Idiom
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
Formal Roman origin
Meaning
People in public positions must avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing, guilty or not.
Examples
“A judge cannot accept gifts. Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.”
“He had broken no rule by taking the flight, but Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and the photographs did the rest.”
“The inquiry cleared her of every charge and still ended her career, a reminder that in public office Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and that an acquittal published on page nine cannot undo an accusation printed on page one.”
Examples
simple
“A judge cannot accept gifts. Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.”
contextual
“He had broken no rule by taking the flight, but Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and the photographs did the rest.”
complex
“The inquiry cleared her of every charge and still ended her career, a reminder that in public office Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and that an acquittal published on page nine cannot undo an accusation printed on page one.”
Origin
In December of 62 BC the rites of the Bona Dea, a festival closed to men, were held in Caesar's house and hosted by his wife Pompeia. A young politician named Publius Clodius Pulcher got in dressed as a woman. He was caught, and the scandal went to trial.
Caesar divorced Pompeia. Then, called as a witness against Clodius, he testified that he knew nothing against her. Asked why he had divorced her, Plutarch reports his answer: because his household must be free not only of guilt but of the suspicion of it.
The English proverb keeps the standard and drops the marriage. To say that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion is to argue that for someone in public life, looking compromised is damage enough — proof of innocence arrives too late to matter.
Stories
Caesar & the Republic · See all Roman origin
One general, one river, and the end of the Republic.
cross the Rubicon — To take a step you cannot undo.
the die is cast — The decision is made and there is no going back.
veni, vidi, vici — I came, I saw, I conquered — used of a job done fast and without difficulty.
beware the Ides of March — A warning that a specific day, or a trusted circle, holds danger.
Et tu, Brute? — Said when the person betraying you is the last one you expected.
sic semper tyrannis — Thus always to tyrants — a slogan claiming that oppressors get what is coming to them.
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated