The Roman World

What Rome left in English — Caesar, the arena, the roads, the law, and the poets.

One general, one river, and the end of the Republic.

• cross the Rubicon IDIOM To take a step you cannot undo. The Rubicon, January 49 BC.
• the die is cast IDIOM The decision is made and there is no going back. What he said at the crossing.
• veni, vidi, vici IDIOM I came, I saw, I conquered — used of a job done fast and without difficulty. Zela, 47 BC — the war report.
• Caesar's wife must be above suspicion IDIOM People in public positions must avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing, guilty or not. The Bona Dea scandal, 62 BC.
• beware the Ides of March IDIOM A warning that a specific day, or a trusted circle, holds danger. Spurinna's warning, 15 March 44 BC.
• Et tu, Brute? IDIOM Said when the person betraying you is the last one you expected. Brutus, in the Senate.
• sic semper tyrannis IDIOM Thus always to tyrants — a slogan claiming that oppressors get what is coming to them. What the assassins told themselves.

Emperors, spectacle, and the machinery of keeping a city entertained.

• bread and circuses IDIOM Food and entertainment handed out by those in power to keep the public quiet. Juvenal's complaint.
• circus WORD a show with performers like clowns and acrobats, or a place where many streets meet; it can also describe a very busy or chaotic situation. The Circus Maximus.
• a Roman holiday IDIOM Enjoyment taken from watching somebody else suffer. Byron on the Dying Gaul.
• fiddle while Rome burns IDIOM To busy yourself with trivia while a disaster you could be addressing unfolds. Nero and the fire of AD 64.
• Triumph WORD a great victory or a very successful result. You use this word when someone wins something difficult or achieves a big goal. The victory parade.
• Laurel WORD an evergreen tree with shiny leaves that people used to make crowns for winners in ancient times. Today, it is often used to talk about honor or success. The victor's wreath.
• rest on one's laurels IDIOM To rely on past success and stop making the effort to keep improving. What the wreath came to mean.
• to the victor belong the spoils IDIOM Whoever wins gets to take everything that comes with winning. The plunder in the parade.
• purple WORD a colour made by mixing red and blue; it is also used to describe royal power or very fancy writing. The dye reserved for emperors.
• wear the purple IDIOM To hold supreme power, or to be born into the family that holds it. Holding the office itself.

The roads, the Forum, and the city that took centuries to build.

• all roads lead to Rome IDIOM Different paths can take one to the same goal. The road network and the Golden Milestone.
• Rome wasn't built in a day IDIOM It takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive. A medieval proverb about Roman scale.
• when in Rome, do as the Romans do IDIOM It is wise to adapt to the circumstances; it is wise to follow common custom. Ambrose's advice on local custom.
• Forum WORD a place where people can share ideas and talk about specific topics. In the digital world, it is a website where you can post messages and reply to others. The square at the centre of civic life.
• vox populi IDIOM The opinion of ordinary people, taken as a verdict. What was heard in it.

Hannibal, Pyrrhus, and the strategy Rome used on everyone else.

• Hannibal at the gates IDIOM A threat so close and so serious that everything else stops mattering. Hannibal in Italy, 218–203 BC.
• a Pyrrhic victory IDIOM A win that costs so much it feels almost like a defeat. Pyrrhus beats Rome and loses anyway.
• divide and conquer IDIOM To keep opponents from uniting so that each can be dealt with separately. How Rome handled the defeated.
• fortune favours the bold IDIOM Luck tends to go to the person willing to take the risk. Virgil, Aeneid X.
• si vis pacem, para bellum IDIOM If you want peace, prepare for war — the argument that strength is what prevents attack. Vegetius on why armies train.
• casus belli IDIOM The event a side points to as its justification for going to war. The paperwork of a just war.
• semper fidelis IDIOM Always faithful — a pledge of loyalty that does not expire. The soldier's oath.
• the sword of Damocles IDIOM A constant, looming danger that could strike at any moment, hanging over someone who seems fortunate. Cicero's story about power.

Horace, Virgil and Cicero, still quoted in the original.

• carpe diem IDIOM Seize the day — make use of today rather than counting on tomorrow. Horace, Odes 1.11.
• tempus fugit IDIOM Time flies — said when far more of it has gone than you expected. Virgil, Georgics.
• memento mori IDIOM A reminder that you are going to die, and that this should change how you spend the time. The warning in the chariot.
• in vino veritas IDIOM People say what they actually think once they have had a drink. Pliny the Elder.
• festina lente IDIOM Make haste slowly — move quickly, but never faster than you can do it properly. Augustus' favourite motto.
• to err is human IDIOM Making mistakes is part of being a person, so a mistake alone is not a scandal. Cicero, then Pope.
• homo homini lupus IDIOM Man is a wolf to man — people are dangerous to each other. Plautus, Asinaria.
• alter ego IDIOM A second self — either a trusted other person or a different side of yourself. Cicero on friendship.
• tabula rasa IDIOM A blank slate — a mind or a situation with nothing yet written on it. The scraped wax tablet.
• magnum opus IDIOM Somebody's greatest work — the one they will be remembered for. The great work.
• in medias res IDIOM Starting in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning. Horace, Ars Poetica.
• non sequitur IDIOM A conclusion or remark that does not follow from what came before. The rhetorician's verdict.
• ad nauseam IDIOM Repeated so often that everyone is sick of it. Past what an audience bears.

Roman legal Latin that never left the courtroom — or the boardroom.

• bona fide IDIOM Genuine and honestly meant — the real thing, not a pretence. The Roman standard of good faith.
• caveat emptor IDIOM Let the buyer beware — checking what you are buying is your own problem. What Rome did not actually say.
• quid pro quo IDIOM Something given in return for something else, usually as an understood trade. From the apothecary's substitute.
• de facto IDIOM In practice, whatever the official position says. The question of fact.
• de jure IDIOM According to the law, whether or not that is what actually happens. The question of law.
• ipso facto IDIOM By that very fact — the consequence follows automatically, with no further step. Consequences that need no hearing.
• the status quo IDIOM The way things currently are, especially when someone wants to keep them that way. In statu quo ante bellum.
• ad hoc IDIOM Made for this one situation, with no general rule behind it. For this case only.
• cui bono IDIOM Who benefits? — asked to find out who is really behind something. The judge Cassius's question.
• ignorance of the law is no excuse IDIOM Not knowing a rule existed will not get you out of having broken it. Straight out of the Digest.
• modus operandi IDIOM A person's characteristic way of doing something, recognisable across occasions. How the thing was done.
• persona non grata IDIOM Someone who is no longer welcome, and has been told so. Vienna Convention, Article 9.

• annus horribilis IDIOM A thoroughly awful year.
• annus mirabilis IDIOM A year of remarkable achievement or good fortune.
• nota bene IDIOM Note well — pointing the reader at something they must not skip.
• per capita IDIOM Per person — a total divided by the number of people it covers.
• per se IDIOM In itself — used to separate a thing from what happens to surround it.
• vice versa IDIOM The other way round — the same statement with the two parts swapped.