04-22-2007, 03:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-22-2007, 03:27 PM by Occhidiangela.)
Quote:I don't believe the description is quite accurate. The figure on the ground doesn't look like "tyranny" to me, it looks like a king. And "sic semper tyrannis" means " thus always to kings" ("Tyrannus" was the first king of Rome and "tyrannus" means "absolute ruler" in Latin). All of which would tie in with it being designed the year after Independence.Thus ever to tyrants may be a slip from "thus ever to a/the tyrant."
It is very tempting to put a modern interpretation on old mottos. That of the US army special forces, "de oppresso liber", means "free from oppression" but is universally mistranslated (including in Wikipedia) as "to free from oppression".
If the meaning of king and tyrant is close, the meaning sustains in either transliteration from Latin to English. A king who is a tyrant needs overthrowing, one who is not hardly does, right? Benevolent despotism hardly incites the peasants to revolt. ;)
Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete