Wide World of Quotes > Julius Caesar Quotes
| "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres" (Gaul as a whole is divided into three parts) -- Julius Caesar. These are the opening words of Caesar's historical work, Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War), which was celebrated for its terse, third person style. "Iacta est alea" (The die is cast!) -- Julius Caesar, 49 BC. This was the observation made as he crossed the Rubicon, a stream that separated Gaul (modern-day France) from Italy. By this phrase Caesar meant that he had now irrevocably started the war and that there was no going back. (Source: Roman historian Suetonius' book, Julius Caesar.) This incident is the source of the English phrase, to cross the Rubicon, which again means to take a step that commits one to an undertaking. -- "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) The Latin phrase "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) was written on placards carried by Julius Caesar's soldiers in a triumphal procession they made through Rome in 46 BC. It referred to the rapidity of Caesar's recent success in his Pontic campaign. ("Pontic" is an adjective referring to "Pontos", the ancient Greek name for the modern-day Black Sea.) Caesar is reported to have first used this phrase when writing a letter to a friend just after the Pontic battle. |
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