When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Alternative forms
  • 1.2 Etymology
  • 1.3 Proverb
    • 1.3.1 Synonyms
    • 1.3.2 Translations
  • 1.4 References

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• Discussion

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English

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Alternative forms

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• when in Rome, do as the Romans (less common)
• when in Rome, do like the Romans do (less common)

Etymology

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The first attestation is Medieval Latin si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sīcut ibī (“if you should be in Rome, live in the Roman manner; if you should be elsewhere, live as they do there”), which is attributed to St Ambrose (c. 339–397). Robert Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) uses the phrase “When they are at Rome, they doe there as they ſee done.”[1]

Proverb

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when in Rome, do as the Romans do

1. (strictly) When situated in a foreign place, it is wise to follow the local customs.
   • 1834, Thomas Staunton St. Clair, A Soldier's Recollections of the West Indies and America, with a Narrative of the Expedition to the Island of Walcheren, volume 1, London: Richard Bentley, page 345:[…] but, as I seated myself at table, I thought how my friends in Scotland would stare to see stewed monkey, roasted mermaid, and a pepper-pot of macaws, set down on table for their repast. But my plan always has been when in Rome to do as Rome does; and we found our food both delicate and cooked in such a manner, with every savoury spice, that it would have tickled the palate of the most fastidious gastronome.
   • 1846, “A Letter from Mehemet Ali to Ibrahim Pacha”, in Punch, or the London Charivari, volume 11, London, page 35:It will be observed that the document is written in the ordinary style of English correspondence, for Mehemet Ali endeavours to adopt European habits as far as he possibly can, and, as when in Rome he would do as Rome does, so his son, being in this country, is addressed as an Englishman.
   • 2003 May 8, “Forget Asylum-Seekers: It's the People Inside Who Count”, in The Economist:But it is hardly an act of hostility to make people improve their social or work skills; it happens to all schoolchildren. And to most of the native Dutch, this was simply a reasonable “when in Rome do as the Romans do”, and a recognition that this acculturation was not happening fast enough, but needed to be pushed.
2. (loosely, idiomatic) It is wise to adapt to the circumstances; it is wise to follow common custom.
   • 1842 July, “The Opinion of the Apostle Peter Respecting Trifles”, in Barton W. Stone, editor, The Christian Messenger, volume 12, number 9, Jacksonville, IL, page 282:But my friend says, ‘when in Rome, we must do as Rome does,’ Ah! this is the very principle of an ungodly world; and Christians have caught the spirit, and are acting up to it. Peter and Paul were in Rome.—If they had done as Rome did, they would not have suffered death there. If we were in Rome, and must do as Rome does, we must become idolaters, and papists, or lose Rome's favor, and suffer her displeasure. But we must separate ourselves from Rome, and from the world, and their wicked and God-robbing practices. We must not be conformed to the world. We must be Christians in deed and in truth.
   • 1857, Austin Steward, Twenty-two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman; Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years, While President of Wilberforce Colony, London, Canada West, Rochester, NY: William Alling, page 101:I know of many instances where such persons have been under the necessity of buying or hiring slaves, just to preserve their reputation and keep up appearances; and even among a class of people who profess to be opposed to Slavery, have I known instances of the same kind, and have heard them apologize for their conduct by saying that “when in Rome, we must do as the Romans do.”
   • 1873, J. W. Phelps, editor, Secret Societies, Ancient and Modern; an Outline of Their Rise, Progress, and Character with Respect to the Christian Religion and Republican Government, Chicago: Ezra A. Cook, page 224:The good intentions of the individual cannot control the evil operations of an organization which is essentially wrong. Men when in Rome are apt to do as the Romans do, however evil it may be; and the member of a Lodge is not likely to remain for a long time better than the Lodge itself.

Synonyms

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• when in Rome (ellipsis, more common)

