| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 21998 |
| QUOTATION: | Let justice be done, though the world perish. (Fiat justitia et pereat mundus.) |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Ferdinand I (1503–1564), Hungarian King of Bohemia and Hungary, Holy Roman Emperor 1558-1564. Motto.
The Latin maxim—adopted as Ferdinand’s motto in the early 1530s—has been ascribed to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (d. 43 B.C.) in the form, “Let justice be done, though heaven should fall.” (Fiat justitia ruat coelum.). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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