Alea iacta est (also seen as alea jacta est) is Latin for "The die has been cast". Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Two standard six-sided pipped dice with rounded corners. ...

Actually quoted by Suetonius as iacta alea est [ˈjakta ˈaːlɛa ɛst], it is what Julius Caesar is reported to have said on January 10, 49 BC as he led his army across the River Rubicon in northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance of the Roman Senate and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus ( 69/75 - after 130), also known as Suetonius, was a prominent Roman historian and biographer. ... Gaius Julius Caesar [1] (Latin pronunciation ; English pronunciation ; July 12 or July 13, 100 BC or 102 BC – March 15, 44 BC), was a Roman military and political leader and one of the most influential men in classical antiquity. ... January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Consuls: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior. ... Presumed course of the Rubicon For other uses, see Rubicon (disambiguation). ... The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 509 BC, and the Roman Empire. ... Combatants Julius Caesar and supporters, the Populares faction, Roman senate, the Optimates faction, Commanders Julius Caesar Mark Antony Pompey†, Titus Labienus†, Metellus Scipio†, Cato the younger†, Gnaeus Pompeius† Sextus Pompeius The Roman civil war of 49 BC, sometimes called Caesars Civil War, is one of the last conflicts within... Pompey, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir [1] (Classical Latin abbreviation: CN·POMPEIVS·CN·F·SEX·N·MAGNVS[2], Gnaeus or Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus) (September 29, 106 BC–September 29, 48 BC), was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman republic. ... Optimates (Good Men) were the aristocratic faction of the later Roman Republic. ...

The phrase is still used today to mean that events have passed a point of no return, that something inevitable will happen, i.e., he cannot take back what he has done, much like the gambler who has wagered everything on a throw of the dice. Caesar was said to have borrowed the phrase from Menander, his favorite Greek writer of comedy. Plutarch refers that this words were said in Greek language: The point of no return, or the Rubicon, is the point beyond which someone, or some group of people, must continue on their current course of action. ... Two standard six-sided pipped dice with rounded corners. ... Bust of Menander Menander (342–291 BC) (Greek ), Greek dramatist, the chief representative of the New Comedy, was born in Athens. ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ...

Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, "Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος," [anerriphtho kybos] διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν.

He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present 'The die has been cast' and led the army across.

– Plutarch, 'Life of Pompey, Ch. 60'

By some accounts, Caesar used the imperative "iaci" rather than the passive "iacta est" ("Cast the die!").^{[citation needed]} In another context, "iacta est" could be translated as "was cast, i.e., as a "simple past." It is generally assumed, e.g. by Shakespeare, that Caesar here meant "The die has been cast" i.e., "The die is now cast" and not "The die was cast." Shakespeare redirects here. ...

References in Popular Culture

• In each edition of the enormously popular French comic book Asterix, once Asterix sinks the pirates' ship, the first mate says to the captain, "Alea jacta est."
• In the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there is an episode by this very name, instead it references the crossing of a joint Cardassian-Romulan fleet entering the Gamma Quadrant.
• Alea Iacta Est is the password of Alpha Omega Theta Fraternity Inc, chosen by the fraternity's founder John Stefano in 1946. "Alea Iacta Est, The Die is Cast, Once it's Started it Can Never End." link AlphaOmegaTheta.com
• The phrase is displayed on one of the opening screens to the Playstation puzzle game Devil Dice.

A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... For other uses, see Asterix (disambiguation). ... Space station Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or STDS9 or DS9 for short) is a science fiction television series produced by Paramount and set in the Star Trek universe. ... Cardassians are a spacefaring race in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... Romulans are a fictional alien species in the Star Trek universe related to Vulcans. ... In the fictional Star Trek series, the Milky Way Galaxy is divided into four quadrants, which are further subdivided into sectors. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Devil Dice (named Xi, pronounced Sai, in Japan) was a videogame for the PlayStation that was originally created by a company called Shift on the homebrew Yaroze platform, and later turned into a commercial game. ...

See also

• Aleatoric
• Crossing the Rubicon

Aleatory (or aleatoric) means pertaining to luck. Aleatoric art is that which exploits the principle of randomness. ... Crossing the Rubicon is a phrase connoting the passage of a point of no return. ...

External links

• Divus Iulius, paragraph 33 by Suetonius, where the quote is found.