Expert: Maria - 3/30/2009

Question
I'm looking for a translation of Julius Caesar (play) quote "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war" or more preferably "Dogs of War"

Answer
Hello,

I’m sorry, but there is no literal translation of this quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act III, scene I,  as it is a very idiomatic phrase which  would sound very strange in Latin where no one would have used the expression “the dogs of war”, for example.

Anyway I can give you an equivalent Latin phrase which could be used to direct the soldiery (i.e. 'the dogs of war' in Shakespeare's parlance) to devastation and pillage.
Here it is:

“Omnia pervastate, expilate ac diripite!”  [ literally “Devastate, plunder and destroy everything!"].

As for the war cry “Havoc!”, there is no equivalent in Latin where the general-in-chief, when starting  an attack, would have said to his legionaries:  “Impetum facite!”(literally, “Start an attack!”, i.e. “Hurl yourself against the enemy!”).

The soldiers of the Roman legions  in fact used to chant as they marched to intimidate the enemy, waiting for the final charge to yell their battle-cry which was “Victoria!”(victory!), as we read in Caesar, Gallic War, book 5, chapter 37.

Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:

-OMNIA(accusative neuter plural of OMNIS) = ‘all'/everything’;

-PERVASTATE( imperative, 2nd.person plural of PERVASTO) = ‘devastate’;

-EXPILATE (imperative, 2nd.person plural of EXPILO) = ‘plunder’;

-AC = ‘and’;

-DIRIPITE (imperative, 2nd.person plural of DIRIPIO) = ‘destroy’.