I see before me the Gladiator lie: He heard it, but he heeded not—his eyes From Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Called by Lady Caroline Lamb “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” Byron boasted of having slept with two hundred women in as many nights while in Venice. The great Romantic poet joined independence movements in Italy and Greece, where he died at the age of thirty-six on Easter Monday in 1824. Back to IssueAs the toga-wearing combatants face each other across an unforgiving circle of sand, they turn toward their laurel-wreathed eminence, snacking on grapes, and bellow: “Ave, Imperator: Morituri te salutant!” This staple of swords-and-sandals fiction, the gladiator’s salute to his Emperor, in fact likely never happened. Only a handful of Roman historians, long after the fact, mention the phrase — literally, “Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you” — and there’s little indication that it was in common usage in gladiatorial combat or any other games in ancient Rome. Nonetheless, “Morituri te salutant” has gained considerable currency in both popular culture and academia. Russell Crowe mouths it in the film “Gladiator,” and it’s used over and over by heavy metal bands (most cheekily by AC/DC, who tweaked it “For those about to about to rock, we salute you.”). Origin of the PhraseWhere did the phrase “Morituri te salutant” and its variations (…morituri te salutamus, or “we salute you”) come from? According to the historian Suetonius’s Life of the Divine Claudius, the account of that emperor’s reign in his compendium The 12 Caesars, written around 112 A.D., it stems from a peculiar event. Claudius had commanded an immense public works project, the draining of Lake Fucino for agricultural land. It took 30,000 men and 11 years to complete. In honor of the feat, the emperor ordered up a naumachia — a mock sea-battle involving thousands of men and ships — to be held on the lake before it was emptied. The men, thousands of criminals otherwise to be hanged, hailed Claudius thusly: “Ave, Imperator: Morituri te salutant!” upon which the emperor replied “Aut non” — “Or not.” After this, the historians disagree. Suetonius says that the men, believing themselves pardoned by Claudius, refused to fight. The emperor ultimately cajoled and threatened them into sailing against one another. Cassius Dio, who wrote about the event in the 3rd century B.C., said the men merely pretended to fight until Claudius lost patience and commanded them to die. Tacitus mentions the event, some 50 years after it happened, but doesn’t mention the plea by the gladiators (or more precisely, naumachiarii). He relates, though, that a large number of prisoners were spared, having fought with the valor of free men. Use in Popular CultureIn addition to the above-mentioned films and rock albums, Te morituri… is also invoked in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and James Joyce’s Ulysses. More about Copyright and other Restrictions For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.
Obtaining CopiesIf an image is displaying, you can download it yourself. (Some images display only as thumbnails outside the Library of Congress because of rights considerations, but you have access to larger size images on site.) Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.
Price lists, contact information, and order forms are available on the Duplication Services Web site. Access to OriginalsPlease use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.
To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3. |