Translations

[edit] behave as those around do

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: عِنْدَمَا تَكُون فِي رُومَا، اِفْعَل مَا يَفْعَلَه الرُّومَان (ʕindamā takūn fī rūmā, ifʕal mā yafʕalah ar-rūmān) Gulf Arabic: يا غَريب كون اَديب Armenian: որտեղ որ գնաս, այն երկրի գդակը ծածկիր (orteġ or gnas, ayn erkri gdakə cackir); ում սելին նստես նրա հորովելը կանչիր (um selin nstes nra horovelə kančʻir) Basque: Gorostian gorosti, Donostian Donosti Bulgarian: в Рим като́ ри́мляните (v Rim kató rímljanite) Burmese: ရောမရောက်ရင် ရောမလို ကျင့်ရမယ် (rau:ma.rauk-rang rau:ma.lui kyang.ra.mai) Catalan: cada terra fa sa guerra; a terra que vas, usança que trobes Chinese: Hokkien: 入鄉隨俗 / 入乡随俗 (ji̍p-hiong-sûi-sio̍k, literally “when entering a village, follow the customs”) Mandarin: 入鄉隨俗 / 入乡随俗 (zh) (rùxiāngsuísú), 入境隨俗 / 入境随俗 (zh) (rùjìngsuísú, literally “when entering an area, follow the customs”) Czech: jiný kraj, jiný mrav (literally “other country, other customs”), kdo chce s vlky býti, musí s nimi výti (literally “he who wants to be with wolves, must howl with them”) Danish: skik følge eller land fly (literally “observe custom or flee country”), man må hyle med de ulve man er iblandt (literally “one must howl with the wolves among which one is”) Dutch: 's lands wijs, 's lands eer Esperanto: alia lando, aliaj moroj; en Romio, agu kiel Romiano; kies gasto mi estas, ties feston mi festas; inter lupoj, kriu lupe Estonian: please add this translation if you can Faroese: sær er siður á landi (literally “to its own is the custom in a land”) Finnish: maassa maan tavalla (literally “the country's customs in the country”) French: autre pays, autre coutume (literally “another country, another custom”); à Rome, fais comme les Romains (fr) (literally “in Rome, do as the Romans”) Galician: cada país seu uso, cada roca seu fuso Georgian: სადაც წახვალ იქაური ქუდი დაიხურე (sadac c̣axval ikauri kudi daixure) German: andere Länder, andere Sitten (literally “other countries, other customs”); man muss mit den Wölfen heulen (de) (literally “one has to howl with the wolves”) Greek: quoted in English Hebrew: בְּרוֹמָא הִתְנַהֵג כְּרוֹמָאי (he) (b'róma hitnahég k'rómaí) Hindi: जैसा देश वैसा भेष (jaisā deś vaisā bheṣ) Hungarian: ha Rómában élsz, élj úgy, mint a rómaiak Icelandic: sinn er siður í landi hverju (is) (literally “its own is the custom in each land”) Indonesian: di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung (literally “where the feet touch the ground, there the sky held up”) Irish: fág an tír nó bí san fhaisean Italian: paese che vai, usanze che trovi (literally “country you go (to), customs you find”); a Roma, fai come i romani (literally “in Rome, do as the Romans do”); quando a Roma vai, fai come vedrai; quando sei a Roma, vivi come i romani (literally “when you are in Rome, live like the Romans”) Japanese: 郷に入っては郷に従え (ja) (ごうにいってはごうにしたがえ, gō ni itte wa gō ni shitagae), 郷に入りては郷に従え (ja) (ごうにいりてはごうにしたがえ, gō ni irite wa gō ni shitagae) Kabyle: di Ṛṛuma, dder am iṛumaniyen; di tmura nniḍen dder am aken ttidiren Khmer: please add this translation if you can Korean: 입향순속(入郷循俗) (iphyangsunsok, literally “enter the country, follow custom”), 로마에 가면 로마법을 따르라 (roma'e gamyeon romabeobeul ttareura), 고을에 들어가면 고을 풍속을 따르라 (go'eure deureogamyeon go'eul pungsogeul ttareura) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: li gorî derdor û adetên xwecihî tevgeriyan Latin: si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sīcut ibī Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: Romoje elkis kaip romėnai Malay: di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung (literally “hold up the sky of the land where you stand”); masuk ke dalam kandang kambing mengembek, masuk ke dalam kandang kerbau menguak (literally “bleat in the goat's pen, grunt in the buffalo's shed”) Maltese: meta tkun Ruma, agħmel bħal Rumani Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: når man er i Rom gjør man som romerne Persian: خواهی نشوی رسوا همرنگ جماعت شو (xâhi našvi rosvâ hamrang jamâ'at šav) Polish: jeśli wejdziesz między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one (pl) (literally “when you go among the crows, you must caw like them”); w czyim chlebie smakujemy, tego i pochlebujemy; co kraj, to obyczaj (pl) (literally “every country, there is a custom”) Portuguese: (Brazilian) quando em Roma, faça como os romanos; (European) em Roma sê romano (literally “in Rome be Roman”) Romanian: la Roma, faci ca romanii Russian: с волка́ми жить — по-во́лчьи выть (s volkámi žitʹ — po-vólčʹi vytʹ, literally “to live amongst wolves, you should howl like a wolf”), со свои́м уста́вом в чужо́й монасты́рь не хо́дят (ru) (so svoím ustávom v čužój monastýrʹ ne xódjat, literally “don’t go with your own rules to someone else’s monastery”) Scottish Gaelic: beus na tuath, far am bithear 's e a nithear (literally “the manners of the folk, where one is it is what one does”), dèan san Òban a rèir an Òbain (literally “do in Oban according to Oban”), ma tha thu san Òban, dèan mar an t-Òban (literally “if you are in Oban, do as Oban”) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: кад си у Риму, понашај се као Римљанин Roman: kad si u Rimu, ponašaj se kao Rimljanin Somali: meel Il laga la'yahay ishaa layska tuura Spanish: allá donde fueres, haz lo que vieres (literally “when you go there, do what you see”); si entre burros te ves, rebuzna alguna vez (literally “if you find yourself among donkeys, bray any way”); donde fueres haz lo que vieres; a donde fueres haz lo que vieres Swedish: ta seden dit man kommer (sv) (literally “take to the custom from where you're at”) Thai: เข้าเมืองตาหลิ่ว ต้องหลิ่วตาตาม (th) (kâo meuang dtaa lìw dtông lìw dtaa dtaam, literally “to enter the town of squint-eyed people and need to squint one's own eyes like them”) Turkish: Roma'dayken Romalılar gibi davran Vietnamese: nhập gia tùy tục (literally “enter house, follow customs”) (入家隨俗), nhập gia tùy tục, nhập giang tùy khúc (vi) (literally “enter the house [and] follow customs, enter river [and] follow bends”) (入家隨俗，入江隨曲, nhập hương tùy tục (vi), đi nước Lào ăn mắm ngoé Welsh: pan foch yn Rhufain, gwnewch fel y Rhufeiniaid; yn Ffrainc rhaid yfed yn ffraeth Zazaki: Roma dı zey Romayıcan bı

References

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1. ^ Democritus Junier [i.e. Robert Burton] (1621), The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With All the Kindes, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Severall Cures of it, Oxford: Henry Cripps, part. 3, sec. 4, memb. 1, subs. 3, page 768

• Seferyan, S. S.; Hovhannisyan, L. V.; Lazaryan, A. A. (1986), Angleren-hayeren darjvacabanakan baṙaran [English–Armenian Phraseological Dictionary], Yerevan: University Press, page 179

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