We’re not suggesting that you need to learn Latin – although learning news things is always good. However, there is a long tradition of freedom-loving patriots formulating their slogans in Latin ("Audemus jura nostra defendere") or Greek (“Molon Labe”). So while you don’t have to be able to read The Aeneid or The Odyssey in the original language, there are some key phrases you should know so that you can recognize an ally by his bumper sticker in the wild.
The penchant for classical language has a variety of sources. First, there is the affinity of patriots with the republics of the ancient world – the Greek democracies, yes, but the Roman Republic in particular. Second, there is the tendency of the Founding Fathers to be products of the classical education tradition. Thus, they had more than a working knowledge of the languages of antiquity. Third, they just sound cool.
Here’s a list of some of our favorite phrases in Latin and Greek for patriots to know.
“Sic semper tyrannis”
“De oppresso liber”
“Legibus armisque devoti”
“Haec protegimus”
“Hiemes oppugnamus et montes superamus”
“Nous resterons la”
“Semper primus”
“Noli me tangere”
“Volens et potens”
“Patriae fidelitas”
“Firmiter et fideliter”
“Nihil obstat”
“Ex alis pugnamus”
“Vigilantia aeterna”
“Parati respondere”
“Armipotent”
“Insiste firmiter”
“Semper fidelis”
“Construimus, batuimus”
“Libertatem defendimus”
“Parati defendere”
“Mors ab alto”
“Toujours au danger”
“In alis vincimus”
“Tutor et ultor”
“Non sibi sed aliis”
“Semper supra”
“Vince aut morire”
“In hoc signo vinces”
“Molon labe”
“Si vis pacem, para bellum”
“Audentes fortuna juvat”
“Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem”
“Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito”
“Laos Deo”
“Scientia potentia est”
“Sic parvis magna”
“Tempus fugit”
“Res ipsa loquitur”
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?”
“Primum vivere, deinde philosophari”
“Nicholas nassem talib”
“Stella quarta decima”
“Audemus jura nostra defendere”