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Were Caesar's two most famous sayings (Alea jacta eat, Tu quoque fili mi) originally said in Greek by Caesar? If so, what was the original Greek?

Question #142005. Asked by chabenao1.
Last updated Aug 05 2021.
Originally posted Dec 18 2015 8:00 AM.

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bloomsby star
Answer has 9 votes
Currently Best Answer
bloomsby star
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23 year member
584 replies avatar

Answer has 9 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
1. 'Tu quoque, fili mi'. It's a bit complicated. There is no hard evidence that Caesar said this in either Latin or Greek.


"the Roman historian Suetonius [...] reports that others have claimed Caesar's last words were the Greek phrase [...] transliterated as "Kai su, teknon?". The phrase means "You too, child?"

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_tu,_Brute%3F


2. 'Alea iacta est'.

"Caesar was said to have borrowed the phrase from Menander, his favourite Greek writer of comedy; the phrase appears in " ... Arrephoros, (or possibly "The Flute-Girl"), as quoted in Deipnosophistae, Book 13, paragraph 8. Plutarch reports that these words were said in Greek".

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alea_iacta_est

Dec 18 2015, 5:43 PM
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sportsherald star
Answer has 8 votes
sportsherald star
13 year member
695 replies avatar

Answer has 8 votes.
'According to the 1st century C.E. Roman historian Suetonius, Julius Caesar spoke mainly Greek and not Latin, as was the case with most patricians at the time. In his history about the life of Julius Caesar, Suetonius writes that as the assassins plunged their daggers into the dictator, Caesar saw Brutus and spoke the Greek phrase kai su, teknon, meaning "you too, my child."

There is still debate whether or not it was shouted in shock or said as a warning. On one hand, Caesar may have been amazed to find a close friend like Brutus trying to kill him; on the other hand, he may have meant that Brutus would pay for his crime in the future for this treachery. Either way, the words were Greek, so leave "Et tu, Brute" for Shakespeare.' from link https://www.ushistory.org/civ/6b.asp If the tendency to speak mainly in Greek is true, then there would be a likelihood that "alea jacta est' was uttered in its Greek equivalent- something like "O kývos errífth" link https://translate.google.ca/?hl=en&tab=wT#la/el/alea%20jacta%20est, especially since the source of the phrase he quoted was also Greek. -as above, see link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alea_iacta_est

Response last updated by gtho4 on Aug 05 2021.
Dec 18 2015, 9:15 PM
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