Talk:Sic semper tyrannis

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[edit] Comments

Did Brutus actually say this in life, or did WS just add it to his play?

According to Plutarch, 'Caesar thus done to death, the senators, although Brutus came forward as if to say something about what had been done, would not wait to hear him, but burst out of doors and fled, thus filling the people with confusion and helpless fear...' Thus, nothing was said. -- Nalco 05:35, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Timothy McVeigh

This entry states "Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with this phrase and a picture of Lincoln on it when he was arrested on April 19, 1995, the day of the Oklahoma City Bombing.[1]"

The Wikipedia entry on Thomas Jefferson and cites McVeigh being caught with a T-shirt bearing a Jeffersonian quote ... "Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was wearing a T-shirt when arrested bearing the words, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."[40]".

Both cite references, but obviously one is incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vineet KewalRamani (talk • contribs) 05:13, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Don't get it

I don't get that tyranny motto. Tyranny is good?

It means tyrants always get what's coming to them. Thus Always [death] to tyrants.Doregasm 03:10, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, you need to know the context I guess. On the Virginia flag, the tyrant is dead on the ground with a spear through his heart. When Brutus supposedly said it, he was stabbing Caesar in the heart. Either way, they are saying "this is what I do to tyrants." Midas 19:12, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sic semper tyrannis

The motto of the original state of Virginia Seal, (Which shows Virtue, sword in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny, whose crown lays nearby). Designed by George Wythe, who signed the Declaration of Independence and taught the Law to Thomas Jefferson.

[edit] Sources??

Um, I spent about an hour searching for where brutus is attributed as saying "Sic Semper Tyrannis", and I can't find it anywhere. It's not in the Julius Caesar (the play, see Act III scene I), Suetonius, Plutarch, Tacticus, Thallus or Eutropius, nor does google give me an answer easily. I was procrastinating, but it would be useful to know where this comes from. Does anyone know??? A J Hay 06:36, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard of the quote being attributed to Brutus, but I do not know where it came from. Can the person who added that Brutus said it tell us where he heard this? Canutethegreat (talk) 22:53, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Seinfeld

There's an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry is filming the pilot episode for his new Sitcom Jerry and a man jumps on the stage yelling "Sic semper tyrannis". I don't know who the guy was or why he did it (I missed half the episode the last time I saw it, and I haven't seen it in full for years). Does anyone know more about it and want to add it?

The Ungovernable Force 19:08, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

  • It has been added, then removed. I feel it could go into a popular culture section, but probably has no place within the main section of the article. --White Pony | Θαλκ 19:33, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
The man was "Crazy" Joe Devola. He was angry at Jerry for telling him about Kramer's party, which he was not invited to. --Joe 16:10, 25 February 2007 (UTC)


Didnt John Wilkes Booth scream this before he shot Lincoln?

Yes, according to witnesses, his diary, and Sondheim.  – AMK1211talk! 02:33, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] link pronunciation

no point of having that link there. American English pronunciation of a Latin phrase is useless.

As a student of Latin, I know our understanding of proper Latin pronunciation is probably very off, but it's good to have a standard that people can look to, and Websters is a pretty good authority.--Patrick 00:01, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Popular culture

I removed the following section. It seems to me to be a random collection of unsourced, uninteresting trivia. I'm sure we could collect hundreds of examples like this. Haukur 23:54, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

A humorous misquotation of this quote appears in The Venture Bros., season two, with henchman number 21 declaring to Dr. Henry Killinger, "Semper fidelis tyrannosaurus." Dr. Killinger corrects number 21, pointing out that the phrase uttered means, "Always faithful terrible lizard."

In the ill-fated Clerks: The Animated Series, the unaired sixth episode made with full knowledge of the show's impending cancellation, Randall Graves is caught paraphrasing this when contemplating his death: "I regret nothing. Sic semper Bea Arthur!"

In Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman states that Virginia's state motto is "sic semper molemanis": "Thus always to molemen". Virginia is portrayed as a former province of the old moleman dominion.

Lord Helmik Chass uses this phrase several times in conversations with Commissar Ibram Gaunt in Dan Abnett's Guant's Ghosts novel, Necropolis.

In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry finishes the monologue of his new show "Jerry", only to be interrupted by "Crazy" Joe Davola who yelled, "Sic semper tyrannis!" (incorrectly translated by Jerry as, "Death to tyrants") and then jumping off the stands into the set in an attempt to attack Jerry.

In an episode of "The Whitest Kids U Know", one skit revolves around illegal phrases regarding the President, and how it's not illegal to mention they have a secret group that meets under the George Washington Bridge at midnight, to which the password is "Sic semper tyrannis."