Take The Heads Of Tyrants

Latin phrase

Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus e'er to tyrants". It suggests that bad, but justified outcomes should, or eventually will, befall tyrants.

History [edit]

Before 509 BC, Rome was ruled by kings. The last was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The king'southward son, Sextus Tarquinius, raped a noblewoman, Lucretia, who revealed the crime to diverse Roman noblemen and then died by suicide. The noblemen obtained the support of the elite and the people to expel the king and his family unit and to found the Roman Republic. The leader of the noblemen was Lucius Junius Brutus, who became one of the first consuls of the Democracy. It has been suggested that the phrase was used at this event, only the suggestion is non based on any literature of the fourth dimension.

A descendant of Brutus was Senator Marcus Junius Brutus, who took part in the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC.^[1] ^[two] While he is sometimes credited with originating the phrase^{[ past whom? ]}, Plutarch suggests he either did non take a chance to say anything, or if he did, no one heard it:

Caesar thus done to expiry, the senators, although Brutus came forward as if to say something nigh what had been done, would not wait to hear him, simply burst out of doors and fled, thus filling the people with confusion and helpless fear.^[iii]

Mike Fontaine, professor of Classics at Cornell University, proposes that the expression is probably a Latin translation by the Usa founder George Wythe of what Tiberius Gracchus' grandfather, the full general and statesman Scipio Aemilianus, said when he heard of the assassination of his grandson. According to Plutarch (21.4), he reacted by quoting Homer's Odyssey (1.47): ὡς ἀπόλοιτο καὶ ἄλλος, ὅτις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι.^[4]

The phrase has been invoked as an epithet about one allegedly abusing power, or equally a rallying cry confronting abuse of ability.

Usage in the The states [edit]

The phrase was recommended past George Stonemason to the Virginia Convention in 1776, equally office of the democracy's seal. The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia shows Virtue, spear in hand, with her foot on the recumbent grade of Tyranny, whose crown lies nearby. The Seal was planned by Mason and designed by George Wythe, who signed the United states Declaration of Independence and taught law to Thomas Jefferson.^[5] A joke referencing the prototype on the seal that dates every bit far back as the Civil State of war, is that "Sic semper tyrannis" really means "Go your foot off my neck."^[half-dozen]

"Happy While United" was the slogan on a medal coined by the Land of Virginia in 1780. Outset envisioned past Thomas Jefferson, the medal was minted and designed to be given to Indian signatories to the treaties Jefferson planned with the Indians of Virginia. The medal portrays a Virginia colonial, sitting, enjoying a peace pipe with a Native American. The obverse portrays a variation of the Virginia state seal of the country symbol standing triumphant over a slain enemy with the fable: "Rebellion to Tyrants Is Obedience to God".

The phrase is the motto of the U.s.a. Navy attack submarine named for the state, the USS Virginia. Before that, it was the motto of the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Virginia.

The phrase appears on the Insignia of the 149th Fighter Squadron which is located at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia.

Reverse

John Tyler's begetter, John Tyler Sr., uttered the phrase to a schoolteacher who had been tied up by Tyler and his swain pupils.^[7]

During the Civil War, at least one regiment of the United States Colored Troops used it as their motto.^[8]

John Wilkes Booth wrote in his diary that he shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" subsequently shooting U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, in part considering of the association with the assassination of Caesar.^[9] ^[ten] ^[11] The phrase was also in the pro-Confederate Ceremonious War song "Maryland, My Maryland", which was popular at the time with Southern sympathizers in Maryland, such as Booth. The song, containing the phrase, was the official state song of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. In May 2021, Governor Larry Hogan signed a bill to remove its condition as state vocal without a replacement.^[12]

Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with this phrase and a picture of Lincoln on information technology when he was arrested on April 19, 1995, the solar day of the Oklahoma Urban center bombing.^[13]

The phrase is also the motto of the U.S. city Allentown, the third largest urban center in Pennsylvania.^{[ citation needed ]}

Meet also [edit]

Tyrannicide

References [edit]

^ Mitgang, Herbert (12 April 1992). "Berth Speech Reveals a Killer'south Heed". The New York Times . Retrieved 23 Nov 2015.
^ Mulvihill, Amy (thirteen April 2015). "The Fault in His Stars". Baltimore Magazine . Retrieved 23 November 2015.
^ Plutarch, "Caesar", Plutarch'south Lives, with an English language Translation past Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1919. ch. 67. On Line text.
^ The Real Source Behind "Sic Semper Tyrannis", by Mike Fontaine in the Classics magazine In Medias Res published past the Paideia Institute
^ Rowland, Kate Stonemason (1892). The Life of George Mason, 1725–1792. 1000.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 264–265.
^ von Borcke, Heros (Apr 1866). "Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence". Blackwood'due south Edinburgh Magazine. American edition, vol. 62. New York: Leonard Scott & Co. 99 (606): 462. Retrieved 21 August 2010. ...the coat of arms of the state of Virginia, bearing the motto, Sic semper tyrannis, which the soldiers translated, "Take your foot off my cervix", from the activity of the primary figure ... representing Liberty, who, with a lance in her correct paw, is standing over the conquered and prostrate tyrant, and evidently trampling on him with her heel.
^ Longo, James McMurtry (28 November 2011). From Classroom to White House: The Presidents and First Ladies as Students and Teachers. McFarland. p. 50. ISBN978-0-7864-8846-nine.
^ "USCT Regimental Flag – 22nd U.s. Colored Infantry". Jubilo! The Emancipation Century. three May 2011.
^ "Diary Entry of John Wilkes Booth". umkc.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29.
^ "TimesMachine April fifteen, 1865 – New York Times". The New York Times.
^ "Ford'southward Theater Celebrated Site Visit". fords.org.
^ "On bill-signing day, Hogan officially legalizes sports betting, repeals state song". WJLA-TV. Associated Press. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May xviii, 2021.
^ Kilzer, Lou; Flynn, Kevin (1997-12-xix). "Did McVeigh Program to get Defenseless, or was he Sloppy?". Denver Rocky Mountain News.

External links [edit]

Webster entry – audio pronunciation