Veni Vidi Vici

Pronounced by Julius Caesar ( "Life of Caesar", Plutarch - "Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius", Suetonius), Veni Vidi Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) quote echoed and inspired warriors and rulers through the centuries across the earth!

While in Egypt (June of 47 BC) Caesar was informed of troubles that had arisen in Syria against Roman holdings. Caesar traveled to Asia, where he learned that the primary troublemaker was Pharnaces II, who was king of Pontus, an area near the Black Sea in northeastern Turkey. According to the Life of Caesar written by the Greek historian Plutarch (45–125 CE), Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, was stirring up trouble for the princes and tetrarchs in several Roman provinces, including Bithynia and Cappadocia. His next target was to be Armenia.

With only three legions at his side, Caesar marched against Pharnaces and his force of 20,000 and defeated him in the Battle of Zela, or modern Zile, in what is today the Tokat province of northern Turkey. To inform his friends back in Rome of his victory, again according to Plutarch, Caesar succinctly wrote, "Veni, Vidi, Vici."