"Veni, vidi, vici" ([ˈweːniː ˈwiːdiː ˈwiːkiː]; [ˈvɛni ˈvidi ˈvitʃi]; "I came; I saw; I conquered") is a Latin phrase popularly attributed to Julius Caesar who, according to Appian, used the phrase in a letter to the Roman Senate around 47 BC after he had achieved a quick victory in his short war against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the Battle of Zela. The phrase is used to refer to a swift, conclusive victory.
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This sentence appears in Plutarch (Plut. Caes. 50) and Suetonius (Suet. Iul. 37.). Plutarch reports that Caesar "gave Amantius, a friend of his at Rome, an account of this action", whereas Suetonius says "In His Pontic triumph he displayed among the show-pieces of the procession an inscription of but three words, 'I came, I saw, I conquered'".
Latin grammar
Veni, vidi, and vici are first person perfect forms of the Latin verbs venire, videre, and vincere, which mean "to come", "to see", and "to conquer", respectively. The sentence's form is classed as a tricolon and a hendiatris.
English grammar
The English phrase "I came, I saw, I conquered" employs what is known as a comma splice. Using a comma to join two independent clauses ("I saw" and "I conquered") is something that should be done sparingly, according to grammarians. Sometimes, the comma splice is avoided by using a semicolon instead: "I came; I saw; I conquered".