Expert: Maria - 10/29/2007

Question
Would you kindly translate the following two phrases as seen on buttons at a
Latin conference:
amat victoria curam.
quod licet jovi non licet bovi.
Many thanks ~ v!

Answer
Hello,

“Amat victoria curam” means literally “Victory loves the care”, that is “Victory likes careful preparation” or more loosely “Victory favours those who take pains”, since victory falls to those who prepare it carefully.

As for “Quod licet Iovi non licet bovi”, it means “What is allowed to Jupiter is not permitted to the ox” or “What is right for  Jupiter is not right for the ox” in the sense that everything is permitted to Jupiter, the king of gods in the Roman mythology, i.e. to  those who hold complete power, while the same doesn’t happen to oxen, i.e. those who do not hold power.
In short this ancient Latin phrase indicates the existence of a double standard , i.e. a standard applied more leniently to one group than to another.

Best,
Maria
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GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS

-AMAT (from the verb AMO)  = loves/ likes/ favours
-VICTORIA (nominative case) = victory
-CURAM (accusative of CURA) = care/ careful preparation

-QUOD ( nominative neuter of the relative pronoun QUI) = What
-LICET = is allowed/ is right
-IOVI  (dative of Iuppiter) = to Jupiter
-NON LICET = is not allowed/ is not right
-BOVI (dative of BOS) = to the ox.