A Brief History
On January 10, 49 B.C., Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River as he marched toward the city of Rome with his legions. Since it was forbidden to cross the Rubicon with an army, it was seen as a threat to the Republic, and by doing so, Caesar made a bold statement about his intentions to seize power.
Ever since, when we say someone has “crossed the Rubicon,” we are talking about someone who has taken a fateful and irreversible step, such as when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. A point of no return if you will, what aviators call the “Bingo” point or “Bingo fuel,” meaning the exact amount of minimum fuel needed to return to base. Past that point, and the flier has “Crossed the Rubicon” and cannot make it back to base.
Digging Deeper
The Romans also gave us the Latin jacta alia est which translates into “the die is cast,” a meaning similar to crossing the Rubicon in that it describes events that have already been set in motion and cannot be stopped or undone. Unlike many other Latin phrases, usually we say this one in English. Another phrase used in English rather than Latin and attributed to Caesar is, “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”
Have you ever heard about a man being “worth his salt?” This is another one of those Latin sayings that is more commonly repeated in English. Some Roman soldiers were paid in salt which was a valuable commodity those days, and a worthy person who rightly earned his pay was said to be “worth his salt.” Nowadays, this description sounds so much better than “worth his minimum wage.”
Many legal, scientific, and academic terms are largely derived from Latin and are still said in Latin. Examples include: habeas corpus; pro bono, corpus delicti; quid pro quo; pro rata; in situ; in utero; rara avis; pro tem; ad hoc; id est (ie.); exempli gratia (e.g.): and et cetera (etc.) Even the scientific classifications of plants and animals are in Latin.
The Romans also left a legacy of entire languages, with Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian (well, duh!) being descended from Latin and known as “Romance Languages” because of their Roman origin. (I have not checked to see if “New Jerseyian” as an Italian dialect is considered to be a “Romance Language.”)
We also inherited the names of some of our months from the Romans as well as architectural terms such as aqueduct (aqueductus) and colosseum (Coliseum) as well as medical and biological terms such as Caesarian section and gluteus maximus. Latin influences are everywhere! What would the Catholic Church do without Latin? Speak Esperanto?
Of course, there are so many more examples of Latin used in English and other modern languages and societies. If you missed seeing any of your favorites in this article, mea culpa!
Question for students (and subscribers): Let us know what you think the greatest Roman linguistic contributions are in the comments section below this article. In the meantime, Pax.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Beard, Henry. Latin for All Occasions: From Cocktail-Party Banter to Climbing the Corporate Ladder to Online Dating– Everything You’ll Ever Need to Say in Perfect Latin. Avery, 2004.
Ehrlich, Eugene. Veni, Vidi, Vici (Second Edition): Conquer Your Enemies and Impress Your Friends with Everyday Latin. Harper Perennial, 2009.
The featured image in this article, an illustration of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon, was originally posted to Flickr by Internet Archive Book Images at https://flickr.com/photos/126377022@N07/14596755100. It was reviewed on by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the No known copyright restrictions. The uploading organization may have various reasons for determining that no known copyright restrictions exist, such as:
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You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="7635 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=7635">42 Comments
The greatest Roman (or Latin) linguistic contribution is probably the century old wisdom: ‘Homo Sapiens Non Urinat in Ventum’.
You can find this pearl of Roman philosophic expression on the entrance arch to the Max Euweplein in Amsterdam (for all tourists; that’s right around the corner of the Bulldog Coffeeshop on the Leidseplein).
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Euweplein#mediaviewer/File:Amsterdam_Homo_sapiens_non_urinat_in_ventum.jpg
Dear Mark, As a trained linguist, I could translate and explain that expression, but I would prefer that both (translation and explanation) come from you since the Latin phrase obviously means something to do. I am looking forward to reading what you have say 🙂
Dear Beth, I’m sorry, you’re absolutely right; I should have included a translation in my earlier post: “A wise man doesn’t urinate against the wind”. There isn’t any original Roman/Latin source, such as Tacitus, Julias Caesar, Cicero etc., to whom it can be attributed. In addition, this text is obviously ‘Pig-Latin’, since there is no Latin verb ‘urinare’. On the other hand, since it’s so manifestly advertised in plain public, see the attached picture, it would be a pity not to mention it ! 😀
So simple, so crude, yet so profound! 😉
As a Latin student all throughout high school, reading this article took me back to the countless hours spent memorizing phrases such as these! It’s crazy to think about how much of what we say today really came from the ancient Romans. They were the basis for the creation of the Romance Languages, as stated above, and they still have a strong influence in the world today. One play on words my classmates and I would say in our Latin classes was “Semper ubi sub ubi: Always where (wear) under where (wear)!” Of course there are many deep and profound Latin sayings, but this practical piece of advice is a joke that has a special place in my heart!
