sexagenarios de ponte

Latin

Etymology

When the men of Rome reached the age of sixty, they could no longer vote in the ovile and later the Saepta Iulia (the places where the citizens cast vote) and if they tried to enter they would be pushed back from the bridge leading to them. The phrase literally means "sixty-year-olds over the bridge". (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /sek.saː.ɡeːˈnaː.ri.oːs deː ˈpon.te/, [s̠ɛks̠äːɡeːˈnäːrioːs̠ d̪eː ˈpɔn̪t̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sek.sa.d͡ʒeˈna.ri.os de ˈpon.te/, [seɡzäd͡ʒeˈnäːrios d̪ɛː ˈpɔn̪t̪e]

Proverb

sexāgēnāriōs dē ponte

1. sixty-year-olds over the bridge

Usage notes

• This expression has often at an early period been erroneously referred to a religious usage or original human sacrifices.

See also

• dēpontānus