Domitian

"A good death is one that is remembered."

"In the end, all leaders are forgotten."

"The ruler who fears his people will never sleep soundly, for suspicion is the tyrant's eternal companion."

"To destroy one's enemies is not enough; one must erase them from memory itself."

"A man who trusts everyone is a fool, but a man who trusts no one is a prisoner."

"The palace walls grow taller when the people grow distant."

"What is remembered of a ruler is not his mercy, but his legacy."

"The pursuit of absolute power is the surest path to absolute loneliness."

"Fear is the most efficient tool of governance, yet it corrodes from within."

"A throne built on flattery is no throne at all, but a foundation of sand."

"Those who whisper behind closed doors will one day shout in the streets."

"The greatest threat to a tyrant is not rebellion, but reflection."

"One cannot rule the world while being ruled by paranoia."

"The spectacle distracts from the truth, and the truth from the spectacle."

"To grant freedom is to lose control; to maintain control is to deny freedom."

"A man decorated with titles is still merely a man."

"The strength of an empire lies not in its armies, but in the fear it instills."

"Mercy is a luxury only the secure can afford."

"What men fear, they eventually come to hate."

"The artist who serves the ruler paints not truth but propaganda."

"Power without purpose is merely the exercise of muscles over minds."

"Those closest to the throne are often the first to betray it."

"A kingdom cannot be conquered from without if it is already divided within."

"The measure of a man is not in what he builds, but in what he destroys."

"Even gods can fall when mortals cease to believe."

"To be remembered is to never truly die, though it is a poor consolation."

"The written word outlives the sword, yet the sword silences the word."

"Confidence and competence are not the same; the fool often possesses the former."

"A ruler's smile is often the prelude to a sword's fall."

"The bureaucrat serves the state, and the state serves the ruler's ambition."