I believe that it is so interesting how much the Romans created and the fact that we use it today in 2015 is astonishing! Back in Middle School, learning about the Romans and their culture was one of my favorite topics to learn about!
Dear Emily,
Do you have a favorite Roman Emperor?
Sincerely,
Dr. Zarzeczny
It’s incredible how much of the things created by ancient civilizations are still in use today, and so many people don’t even realize where it all came from.
I think it is amazing to see all the languages they have left behind. Also, it is cool to see that phrases can be passed down throughout endless generations.
It’s fun to hear where these phrases actually came from.
It’s always neat to see where different words and sayings we commonly use daily originated. We just go about our day saying them as if it’s just common knowledge, but most of the time we don’t know where it came from.
Interesting how a lot of our phrases came from actual Roman phrases. I wonder how many of them had been carried through the years since the Roman times, or were later rediscovered and included during periods such as the Renaissance.
it is very ineresting to me to find out how many of the sayings we use to today come from the romans. also i wonder how many we forgetten or changed the meaning to that we use today. also how many were lost and re found during the black death and renissance times
I truly had no idea that certain sayings came from the Romans. It is very cool that we still hear those sayings today when they were created so long ago.
It is interesting to see how influential the Romans were to the language we speak.
it is crazy to see how much the Romans influenced the language that we speek today.
I have to ask… pizza?
While reading this article I was shocked to see how much of our American Language comes from the Romans. It is interesting to think that the Romans influenced not only us but other countries as well.
I never realized how much of our language came from Romans. Indeed, Latin is everywhere. Even though it is not spoken anymore, it is very important to languages.
Its amazing how much language has both changed and stayed the same over time.
Considering English words were created after all of the languages mentioned in this article it is not hard to believe that some of our words developed from these languages.
It is interesting how language stays the same over so much time. Also how it can change. It is amazing how language can work.
It’s almost sad to think about how a language used by such a dominant and legendary society such as the Romans is used almost nowhere on its own and not counting the languages it influenced.
Haha iv never heard of the saying “a man being worth his salt” Latin is very interesting.
They gave us the glorious word pizza?? I love them. Thank you thank you
Well,Foreign languages never cease to amaze me. I enjoy many of these Latin words
Latin had so many sayings and it is no doubt English has so many of these sayings due to its Latin roots.
I took Latin for five years throughout high school and college and there are many phrases and sayings that are similar to the English words they mean.
I’ve taken four years of Latin and three more of Italian, and I’ve listened to/watched different shows and newscasts in French and Spanish before and was able to understand a bit of what was said, but the first time I stumbled across a news broadcast in Romanian during a history class, I was surprised to be able to understand a bit of that as well. Knowing even a little Latin is great for a start in understanding other Romance languages.
Latin was the origin of so many things, not surprised so many reached the english language.
Those videos added much value to this article
It is interesting that some of the words that used, I recognized. They say that Latin is the base root for a languages and that learning Latin makes learning all other languages easier.
Honestly I have never heard anyone say “Caesars wife must be above reproach” casually before.
I have never heard of the saying “worth his salt,” but I do like the sound of it.
Worth his salt is a common phrase where i live. We forget it used to be worth as much as gold…then we got fridges lol.
I have never in my entire life hear the phrase “worth his salt” before this
Prior to this reading, I was not familiar with the phrase “worth is salt”.
I have never heard “worth his salt” before
I had no idea that Romance Languages were called as such because of their Roman Origin.
Never have I ever heard the phrase “worth his salt” before
it is so interesting that the romans gave us many words and phrases! Of course an influential people would still have some impact today!
Who has ever said “worth his salt” in recent years? Definitely an odd one