Sic semper tyrannis

[Ingsoc]

What is the origin of this phrase? I know it's supposly was said by Brutus while he murdered Caesar, however I didn't manage to find a refrence to it in ancient sources.

[Nephele]

I thought it was a popular fable that Brutus had uttered those words. The phrase is attributed to John Wilkes Booth, when he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Booth apparently was also of the belief that Brutus had said this, and thus was imitating him.

 

-- Nephele

[Ingsoc]

Yes I know that John Wilkes Booth say that, but my question is what was the origin of this phrase, if it's not ancient I assume some later author connected those words to Brutus.

[Nephele]

Yes I know that John Wilkes Booth say that, but my question is what was the origin of this phrase, if it's not ancient I assume some later author connected those words to Brutus.

 

A search of Bartleby.com, which references Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (perhaps the leading source for the origin of popular phrases) turns up only three references for this phrase:

 

http://bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinato...semper+tyrannis

 

The oldest reference appears to be the phrase's use as the state motto for the state of Virginia, most likely referring to the American colonies' sentiment towards Britain at the time of the American Revolution ("Thus Always to Tyrants"). John Wilkes Booth may have gotten the phrase from that source -- or the belief that the phrase was originally uttered by Brutus may have been circulating around at the time and he got it from there.

 

Perhaps someone else here might know of an actual earlier recorded use of the phrase, as I've yet to find one. When I'm at work tomorrow, I'll check my library's copy of Brewer's, in case for some reason Bartleby.com failed to reference an entry.

 

-- Nephele

[M. Porcius Cato]

Like Nephele, I can't find an older reference than the motto adorning the flag of Virginia. The author here would be George Wythe, Virginia's best classical scholar, the first law professor in the U.S., and the teacher of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson wrote of Wythe, "No man ever left behind him a character more venerated than George Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and, devoted as he was to liberty, and the natural and equal rights of man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country."

[Ingsoc]

Intresting, than perhaps the attributation of the phrase to Brutus wasn't due to any author but to a popular belief that he said that since, as I understand Brutus gain some popularty during the American independence war.

[Faustus]

Salve -

 

Sorry this is not exactly on topic, but I've been waiting for some time to posit this factoid:

 

The Oath of Brutus

According to Livy, after the expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus: "His [brutus'] first act was to make the people, while the state of liberty was still fresh upon their tongues, swear a solemn oath never to allow any man to be king in Rome, hoping by this means to forestall future attempts by persuasion or bribery to restore the monarchy."

In T. Livii, Vol I, Lib II, Cap 1, A.J. Valpy, Londini (1828), p. 352 there is the following Latin version of the above:

"Omnium primum avidum novae libertatis populum, ne postmodum flecti precibus aut donis regiis posset, jurejurando adegit, neminem Romae passuros regnare.

Compulit ad decernendum addito juramento, fore ut non permitterent quenquam in posterum Romae regem esse."

The Oath of Brutus, whether factual or legendary, had a profound impact on the ancient Romans. Lucius Junius Brutus is quite prominent in English literature, and he was quite popular among British and American Whigs.

A reference to L. J. Brutus is in the following lines from Shakespeare's play *The Tragedie of Julius C

Edited October 29, 2007 by Faustus

[Gaius Octavius]

I've no idea where the sentence or motto came from, but could it not have come from the Middle Ages, as 'Caveat Emptor' did?

[Nephele]

Well, I checked numerous reference tomes today, from Brewer's to Bartlett's and then some. I think it's a safe bet that the phrase in question originated with George Wythe -- and MPC did some pretty nifty reference work of his own last night in providing that background information on the 18th century Virginia State classicist to whom that Latin motto seems to be rightfully credited.

 

Faustus, that's a perceptive connection you brought up, between Booth's use of that Latin phrase, his father's name, and the possibility that either (or both) father and son might have played the role of Brutus on the stage.

 

While Shakespeare didn't originate that Latin phrase for any of his plays, it's not exactly a stretch to imagine either J.B. Booth Senior or J.W. Booth, having already been familiar with the phrase via Virginia's State motto, perhaps impetuously ad-libbing that phrase while hamming up that scene on the stage in which Brutus delivers his final blow to Caesar. J.W. Booth certainly appears (from all accounts) to have impetuously ad-libbed that phrase when he delivered his final blow to Lincoln. (Actors... sheesh!)

 

-- Nephele

[M. Porcius Cato]

Thanks, Faustus. I always loved that painting for celebrating the severe patriotism of the old heroes of the republic.

 

Here's the excerpt from Livy (2.3ff):

There were among the Roman youth some young men

[ASCLEPIADES]

Intresting, than perhaps the attributation of the phrase to Brutus wasn't due to any author but to a popular belief that he said that since, as I understand Brutus gain some popularty during the American independence war.

Salve, Amici.

 

BTW, Sic semper tyrannis is also the motto of the city of Allentown, Pa., "the Queen City".

[Faustus]

Well, I checked numerous reference tomes today, from Brewer's to Bartlett's and then some.

 

While Shakespeare didn't originate that Latin phrase for any of his plays, it's not exactly a stretch to imagine either J.B. Booth Senior or J.W. Booth, having already been familiar with the phrase via Virginia's State motto, perhaps impetuously ad-libbing that phrase while hamming up that scene on the stage in which Brutus delivers his final blow to Caesar. J.W. Booth certainly appears (from all accounts) to have impetuously ad-libbed that phrase when he delivered his final blow to Lincoln. (Actors... sheesh!)

 

-- Nephele

 

Salve Amici

 

This is an elaboration on Nephele

[M. Porcius Cato]

While Shakespeare didn't originate that Latin phrase for any of his plays, it's not exactly a stretch to imagine either J.B. Booth Senior or J.W. Booth, having already been familiar with the phrase via Virginia's State motto, perhaps impetuously ad-libbing that phrase while hamming up that scene on the stage in which Brutus delivers his final blow to Caesar. J.W. Booth certainly appears (from all accounts) to have impetuously ad-libbed that phrase when he delivered his final blow to Lincoln. (Actors... sheesh!)

 

That sounds about right. If you assume that Booth was familiar with the Latin motto of Virginia, he could be forgiven for thinking that the Roman source was one Brutus or the other. It also fits in with the strange affinity that the Confederates had for ancient Rome, probably the most successful slave-holding republic on which they might have patterned themselves. Ironically, though, the actual author of the line, Wythe, was opposed to slavery and issued a legal opinion--viz., that all those of African descent were to be considered free unless proven otherwise--that would have practically delivered a death-blow to the peculiar (and abominable) institution.