' or ' () is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase, meaning "with a turned thumb", that is used in the context of

gladiatorial combat A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

. It refers to a hand

gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...

or thumb signal used by

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

crowds to pass judgment on a defeated gladiator following duels in colloseums. The precise gesture described by the phrase ''pollice verso'', and its meaning, are the subject of scholarly debate. According to Anthony Corbeill, a

classical studies Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages ...

professor who has extensively researched the practice, thumbs up signalled killing a gladiator, while "a closed fist with a wraparound thumb" meant sparing him.Where Does the 'Thumbs-Up' Gesture Really Come From?
''Time'' Zoologist

Desmond Morris Desmond John Morris FLS ''hon. caus.'' (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book ''The Naked Ape'', and for his televis ...

describes human gestures of this type to be culturally determined and transmitted.

Meaning

The reason for the supremacy of the thumb over the other digits was debated even in ancient times. Roman provincial

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

observed that the name of the thumb () was derived from the Latin word for power (). Another explanation is based on the thumb's unsuitability for the adornment of rings, thereby making it morally superior to the other fingers.

Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius () was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Crispus. His most impo ...

emphasized its utility and functionality, along with its strength and size. According to

Fulgentius Fulgentius is a Latin male given name which means "bright, brilliant". It may refer to: *Fabius Planciades Fulgentius (5th–6th century), Latin grammarian *Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (5th–6th century), bishop of Ruspe, North Africa, possib ...

, the outstretched thumb paralleled other organs which were considered apatropaic, and like them it was seen as capable of warding off evil.

Ancient Rome

The exact gesture described by the phrase ' is unclear. From historical, archaeological, and literary records it is uncertain whether the thumb was turned up, turned down, held horizontally, or concealed inside the hand to indicate positive or negative opinions.

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

writes of a gesture using both thumbs to applaud a

sporting event Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a p ...

, though his exact meaning is unclear. According to Encyclopaedia Romana, Corbeill, who gave the most extensive discussion of the topic, translates Pliny's ''pollices premere'' as "pressing of the thumbs". According to his conclusion a merciful gesture consisted of the pressing of the thumb on the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

of a closed fist, and a negative gesture signifying death, called ''infesto pollice'' by

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

, consists of an "erect thumb pointing upward". The definition of in the Latin dictionary of Lewis and Short follows Corbeill's conclusion.

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...

uses ''verso pollice'' in the '' Satires'':

Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some ...

mentions the thumb gesture (''converso pollice''), used by a

Vestal virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several s ...

who delights in the carnage:

In popular culture

The notion of the ' thumb signal was brought to modern popular attention by an 1872 painting by French

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek mythology, Greek and Roman my ...

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

entitled '' Pollice Verso'' (usually translated into English as ''Thumbs Down''). It is a large canvas that depicts the

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several s ...

s signifying to a

murmillo The murmillo (also sometimes spelled "mirmillo", "myrmillo", or "mirmillones" pl. murmillones) was a type of gladiator during the Roman Empire, Roman Imperial age. The murmillo-class gladiator developed in the early Imperial period to repl ...

that they decree death on a fallen gladiator in the arena. The picture was purchased from Gérôme by U.S. department-store magnate

Alexander Turney Stewart Alexander Turney Stewart (October 12, 1803 – April 10, 1876) was an Irish Americans, Irish- American entrepreneur who moved to New York and made his multimillion-dollar fortune in the most extensive and lucrative dry goods store in the world ...

, who exhibited it in New York City, and it is now in the

Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest art museum, museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,0 ...

in Arizona. Pollice Verso--pamphlet--Paris--1879

The painting almost immediately kicked off a controversy over the accuracy of Gerome's use of the thumbs-down gesture by spectators in the Colosseum. A 26-page pamphlet published in 1879, ''"Pollice Verso": To the Lovers of Truth in Classic Art, This is Most Respectfully Addressed'', reprinted evidence for and against the accuracy of the painting, including a letter dated 8 December 1878 from Gérôme himself. Gérôme's painting greatly popularized the idea that thumbs up signaled life, and thumbs down signaled death, for a defeated gladiator. The gesture is used in many movies about Ancient Rome, including the 2000 film ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'', in which the Roman emperor

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

uses a thumbs-up to spare the life of the film's hero,

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...

. ' is also the title of a controversial 1904 drawing of the Crucifixion by Australian artist

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxing, boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of hi ...

, depicting Christ being rejected by nude

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

References

External links

''"Pollice Verso": To the Lovers of Truth in Classic Art, This is Most Respectfully Addressed''
26-page pamphlet published in 1879 reprinting evidence for and against the accuracy of Gérôme's painting, including a letter dated 8 December 1878 from Gérôme himself.

article by Edwin Post in ''

American Journal of Philology The ''American Journal of Philology'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1880 by the classical scholar Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It covers the field of philology, and related areas ...

'', Vol. 13, No. 2 (1892), pp. 213–225, online at

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is the ancient Graeco-Roman part of a large history website, hosted as of March 2025 on a server at the University of Chicago. Starting in 1995, as of January 2004 it gave "access to more than 594 photos, 559 drawings and engravings, ...

"The Gladiator and the Thumb"

"Pollice Verso" at Phoenix Art Museum
{{Gestures Culture of ancient Rome Gladiatorial combat Latin words and phrases Hand gestures

Meaning

Ancient Rome

In popular culture

References

Further reading

External links