Who came up with the adage Rome wasn’t built in a day?
Are you a budding artist who has recently taken up art and craft as an extracurricular activity in school? Well then, imagine this: You have been assigned a project where you are asked to make a two-dimensional model of a famous historical place in India. Your topic: Taj Mahal. You start immediately, but even after a week’s effort, you can’t make it perfect, which makes you impatient and are almost on the verge of giving up. This is when your father comes and makes that proverbial remark, “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” Let us explore this coinage, its origin and much more.
Rome wasn’t built in a day: The phrase decoded
Before going on to discuss how the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in day!” let us take a look at what it implies. It simply means, you can’t rush greatness, or rather great things take time. It’s supposed to be a patience-inducing statement suggesting that the best things in life are worth waiting for.
The adage was not coined by a Roman
The name Rome conjures up the image of ancient architecture, of artistic masterpieces and of countless and priceless old-world treasures. The Eternal City, as it is known as, after all stands true to its name! Rome reminds us of the historic rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the formation of the Papal States, the Italian Renaissance and of course, the Unification of Italy. No wonder, people say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” But ever wondered where the proverb came from?
Turns out, contrary to popular belief, the saying wasn’t coined by a Roman or even an Italian. The man behind this was a 12th century French cleric in the court of Phillippe of Alsace at the Count of Flanders in modern-day Belgium. Documented as “Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour,” the phrase was later captured in a medieval French poem, which in turn was published in 1895 by Swiss linguist Adolf Tobler in the book Li Proverbe au Vilain.
However, the expression got its English translation when it appeared in the work of Richard Taverner, the author who adapted the famous Roman epic Adages written by Desiderius Erasmus in the early 16th century. In fact, around the same time, another English playwright named John Heywood included the saying in his work A Dialogue Containing the Number in Effect of all the Proverbs in the English Tongue, or Proverbs in short. It read:
Rome was not bylt on a daie (quoth he) and yet stood Tyll it was fynysht. Rome was not built.
Experts believe that, thanks to John Heywood, the expression really took off from here. After all, it was used by the likes of Queen Elizabeth I in 1563 during a public address in Cambridge. Interestingly, the expression also set the premise for a 2000 hit song by the electronic band Morcheeba.
The legend of Romulus and Remus
The lasting legacy of the ancient Roman empire can be still seen today. In fact, people have lived in the Italian capital for over 6000 years. Okay, but who really built Rome? Well, legend has it that it was Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars, the Roman God of War founded the city of Rome along the banks of the river Tiber. Romulus murdered Remus and named the city after himself. He also crowned himself the first king of Rome.