Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase traditionally attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–8), which is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?" Also sometimes rendered as "Who watches the watchmen?", the phrase has other idiomatic translations and adaptations such as "Who will watch the watch-guards?" In modern usage, it is frequently associated with the political philosophy of Plato and the problem of political corruption, but the original source has no known connection to Plato or political theory. The original context deals rather with the problem of ensuring marital fidelity. It has also been questioned whether the text of this particular passage is authentically part of Juvenal's Satires or is a later addition to the manuscript.

History

This quotation is often and incorrectly attributed to Plato's Republic. However, there is no phrase in the Republic which is parallel or directly synonymous to it. It is commonly cited with regard to the problem of how to ensure that persons entrusted to watch over the interests of the state do so faithfully. In the Republic, a putatively perfect society is described by Socrates, the main character in this Socratic dialogue. Socrates proposed a guardian class to protect that society, and the custodes (watchmen) from the Satires are often interpreted as being parallel to the Platonic guardians (phulakes in Greek). Socrates' answer to the problem is, in essence, that the guardians will be manipulated to guard themselves against themselves via a deception often called the "noble lie" in English. As Leonid Hurwicz pointed out in his 2007 lecture on accepting the Nobel Prize in Economics, one of Socrates' interlocutors in the Republic, Glaucon, even goes so far as to say "it would be absurd that a guardian should need a guard." It should be kept in mind, however, that this association with Plato is post-Classical, and this line of thought does not constitute evidence that the author of the Satires intended any association with Plato's Republic.

Origin

The phrase, as it is normally quoted in Latin, comes from the Satires of Juvenal, the 1st/2nd century Roman satirist. Although in its modern usage the phrase has universal, timeless applications to concepts such as tyrannical governments and uncontrollably oppressive dictatorships, in context within Juvenal's poem it refers to the impossibility of enforcing moral behaviour on women when the enforcers (custodes) are corruptible (Satire 6.346–348):

audio quid ueteres olim moneatis amici, "pone seram, cohibe." sed quis custodiet ipsos— custodes? cauta est et ab illis incipit uxor.

I hear always the admonishment of my friends: "Bolt her in, constrain her!" But who will guard the guardians? The wife plans ahead and begins with them!.

However, modern editors regard these three lines as an interpolation inserted into the text. In 1899 an undergraduate student at Oxford, E.O. Winstedt, discovered a manuscript (now known as O, for Oxoniensis) containing 34 lines which some believe to have been omitted from other texts of Juvenal's poem. The debate on this manuscript is ongoing, but even if the poem is not by Juvenal, it is likely that it preserves the original context of the phrase. If so, the original context is as follows (O 29–33):

… noui consilia et ueteres quaecumque monetis amici, "pone seram, cohibes." sed quis custodiet ipsos— custodes? qui nunc lasciuae furta puellae hac mercede silent crimen commune tacetur.

… I know the plan that my friends always advise me to adopt: "Bolt her in, constrain her!" But who can watch the watchmen? They keep quiet about the girl's secrets and get her as their payment; everyone hushes it up.

Popular culture

The question "Who watches the Watchmen?" frequently appears in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel Watchmen, though the phrase is never seen in any one place in its entirety. Moore stated in an interview that the title of the series related directly to this question, although at the time of the interview Moore did not know where the sentence originated.

The internet comedy group Loading Ready Run made a video parodying the question of 'Who watches the Watchmen?', proposing that the Watchmen watch the city, the 'Neighbourhood Watchmen Watching Organisation' watch the Watchmen, the 'Watching The Neighbourhood Watchmen Watching Organisation Organisation' watch the Neighbourhood Watchmen Watching Organisation, and Geoff watches the 'Watching The Neighbourhood Watchmen Watching Organisation Organisation', an unknown person is seen to be watching Geoff.

An episode of the cartoon television series The Simpsons refers to this philosophical question. In episode 1F09, "Homer the Vigilante", when Homer is talking about having abused his vigilante powers, his elder daughter Lisa asks, "If you're the police, who will police the police?" Homer responds, "I don't know. Coast guard?"

It appears frequently in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, usually heard from Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch. He answers it in Thud!, though very briefly, with the line "I do." When asked who watches over him, he follows it up with "I do, too". It also appears in Feet of Clay and I Shall Wear Midnight. It first appears in Guards! Guards! from a citizen, also addressed to Vimes, as: "Quis custodiet custard?"

In the 1993 version of The Untouchables the phrase is uttered by Agent Malone in the episode where illegal tactics are employed against the mob at the behest of business and civic leaders. Agent Ness answers "The people will".

In the Robert A. Heinlein novel Space Cadet, the phrase is the motto of the interplanetary peacekeeping force, The Patrol.

Another variant appears in the film Enemy of the State at the end when Carla Green says "Well who's gonna monitor the monitors of the monitors?", after a series of illegal operations involving a group of rogue NSA agents is exposed.

In the book Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, the phrase is used many times by Ensei Tankado who is angered by the NSA's ability to look at emails without alerting the public.

The phrase "Who will babysit the babysitters?" is heard in the song "The Power of Lard" by the band Lard.

In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Divided We Fall", Batman states "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" to Green Arrow, who had just convinced Superman not to disband the Justice League. Green Arrow simply replies "Who guards the guardians? We've got it covered" before taking off with Black Canary.

In Underoath's new album Ø (Disambiguation), there is a song entitled "Who will guard the guardians".

The Prize Fighter Inferno, the side project of Coheed and Cambria's lead singer Claudio Sanchez, includes a song in the album My Brother's Blood Machine titled "Who Watches the Watchmen?"

In the second Star Trek television series Star Trek the Next Generation, episode #52 from season three is titled, "Who Watches the Watchers." The episode involves a group of anthropologists who are observing a primitive culture, but are discovered after an accident causes their camouflaged "duck blind" to fail, revealing their presence.

The phrase was invoked at the beginning of the annual Innocence Network UK conference in March 2011 by Dr Eamonn O'Neill, University of Strathclyde, and Chair of the conference who gave the answer: 'We do...' meaning the lawyers, investigative journalists and activists present therein.

In November 2011, at his opening speech for the hearings of the Leveson Inquiry, Lord Justice Brian Leveson used a variation on the phrase, saying: “The press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life. That is why any failure within the media affects all of us. At the heart of this Inquiry, therefore, may be one simple question: who guards the guardians?”

See also

• Sousveillance

External links

• Satire VI in Latin, at The Latin Library
• Satire VI in English (translation by G.G. Ramsay) at the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook