Veni, vidi, vici is a famous
Latin phrase spoken by
Julius Caesar in
47 BC following his decisive defeat of
Pharnaces II of Pontus. Its meaning is "I came, I saw, I conquered." As one of many Latin phrases that have persisted throughout the history of Western civilization,[1] the phrase is often quoted in music, art and literature, and a variety of other contexts. Variations of the phrase, including parodic forms, are common as well.
Cervantes used it in his novel
Don Quixote in reference to the "Knight of the Wood" defeating a brass statue.[6]
Victor Hugo wrote a poem titled "Veni, Vidi, Vixi", which translates to "I came, I saw, I [once] lived."[7]
Henry David Thoreau used the phrase in his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers in reference to the dominance of English soldiers over
Native Americans early in their settling of
New England.[8]
In his
Discworld novel Jingo,
Terry Pratchett's character
Samuel Vimes speculates on other possible phrases (Veni, vermini, vomui - I came, I got ratted, I threw up; Visi, veneri, vamoosi - I visited, I caught an embarrassing disease, I ran away), and decides that "he probably made it up first, and then went off to see somewhere and conquer it".
Also in Discworld, the character of
Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork coins the phrase "Veni, vici, Vetinari".
In 1066 and All That by
W.C. Sellar and
R.J. Yeatman, the Britons, who are using the earlier pronunciation, mistakenly believe that Caesar has called them "Weeny, Weedy, and Weaky," and give up.
In Spies by
Michael Frayn, Stephen Wheatley is bullied at school, where he is known as "Weeny weedy Wheatley."
In Horrible Histories, in the Celtic edition, a parody is written: He came, he saw and he conked us.
In the book The Cry of the Icemark by
Stuart Hill, the Polypontian army uses 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' as a war cry, as they are so sure about their dominance.
In the
Asterix comic
Obelix and Co., the Roman know-it-all Preposterus tells the Centurion of Totorum "Veni, Vidi and we'll see if Vici".
Novelist
Richard Stern wrote a novella titled Veni, Vidi... Wendt detailing a romantic conquest of the story's protagonist, named Wendt.[11]
The title song for the hit Broadway musical "
Mame" (written by
Jerry Herman) contains the lyrics: "You came, you saw, you conquered/And absolutely nothing is the same."
In the
Broadway musicalDirty Rotten Scoundrels, the song "Here I Am" sung by the character Christine Colgate contains the lyrics, "So Veni, Vidi, Vici, folks; let's face it--".
In the Groundswell (3 Four) song, "I Dare You," the lyrics include: "Veni, Vidi, Vici, it's just so catchy - it's like a virus."
In the original pilot to the series The Black Adder, the family crest read "Veni Vidi Castratavi Illegitimos" which translates roughly as "I came, I saw, I castrated the bastards."
In the TV show The Vicar of Dibley, the Horton motto is "veni, vidi, spurius brutus deitrum covi". It means "I came, I saw, I tore the thick bastards limb from limb".
Tigger proclaims "I came, I sawed, I hammered" in a Winnie the Pooh video.
In an episode of Clone High, the clone of
Julius Caesar uses a parody of the phrase, saying, "Veni, vidi, booyah."
In Ocean's Eleven, Rubin states that a man who tried to rob a casino was killed, saying, "He came, he grabbed, they conquered."
It was used by the character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage, and again by the character Johnny "Drama" Chase when he finally buys a condo in the end of the third season.
In the episode "
Shadow" of Supernatural, the character Meg uses the phrase.
In an episode of Johnny Bravo, the title character says, "I came, I saw, I broke a hip."
In an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures, the character 'Jade' says: "We came, We saw, We kicked demon butt!"
In The Substitute, a season two episode of
Everybody Hates Chris, Chris' substitute teacher says 'Veni vedi veci, it means I came, I saw, I conquered." Chris replies "Eenie meenie miny mo, catch a tiger by its toe".
