{{short description|Latin phrase}} {{italic title}} {{for|the computer game|Europa Universalis: Rome}} [[File:Brennus and Sulpicius (illustration).jpg|thumb|''"Vae victis!"'' Brennus throws his sword onto the scales. Illustration by Paul Lehugeur, 1886.]] '''{{lang|la|Vae victis}}''' ({{IPA|la|ˈwae̯ ˈwɪktiːs|IPA}}) is Latin for "'''woe to the vanquished'''", or "'''woe to the conquered'''".{{efn|Victis is the dative plural form of victus; the dative singular forms of the phrase are '''vae victo''' (masculine & neuter) & '''vae victae''' (feminine).}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Definition of VAE VICTIS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vae+victis |access-date=2023-10-18 |work=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 5, chapter 48 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0145:book=5:chapter=48 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> It means that those defeated in battle are entirely at the mercy of their conquerors.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199891573.001.0001/acref-9780199891573-e-7486 | title=The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English | chapter=Vae victis | date=1999 | publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Vae victis Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vae-victis |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=D'Souza |first=Vinton |date=2020-07-28 |title=Why Brennus the Gaul said 'Vae victis!' when he sacked Rome |url=https://legitur.com/history/why-brennus-the-gaul-said-vae-victis-when-he-sacked-rome/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Legitur |language=en-US}}</ref>
According to tradition, in 390 BC, an army of Gauls led by Brennus attacked Rome and captured all of the city except for the Capitoline Hill. Brennus besieged the hill, and finally the Romans asked to ransom their city. Brennus demanded 1,000 Roman pounds (approximately {{convert|725|lb|kg|adj=pre|modern avoirdupois|round=5}}) of gold, and the Romans agreed to his terms.<ref name=arm>{{cite book|last1=Armstrong|first1=Jeremy|title=Early Roman Warfare: From the Regal Period to the First Punic War|date=19 September 2016 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781473880160|pages=66–68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2UcDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT66|language=en}}</ref> According to Plutarch's ''Life of Camillus'' and Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita'' (Book 5 Sections 34–49),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed-new?id=Liv1His&tag=public&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed |title=Livius, Titus. University of Virginia. E-Text Library. ''Ab urbe condita''. |access-date=2009-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324001946/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed-new?id=Liv1His&tag=public&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed |archive-date=2005-03-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Plutarch, ''Camillus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Camillus*.html#28 28]</ref> the Gauls provided steelyard balances and weights, which were used to measure the amount of gold. The Romans brought the gold, but claimed that the provided weights were rigged in the Gauls' favor. The Romans complained to Brennus, who took his sword, threw it onto the weights, and exclaimed, "Vae victis!" The Romans thus needed to bring even more gold, as they now had to counterbalance the sword as well. Livy and Plutarch claim that Camillus subsequently succeeded in defeating the Gauls before the ransom had to be paid, although Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, and a later passage from Livy contradict this.<ref name="arm"/>
==See also== {{Portal|Ancient Rome}} * Battle of the Allia * Calgacus, the Caledonian chief who is frequently quoted as saying "they make a desert and call it peace" * List of Latin phrases * Law of the jungle * Melian Dialogue * Might makes right * Right of conquest * Trial by combat * Victor's justice
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Term-stub}} Category:390 BC Category:Latin words and phrases Category:Quotations from military Category:Latin legal terminology Category:Justice Category:4th century BC in the Roman Republic