long to advance again. They both knew it.”
― Debra May Macleod, Brides of Rome