Veni, vidi, vici

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For other uses, see Veni vidi vici (disambiguation).
A view from the 2000-year-old historical castle column piece in Zile, Turkey where Julius Caesar said "Veni, vidi, vici".

Veni, vidi, vici (

Battle of Zela (modern-day Zile, Turkey).[2]

The phrase is attributed in

Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius. Plutarch writes that Caesar used it in a report to Amantius, a friend of his in Rome.[3] Suetonius states that Caesar displayed the three words as an inscription during his Pontic triumph.[4]

Allusions and references

Veni, Vidi, Vici (1896)
Robert Browne Hall's 1896 march, Veni, Vidi, Vici, performed by the United States Air Force Band.
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Variations of the sentence Veni, vidi, vici are often quoted, and also used in music, art, literature, and entertainment.

Since the time of Caesar, the phrase has been used in military contexts. King Jan III of Poland alluded to it after the 17th-century Battle of Vienna, saying Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vicit ("We came, we saw, God conquered").[5]

The sentence has also been used in music, including several well-known works over the years. The opening of Handel's 1724 opera Giulio Cesare contains the line: Curio, Cesare venne, e vide e vinse ("Curio, Caesar came, saw and conquered"). In popular music, it is expected that the audience will know the original quotation, so modified versions are frequently used. This can range from slight changes in perspective, as in the title song in the musical Mame (You came, you saw, you conquered) or the 1936 song These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (You came, you saw, you conquered me) to wordplay, such as in the album title Veni Vidi Vicious by Swedish band The Hives or Pitbull's song "Fireball" (I saw, I came, I conquered Or should I say, I saw I conquered, I came) or Ja Rule's debut album Venni Vetti Vecci.

Marlboro
cigarettes.

The phrase has also been heavily referenced in literature and film. The title of French poet Victor Hugo's Veni, vidi, vixi ("I came, I saw, I lived"), written after the death of his daughter Leopoldine at age 19 in 1843, uses the allusion with its first verse: J'ai bien assez vécu...("I have lived quite long enough..."). Peter Venkman, one of the protagonists in the 1984 film Ghostbusters, delivers a humorous variation: "We came. We saw. We kicked its ass!" This line was among the 400 nominees for the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.[6]

Grammar

Latin

Veni, vidi, and vici are

tricolon and a hendiatris
.

English

The English phrase "I came, I saw, I conquered" employs what is known as a comma splice. Grammarians generally agree that using a comma to join two independent clauses should be done sparingly.[7] Sometimes, the comma splice is avoided by using a semicolon instead: "I came; I saw; I conquered".[8] Alternatively, "I came, I saw, I conquered" can be justified as an example of asyndeton, where the lack of the expected conjunction emphasizes the suddenness and swiftness of Caesar's victories. Similarly, this sentence also serves as a famous example of an alliteration due to the repeated use of its first consonant.

See also

Look up veni, vidi, vici in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes

  1. ISBN 9780520923720
    . Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  2. ^ "HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR". historyworld.net.
  3. ^ Plutarch, Life of Caesar from penelope.uchicago.edu
  4. Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius
    from penelope.uchicago.edu
  5. ^ Bulifon, Antonio (1698). Lettere memorabili, istoriche, politiche, ed erudite. Vol. I. Pozzuoli: Bulifon. p. 177.
  6. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes—400 nominated movie quotes" (PDF). American Film Institute. p. 36. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Merrell, Andrea. Murder of a Manuscript: Writing and Editing Tips to Keep Your Book Out of the Editorial Graveyard, p. 25 (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, 2016).
  8. ^ Smith, Christopher. Barron's GED Canada: High School Equivalency Exam, p. 170 (Barron's Educational Series, 2008).
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