Lesson plan
Vae victis
throws his sword onto the scales. Illustration by Paul Lehugeur, 1886. ( ) is Latin for "woe to the vanquished", or "woe to the conquered". It means that those defeated in battle are entirely at the mercy of their conquerors. 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 ) of gold, and the Romans agreed to his terms. According to Plutarch's Life of Camillus and Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (Book 5 Sections 34–49), 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.
Article summary
throws his sword onto the scales. Illustration by Paul Lehugeur, 1886. ( ) is Latin for "woe to the vanquished", or "woe to the conquered". It means that those defeated in battle are entirely at the mercy of their conquerors. 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 ) of gold, and the Romans agreed to his terms. According to Plutarch's Life of Camillus and Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (Book 5 Sections 34–49), 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.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.