Rome wasn't built in a day
It takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Don't worry, your English is improving. Rome wasn't built in a day.”
“Six months in, the shop was still losing money, but Rome wasn't built in a day and the regulars were multiplying.”
“Investors were told that Rome wasn't built in a day, which is true, and also the sort of thing people say when they would rather not discuss the timeline in any more detail than that.”
first recorded 12th c.
Despite naming the city, the proverb is medieval French rather than ancient Roman. Its earliest known form — "Rome ne fu[t] pas faite toute en un jour" ("Rome wasn't made all in one day") — appears in a collection of French verse, Li Proverbe au Vilain, written around 1190.
It reached English centuries later through translators and proverb-collectors: Richard Taverner used a version in his 1539 rendering of Erasmus's Adagia, and John Heywood printed it in his 1546 proverb book as "Rome was not bylt on a daie."
Even Queen Elizabeth I drew on it — in Latin, "Roma uno die non est condita" — during a 1563 address at Cambridge, making the point that her reign would need time to prove itself.
- 01
a cold day in July
The time of occurrence of an event that will never happen.
- 02
a day late and a dollar short
Too late and too feeble to achieve the desired effect.
- 03
a year and a day
A long time.
- 04
all one's born days
One's whole life.
- 05
all roads lead to Rome
Different paths can take one to the same goal.
- 06
as the day is long
Unceasingly; very; thoroughly; to a very high degree.
- 07
bad hair day
A day when things seem to be unmanageable or go wrong.
- 08
bad old days
The past, seen as a time when things were worse.
The roads, the Forum, and the city that took centuries to build.
- 01
all roads lead to Rome (idiom)
Different paths can take one to the same goal.
The road network and the Golden Milestone.
- 02
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.
- 03
forum (word)
a place or meeting where people can exchange ideas and discuss particular issues, either in person or on the internet.
The square at the centre of civic life.
- 04
vox populi (idiom)
The opinion of ordinary people, taken as a verdict.
What was heard in it.
Last updated August 10, 2026