vae victis

Latin

Etymology

From vae (“woe”) + victīs (“to the conquered people”), dative plural of the perfect passive participle of vincō (“to conquer”). According to Livy, said to have been uttered by the Gaulish chieftain Brennus after capturing Rome in 390 BC (see quotation).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯ae̯ ˈu̯ik.tiːs/, [u̯äe̯ ˈu̯ɪkt̪iːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ve ˈvik.tis/, [vɛː ˈvikt̪is]

Phrase

vae victīs

1. woe to the conquered
   • late 1st c. BC, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 5.48:

     Inde inter Q. Sulpicium tribūnum mīlitum et Brennum rēgulum Gallōrum conloquiō trānsācta rēs est, et mīlle pondō aurī pretium populī gentibus mox imperātūrī factum. Reī foedissimae per sē adiecta indignitās est: pondera ab Gallīs allāta inīqua, et, tribūnō recūsante, additus ab īnsolente Gallō ponderī gladius, audītaque intoleranda Rōmānīs vōx: "vae victīs!"

     Hence a meeting took place between Q. Sulpicius, the tribune, and Brennus, chieftain of the Gauls, who agreed on 1000 pounds of gold as the ransom price of a people soon about to rule the nations. This transaction was foul on its own, and yet was aggravated by an indignity: the Gauls brought forth unjust weights, and when the tribune protested, the insolent Gaul threw his sword onto the scale, with a phrase intolerable to the Romans, "Woe to the conquered!"