Alea iacta est
Alea iacta est ("The die is cast") is a Latin phrase attributed by Suetonius (as iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlea est]) to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 B.C. as he led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance of the Senate and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. The phrase, either in the original Latin or in translation, is used in many languages to indicate that events have passed a point of no return.
Meaning and forms
The historian Frances Titchener has given a stylized description of the context of Caesar's pronouncement:
"We know from [Caesar's journals] that Caesar is not taking this lightly. He knows that if he marches on Rome with his armies, then he is a public enemy, and that he will either have to win, or die. For a Roman patrician like Julius Caesar there is no life without military service; there is no life without service to the state. He cannot simply 'go native' and stay in Gaul, and he does realise that if he goes back to Rome, he would be killed. At this time the northernmost border of the Roman territory in Italy is the River Rubicon. Once someone crosses the River Rubicon, he's in Roman territory. A general must not cross that boundary with his army – he must do what the Romans call lay down his command, which means surrender his right to order troops, and certainly not be carrying weapons. Caesar and his armies hesitate quite a while at this river while Caesar decides what to do, and Caesar tells us that he informs his soldiers that it's a little tiny bridge across the river, but once they cross it they'll have to fight their way all the way to Rome, and Caesar is well aware that he's risking not just his own life, but those of his loyal soldiers, and he might not win. Pompey is a formidable enemy. It's also impossible to avoid the fact that Caesar was attacking the state, and as a patrician Roman this would have been very difficult for him, equivalent to beating up your father. He wouldn't have done any of this lightly. Finally he makes a decision, it's time to go, and he uses a gambling metaphor: he says 'Roll the dice', 'Alea jacta est'.[1] Once the dice start rolling they cannot be controlled, even though we don't know what it is as the dice roll and tumble. Julius and his men swiftly cross the river and they march double time toward Rome, where they almost beat the messengers sent to inform the Senate of their arrival." [2]
Caesar was said to have borrowed the phrase from Menander, his favourite Greek writer of comedy; the phrase appears in “Ἀρρηφόρος” (Arrephoros,) (or possibly “The Flute-Girl”), as quoted in Deipnosophistae, Book 13, paragraph 8. Plutarch reports that these words were said in Greek:
[Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, «Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος», [anerriphtho kybos] διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)[3]
He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present 'Let the die be cast' and led the army across.
Suetonius, a contemporary of Plutarch writing in Latin, reports a similar phrase.
Caesar: '... iacta alea est,' inquit.[5]
Caesar said, "The die has been cast."— Suetonius, Vita Divi Iuli (The Life of the deified Julius), 121 CE, paragraph 33
Lewis and Short,[6] citing Casaubon and Ruhnk, suggest that the text of Suetonius should read iacta alea esto (reading the imperative ESTO instead of EST), which they translate as "Let the die be cast!", or "Let the game be ventured!". This matches Plutarch's use of third-person singular perfect middle/passive imperative of the verb ἀναρρίπτω,[7] i.e. ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhiphtho kybos, pronounced [anerːípʰtʰɔː kýbos]).
In Latin alea refers to the early form of backgammon that was played in Caesar's time. Augustus (Octavian) mentions winning this game in a letter. Dice were common in Roman times and were cast three at a time. There were two kinds. The six-sided dice were known in Latin as tesserae and the four-sided ones (rounded at each end) were known as tali[8]. In Greek a die was κύβος kybos.[9]
In other languages
The phrase in translation is used in many languages to indicate that events have passed "a point of no return"; for example:
- Czech (Kostky jsou vrženy),
- Danish (Terningen er kastet),
- Dutch (De teerling is geworpen),
- Finnish (Arpa on heitetty), (Noppa on heitetty),
- French (Les jeux sont faits), (les dés sont jetés),
- German (Der Würfel ist gefallen),
- Greek (Ο κύβος ερρίφθη),
- Hungarian (A kocka el van vetve),
- Italian (Il dado è tratto),
- Japanese (賽は投げられた),
- Korean (주사위는 던져졌다),
- Norwegian Bokmål (Terningen er kastet),
- Polish (Kości zostały rzucone),
- Portuguese (A sorte está lançada),
- Romanian (Zarurile au fost aruncate),
- Russian (Жребий брошен),
- Serbian (Коцка је бачена),
- Slovak (Kocky sú hodené),
- Spanish (La suerte está echada),
- Swedish (Tärningen är kastad),
- Welsh (Nid oes modd troi'n ôl)
See also
References
- ^ On a possible alternate form of Caesar's pronouncement, the perfect imperative form: drweevil.org
- ^ Titchener, Frances (2003) To Rule Mankind and Make the World Obey Barnes & Noble Audio Book.
- ^ Perseus Digital Library Plut. Pomp. 60.2
- ^ See also Plutarch's Life of Caesar 32.8.4 and Sayings of Kings & Emperors 206c.
- ^ Perseus Digital Library Suet. Jul. 32
- ^ alea. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
- ^ ἀναρρίπτω. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
- ^ alea. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
- ^ κύβος.
External links
- Divus Iulius, paragraph 32 by Suetonius, where the quote is found.
- Reference to Augustus playing Alea