What does the phrase “Veni, Vidi, Vici” translate to mean?
The famous logo of Philip Morris used on the cover of Marlboro cigarettes is the famous Latin phrase coined by Roman general and consul Julius Caesar in 47 BC, and it translates as “I came, I saw, I conquered”.
In May of 47 B.C., after Julius Caesar had left a pregnant Cleopatra, soon to bear their son Caesarion, Caesar defeated Pharnaces of Pontus near the town of Zela. Caesar claimed he routed and captured the enemy in 4 hours. To inform the Senate of his victory, Caesar succinctly wrote, Veni, Vidi, Vici “I came, I saw, I conquered”.
Today it is a common Latin term used often in music, art, literature, and entertainment.
Music
In “Encore“, a rap single recorded by Jay-Z from his 2003 album “The Black Album”, as well as in “Numb/Encore”, co-recorded with Linkin Park, Jay-Z refers to this line by singing:
I came, I saw, I conquered, from record sales, to sold out concerts
The title song for the hit Broadway musical “Mame” (written by Jerry Herman) contains the lyrics: You came, you saw, you conquered, And absolutely nothing is the same
You Came, You Saw, You Conquered is the title of a song by Phil Spector, Irvin Levine, & Toni Wine, recorded by the Ronettes:
Ooh, you came, you saw, you conquered all the love in me
Oh baby, you came, you saw, you turned your lovin’ right on at me.
In Blink 182′s song, Adam’s Song, the second verse begins, “I never conquered, rarely came“.
Shows
In Ocean’s Eleven, Rubin states that a man who tried to rob a casino was killed, saying, ‘He came, he grabbed, they conquered.’
In an episode of Johnny Bravo, the title character says, ‘I came, I saw, I broke a hip.’
In Ghostbusters, Bill Murray parodies the phrase in referring to the capture of Slimer: ‘We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!’
In the Asterix comic Obelix and Co., the Roman know-it-all Preposterus tells the Centurion of Totorum ‘Veni, Vidi and we’ll see if Vici.’
Business
Apple Computer gave attendees of its 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) a t-shirt with the phrase “Veni. Vidi. Codi” – “I came. I saw. I coded.”
Veni, Vidi, Wiki was the tagline of WikiCamp, an unconference on Wikis held at Chennai, India.
Finally, some modern, up-to-date versions (my favorites):
Veni, Vidi, Visa – I Came, I Saw, I went shopping
Veni, Vidi, V8 - I Came, I Saw, I went very quickly
Veni, Vidi, Vamoose – I Came, I Saw, I Left
Veni, Vidi, Fiji – I Came, I Saw, I ran away as far as possible
Veni, Vidi, VCR – I Came, I Saw, I went home and rented the video