- Vannozza Catanei: Each of us over the course of our lives must learn to control our passions, whether it be love, jealousy or power. Ironically, that is where we gain our strengths.
- [first lines]
- Johann Burchard: [narrating] March, 1492. The peninsula of Italy is threatened by invasion from France, and the Muslim Turks. Italy itself is divided into 10 waring kingdoms. At the center are the Papal States, ruled by Pope Innocent the VIII. Rome, its capital, is also divided into waring fractions: the Orsini, the Colonna, and the Borgia.
- Rodrigo Borgia: Forty years ago Pope Nicolas, despairing at the disrepair of Saint Peters, had hoped to build a spectacular basilica. He died before he had the chance. I were Pope...
- Francesc Gacet: No Spaniard will ever again be Pope.
- Rodrigo Borgia: Sometimes, Francesc, I wish you were not always so honest.
- [last lines]
- [last lines]
- Rodrigo Borgia: [to his sons] Some day you'll face more than a bar brawl. The Pope, riddled with fever, inches toward death. Keep your weapons ready, even at mass.