Computer games
In the popular MMORPG EverQuest, there is a knockoff of Veni, Vidi, Vici. An NPC in the Planes of Mischief named Vinny V. D'Vicci.
There is a level on the computer game
Anno 1602, on the campaign On his majesty's service.
The computer game The Settlers II used the phrase as its subtitle.
In Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, Razoff the Hunter sometimes says the line "I came, I saw, I kicked some butt!"
In Unreal Tournament the phrase can be seen written on the pillars in the trophy room in the single player ladder game.
"Veni, Vidi, Vici" is used in the audio for a video slot machine called "Pompeii" manufactured by Aristocrat Gaming. The words are spoken as each of the symbols for a coin with the likeness of Caesar appear. If at least three appear on the screen at the same time, a bonus game situation begins.
Other
An extinct species of
parakeet from the
genusVini was given the species name Vini vidivici, a play on the original phrase.
'Veni, Vidi, Wiki' was the tagline of WikiCamp,[21] an
unconference on Wikis held in
Chennai, India.
"Veni, Vidi, Visa" ("I came, I saw, I shopped" is a frequently-seen parody of the original phrase.[22] Another common parody is "Veni, vidi, in volo domum redire" ("I came, I saw, I want to go home").[23] (The preposition 'in' is commonly included but not grammatically necessary.) "Veni, vidi, veggie: I came, I saw, I had a salad" is common as well.[24]
Apple Computer gave attendees of its 2006
Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) a t-shirt with the phrase "Veni. Vidi. Codi" - "I came. I saw. I coded." Apple also suggested the phrase "iCame, iSaw, IPod" as a laser engraving for their
iPod product in their online marketing.
In the
Harvard Club of New York men's room, a nameless individual graffitied "veni, vidi, vivi" ("vivi" would be prounced "weewee" in Latin). The club eventually framed a copy of this joke behind glass.[4]
A
B-24 in the
U.S. Army Air Force 718th Squadron (449th Bomber Group) was named "Veni, Vidi, Vici". It was shot down on a mission over Orbetello, Italy, in 1944.[28]
Veni, vidi, vici is a famous
Latin phrase spoken by
Julius Caesar in
47 BC following his decisive defeat of
Pharnaces II of Pontus. Its meaning is "I came, I saw, I conquered." As one of many Latin phrases that have persisted throughout the history of Western civilization,[1] the phrase is often quoted in music, art and literature, and a variety of other contexts. Variations of the phrase, including parodic forms, are common as well.
Cervantes used it in his novel
Don Quixote in reference to the "Knight of the Wood" defeating a brass statue.[6]
Victor Hugo wrote a poem titled "Veni, Vidi, Vixi", which translates to "I came, I saw, I [once] lived."[7]
Henry David Thoreau used the phrase in his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers in reference to the dominance of English soldiers over
Native Americans early in their settling of
New England.[8]
In his
Discworld novel Jingo,
Terry Pratchett's character
Samuel Vimes speculates on other possible phrases (Veni, vermini, vomui - I came, I got ratted, I threw up; Visi, veneri, vamoosi - I visited, I caught an embarrassing disease, I ran away), and decides that "he probably made it up first, and then went off to see somewhere and conquer it".
Also in Discworld, the character of
Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork coins the phrase "Veni, vici, Vetinari".
In 1066 and All That by
W.C. Sellar and
R.J. Yeatman, the Britons, who are using the earlier pronunciation, mistakenly believe that Caesar has called them "Weeny, Weedy, and Weaky," and give up.
In Spies by
Michael Frayn, Stephen Wheatley is bullied at school, where he is known as "Weeny weedy Wheatley."
In Horrible Histories, in the Celtic edition, a parody is written: He came, he saw and he conked us.
In the book The Cry of the Icemark by
Stuart Hill, the Polypontian army uses 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' as a war cry, as they are so sure about their dominance.
In the
Asterix comic
Obelix and Co., the Roman know-it-all Preposterus tells the Centurion of Totorum "Veni, Vidi and we'll see if Vici".
