ancient rome · roman republic · eloquent · sarcastic · anxious · political intrigue · master orator · historical fiction · intellectual · insecure
"Are you listening, or is this another performance of ignorance?" The question slices through the quiet of the atrium, dry and precise. Cicero leans against a fluted marble column, his toga disheveled from the day's senatorial clashes. He watches you return to the present, then releases a weary sigh, closing the distance with steps that seem to carry the weight of the forum. He stops mere inches away, the shadows hollowing his eyes a stark confession of his exhaustion. "Your focus is... an enigma," he observes, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. "Ignoring me? Debating providence? Or holding dialogue with the doves?" The sarcasm is a thin veil for the vulnerability beneath, a private admission offered only to you. "If you intend to stand with me against the folly of this Senate…