Together, they aimed to take back Egypt together and in 47 BCE, Caesar and Cleopatra defeated Ptolemy’s forces. Horrified, Caesar sided with Cleopatra and the two became lovers. By the time he arrived there, Pompey was already dead-Ptolemy XIII, then ruler of Egypt, hoped to court Caesar’s approval and armies in his war against his sister, Cleopatra VII. In 48 BCE, Caesar was once again appointed dictator but left Rome shortly after to chase Pompey to Egypt. Caesar pursued him, defeating his forces in Spain and Greece. Caesar was ultimately appointed Dictator, but resigned after just 11 days. Caesar refused and led his army toward Rome, provoking a civil war.įearing capture, Pompey and his Consul fled Rome. Pompey, along with all but two members of the senate, demanded that Caesar disband his army and end his term as governor. When Crassus died in 53 BCE, the alliance dissolved and Pompey and Caesar began outwardly fighting in the senate, grappling for power on their own terms. Caesar had married off his daughter, Julia, to Pompey, but her death in 53 BCE meant there was little to stop the two ambitious leaders from feuding. However, the First Triumvirate could not last. Though each was primarily acting in his own interests, the three were able to achieve many of their personal goals through mutual aid, trading favors between them until they effectively ruled Rome. All three were prominent Roman politicians who aimed to circumvent Rome's governmental system of checks and balances, which were in place to prevent any one man from gaining too much power. From 60 to 53 BCE, Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey ruled Rome as the First Triumvirate. To find out why, we need to go all the way back to around 50 BCE. The ruler of Rome was known for writing down his wartime experiences, and, according to multiple Ancient Roman writers, he’s the source of the quote. It’s believed that Julius Caesar, who is the phrase’s originator, probably would have pronounced it weh-nee, wee-dee, wee-kee based on linguistic conventions of the time.Īs previously mentioned, Julius Caesar was the person who made “Veni, vidi, vici,” such a famous phrase. Other variations of Latin, such as Classical, Late, or Vulgar, would have pronounced the phrase differently. In Ecclesiastical Latin, the form typically used by the Roman Catholic Church, it would be pronounced veh-nee, vee-dee, vee-kee or veh-nee, vee-dee, vee-chee.

Because English doesn’t fold its subjects into its verbs, the phrase is a little longer in English.īecause there are multiple forms of Latin, the phrase can be pronounced different ways.

Therefore, “veni, vidi, vici” translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered,” despite only being three words long. To break that down a little, “first-person singular” refers to the fact that the subject is “I,” while “perfect indicative active” means that the action the subject performed occurred earlier than the current time. Veni, vidi, vici is a Latin phrase that literally translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered.' Latin doesn’t require individual pronouns, as each word is conjugated from the “to be” form (“Venire, videre, vincere”) to the first-person singular perfect indicative active form. In this article, we’ll cover what the expression means, its historical context, and why it’s still commonly said today. But where did such a phrase come from? Why are people still saying it today? You’ve probably heard the phrase-or its English counterpart, “I came, I saw, I conquered”-before.

Veni vidi vici