Pro Patria Mori

The war memorial plaque on the wall of Arundel Town Hall (TQ0107 : Arundel Town Hall) is dedicated "To the memory of the men who fell in South Africa in defence of the Empire". It carries the dates 1899-1902 and is headed by the quotation: "DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI" which is a line from the Roman lyrical poet Horace's Odes (III.2.13). The line can be roughly translated into English as "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country." A quotation that went rather out of favour after the publication of Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" which describes the horrors of a World War I mustard gas attack and ends by describing the Horatian quotation as "that old lie".

  © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence .

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