Dueling Quotes: Latin Scene in Tombstone 

 Dueling Quotes 

When I say dueling quotes, I’m mean a literal duel. Sort of. I’m referring to a scene from the 1993 film Tombstone. The movie is a semi-fictionalized (but aren’t they all?) retelling of the events surrounding the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona on October 26, 1881. Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), gamber, gunfighter, and retired dentist is dying of tuberculosis. When he meets gunslinger Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) for the first time, the two take an immediate dislike to each other. The result is perhaps the most unusual duel in the history of western films.

Here’s what happens. Holliday is standing behind his friend Wyatt Earp, who is dealing cards in his saloon. Several of the “Cowboys” walk in. The Cowboys have a reputation for horse theft, and are not on friendly terms with Earp and his brothers. Holliday picks out an unfamiliar face among the gang and says, “You must be Ringo.” Following a brief exchange Holliday says, with a tone of finality, “I’m sure of it, I hate him.” Earp tries to head off a more open exchange of hostilities by assuring Ringo, “He’s drunk.”

 Do What You Do

This is where the fun begins. Holliday isn’t willing to let the matter drop. He mutters, In vino veritas. This old saying translates as “in wine, the truth.” In other words, alcohol lowers our inhibitions, and we’re more likely to say what we really think. For those who know Latin, Doc’s import is clear. He may be drunk, but that’s all the more reason to know that he means what he says.

As it happens, Johnny Ringo does indeed know Latin. At least the cinematic Ringo we see here does. He responds, Age quod agis. This means “do what you do.” St. Ignatius of Loyola often used this quote to mean, “whatever you’re doing, really do it.” Put yourself into it completely. Ringo’s implication here seems to be, if you hate me, do something about it.

Save It 

Holliday recognizes the challenge, and he’s not a man to let a challenge go unanswered. Doc turns back to Ringo and says, Credat Judaeus Apella, non ego. “Let Apella the Jew believe it, not I.” Alert Latin students will recognize Credat as a jussive subjunctive.

More to the point, this quote is from Horace’s Satire 1.5. Horace is commenting on a town boasting that incense miraculously melts on its altars without the benefit of fire. The Jewish people were known for their fervent belief in an all-powerful God. The Epicurean Horace, on the other hand, was a religious skeptic. His meaning is, save your boasting for the gullible.

In the context of the film the meaning is likewise clear. Holliday is telling Ringo, in effect, save your threats for somebody else. You don’t scare me.

RIP 

Ringo is ready with a response: Juventus stultorum magister. “Youth is the teacher of fools.” The old aphorism more often appears as eventus stultorum magister, “The outcome is the teacher of fools.”

Either way, it means something similar to William Blake’s observation in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “A fool who persists in his folly becomes wise.”  Ringo is warning Doc that if he’s foolish enough to mess with him, he’ll learn a hard lesson.

Holliday is not impressed. He ups the ante: In pace requiescat. “May he rest in peace” (another jussive subjunctive, by the way). We more often see the verb at the beginning: Requiescat in pace. This is the original source of the common tombstone inscription RIP. Poe, however, ends his famous revenge story “The Cask of Amontillado” with the same formulation Ringo uses here in the film. It may be an intentional allusion in the film. Or, maybe not. Either way, Doc’s meaning is clear. He’s threatening to put Ringo in his grave.

When you know Latin 

The sheriff cuts off the dueling quotes at that point in the interests of keeping the peace. Doc Holliday turns to his female companion and observes, “That’s Latin darling. Evidently, Mr. Ringo is an educated man.” Be that as it may, Johnny Ringo and Doc Holliday don’t act on their threats – yet. I don’t want to give anything away for those of you who haven’t seen the film, but let’s just say this scene is a nice piece of foreshadowing. You don’t need to know Latin to see the antagonism building between these two characters. But when you know what Latin actually means, it takes on a whole new dimension. You can see under an apparent exchange of witticisms a series of increasingly ugly threats. It just shows you, it always pays to know Latin.

Featured image top of page: Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer, far right) meets Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn, far left) for the first time, from the 1993 film Tombstone.