Alea iacta est

Composite image of all sides of a Roman die

Alea iacta est ("The die is cast") is a variation of a Latin phrase (iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlea est]) attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 B.C. as he led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance of the Senate and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. The phrase, either in the original Latin or in translation, is used in many languages to indicate that events have passed a point of no return. It is now most commonly cited with the word order changed ("Alea iacta est") rather than in the original phrasing.

Meaning and forms

Caesar was said to have borrowed the phrase from Menander, his favourite Greek writer of comedy; the phrase appears in Ἀρρηφόρος (transliterated as Arrephoros) (or possibly The Flute-Girl), as quoted in Deipnosophistae , paragraph 8.^[1] Plutarch reports that these words were said in Greek:

The motto of the Hall family from Shackerstone reads jacta est alea.

Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, «Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος», [anerriphtho kyvos] διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν.^[2]

He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present 'Let the die be cast' and led the army across.

— Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 60.2.9^[3]

Suetonius, a contemporary of Plutarch writing in Latin, reports a similar phrase.

Caesar: '... iacta alea est,' inquit.^[4]
Caesar said, "The die has been cast."

— Suetonius, Vita Divi Iuli (The Life of the deified Julius), 121 CE, paragraph 32

Lewis and Short,^[5] citing Casaubon and Ruhnk, suggest that the text of Suetonius should read iacta alea esto (reading the imperative esto instead of est), which they translate as "Let the die be cast!", or "Let the game be ventured!". This matches Plutarch's use of third-person singular perfect middle/passive imperative of the verb ἀναρρίπτω,^[6] i.e. ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhiphtho kybos, pronounced [anerːípʰtʰɔː kýbos]).

In Latin alea refers to the early form of backgammon that was played in Caesar's time. Augustus (Octavian) mentions winning this game in a letter. Dice were common in Roman times and were cast three at a time. There were two kinds. The six-sided dice were known in Latin as tesserae and the four-sided ones (rounded at each end) were known as tali.^[7] In Greek a die was κύβος kybos.^[8]

In other languages

The phrase in translation is used in many languages to indicate that events have passed "a point of no return"; for example:

• Arabic: أُلقي الزهر‎
• Bokmål: Terningen er kastet
• Bulgarian: Зарът е хвърлен
• Chinese: 骰子已被掷下、破釜沉舟、箭在弦上 不得不發
• Croatian: Kocka je bačena
• Czech: Kostky jsou vrženy
• Danish: Terningen er kastet
• Dutch: De teerling is geworpen
• Estonian: Liisk on langenud
• Finnish: Arpa on heitetty, and, Noppa on heitetty
• French: Les jeux sont faits, and, Les dés sont jetés
• Georgian: წილი ნაყარია
• German: Der Würfel ist gefallen
• Greek: Ο κύβος ερρίφθη
• Hebrew: נפל הפור‎ (Nafál hapúr)
• Hungarian: A kocka el van vetve
• Italian: Il dado è tratto
• Japanese: 賽は投げられた
• Korean: 주사위는 던져졌다
• Macedonian: Коцката е фрлена
• Polish: Kości zostały rzucone
• Portuguese: A sorte está lançada
• Romanian: Zarurile au fost aruncate
• Russian: Жребий брошен (Žrébij bróšen)
• Serbian: Коцка је бачена
• Slovak: Kocky sú hodené
• Slovene: Kocka je padla
• Spanish: La suerte está echada
• Swedish: Tärningen är kastad
• Ukrainian: Жереб кинуто

See also

• Aleatoricism
• List of Latin phrases
• List of political catchphrases
• Point of no return

References

External links

Look up the die is cast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Divus Iulius, paragraph 32 by Suetonius, where the quote is found.
• Reference to Augustus playing Alea