Novelist
Richard Stern wrote a novella titled Veni, Vidi... Wendt detailing a romantic conquest of the story's protagonist, named Wendt.[11]
The title song for the hit Broadway musical "
Mame" (written by
Jerry Herman) contains the lyrics: "You came, you saw, you conquered/And absolutely nothing is the same."
In the
Broadway musicalDirty Rotten Scoundrels, the song "Here I Am" sung by the character Christine Colgate contains the lyrics, "So Veni, Vidi, Vici, folks; let's face it--".
In the Groundswell (3 Four) song, "I Dare You," the lyrics include: "Veni, Vidi, Vici, it's just so catchy - it's like a virus."
In the original pilot to the series The Black Adder, the family crest read "Veni Vidi Castratavi Illegitimos" which translates roughly as "I came, I saw, I castrated the bastards."
In the TV show The Vicar of Dibley, the Horton motto is "veni, vidi, spurius brutus deitrum covi". It means "I came, I saw, I tore the thick bastards limb from limb".
Tigger proclaims "I came, I sawed, I hammered" in a Winnie the Pooh video.
In an episode of Clone High, the clone of
Julius Caesar uses a parody of the phrase, saying, "Veni, vidi, booyah."
In Ocean's Eleven, Rubin states that a man who tried to rob a casino was killed, saying, "He came, he grabbed, they conquered."
It was used by the character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage, and again by the character Johnny "Drama" Chase when he finally buys a condo in the end of the third season.
In the episode "
Shadow" of Supernatural, the character Meg uses the phrase.
In an episode of Johnny Bravo, the title character says, "I came, I saw, I broke a hip."
In an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures, the character 'Jade' says: "We came, We saw, We kicked demon butt!"
In The Substitute, a season two episode of
Everybody Hates Chris, Chris' substitute teacher says 'Veni vedi veci, it means I came, I saw, I conquered." Chris replies "Eenie meenie miny mo, catch a tiger by its toe".
Computer games
In the popular MMORPG EverQuest, there is a knockoff of Veni, Vidi, Vici. An NPC in the Planes of Mischief named Vinny V. D'Vicci.
There is a level on the computer game
Anno 1602, on the campaign On his majesty's service.
The computer game The Settlers II used the phrase as its subtitle.
In Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, Razoff the Hunter sometimes says the line "I came, I saw, I kicked some butt!"
In Unreal Tournament the phrase can be seen written on the pillars in the trophy room in the single player ladder game.
"Veni, Vidi, Vici" is used in the audio for a video slot machine called "Pompeii" manufactured by Aristocrat Gaming. The words are spoken as each of the symbols for a coin with the likeness of Caesar appear. If at least three appear on the screen at the same time, a bonus game situation begins.
Other
An extinct species of
parakeet from the
genusVini was given the species name Vini vidivici, a play on the original phrase.
'Veni, Vidi, Wiki' was the tagline of WikiCamp,[21] an
unconference on Wikis held in
Chennai, India.
"Veni, Vidi, Visa" ("I came, I saw, I shopped" is a frequently-seen parody of the original phrase.[22] Another common parody is "Veni, vidi, in volo domum redire" ("I came, I saw, I want to go home").[23] (The preposition 'in' is commonly included but not grammatically necessary.) "Veni, vidi, veggie: I came, I saw, I had a salad" is common as well.[24]
Apple Computer gave attendees of its 2006
Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) a t-shirt with the phrase "Veni. Vidi. Codi" - "I came. I saw. I coded." Apple also suggested the phrase "iCame, iSaw, IPod" as a laser engraving for their
iPod product in their online marketing.
In the
Harvard Club of New York men's room, a nameless individual graffitied "veni, vidi, vivi" ("vivi" would be prounced "weewee" in Latin). The club eventually framed a copy of this joke behind glass.[4]
A
B-24 in the
U.S. Army Air Force 718th Squadron (449th Bomber Group) was named "Veni, Vidi, Vici". It was shot down on a mission over Orbetello, Italy, in 1944.[28]