Everything about Veni Vidi Vici totally explained
Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī (in
Classical Latin or [ˈveniˈvidi ˈvitʃi] in
Vulgar Latin) is a famous
Latin sentence spoken by
Julius Caesar in
47 BC. It translates as "I came, I saw, I conquered." Its form (a three-part sentence or motto) is classed as a
tricolon and a
hendiatris.
The sentence appears in
Plutarch and
Suetonius (Plut.
Caes. 50, Suet.
Iul. 37.). Caesar used the sentence as the full text of his message to the
Roman senate describing his recent victory over
Pharnaces II of Pontus in the
Battle of Zela in Zile, a town of
Tokat city in contemporary Turkey. Caesar's terse remark simultaneously proclaimed the totality of his victory and served to remind the senate of Caesar's military prowess (Caesar was still in the midst of a civil war); alternatively, the remark can be viewed as an expression of Caesar's contempt for the
patrician senate, traditionally representing the most powerful group in the
Roman Republic.
Vēnī,
vīdī, and
vīcī are
first person perfect tense forms of the three Latin verbs
veniō,
venīre;
videō,
vidēre, and
vincō,
vincere.
Cultural references
Variations of the sentence "Veni, Vidi, Vici" are often quoted in music, art, literature, and entertainment.
At times, it has been misconceived as a sort of "magic word." The three words in the sentence are similar, suggesting a sort of
chant or
spell. The television show
Doug from
Nickelodeon applied the term as such.
It is also often parodied, for example "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" from the movie
Ghostbusters, "I came, I sawed, I hammered” in a
Winnie the Pooh video and "Veni, Vidi, We kicked their asses!" from the videogame
Halo 2 (a human
NPC line after a successful confrontation). In "
Married to the Mob", the carved headboard of a bed bears the words "Veni, Veni, Veni" (I came, I came, I came).
The sentence lends itself to use in music, and has been used in works ranging from the opening of
Handel's opera
Giulio Cesare in Egitto, through
You came, you saw, you conquered me from
These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) in the 1940s, to the title of an album by
rapper Ja Rule and the lines
I came, I saw, I conquered - From record sales, to sold out concerts in "
Encore" by
Jay-Z. It is also used in the title of
The Hives' album
Veni Vidi Vicious and as the title of a song on the
Black Lips's album
Good Bad Not Evil.
Apart from numerous references in literature, the sentence is also often used in more general contexts, for example in the species name of the
Conquered Lorikeet (Vini vidivici). It is often used as a motto or a tagline, due to its forceful connotation, from the motto of
Philip Morris International to a misspelled version ("Vini, Vidi, Vici") used as the motto for the US Army Sniper School,
Fort Benning, Georgia.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Veni Vidi Vici'.
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