What does 'Rome doesn't pay traitors' mean, the phrase Milei used against Jorge Macri?

After the major victory of La Libertad Avanza in the legislative elections in the City of Buenos Aires, President Javier Milei expressed his willingness for a "tabula rasa with all decent people" who wished to join the libertarian ideas project.

However, yesterday, May 25, and after attending the traditional Te Deum at the Metropolitan Cathedral, President Milei avoided greeting the head of the Buenos Aires government, Jorge Macri, and hours later issued a forceful message on his X account: "Rome doesn't pay traitors."

With that phrase, the Argentine president made it clear that certain leaders would not be accepted in his political space. This is because Milei holds Jorge Macri responsible for having commissioned a dirty campaign against him to the Catalan advisor Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí, who has collaborated with figures such as Cristina Kirchner, Alberto Fernández, and Sergio Massa.

In the message written by Milei after the event, he explained: "If one is good to the bad (those who betray, lie, slander, insult, and defame for a mere advantage), one ends up being very bad to the good."

The origin of the phrase used by Milei

The phrase used by President Javier Milei to justify his gesture of not greeting the head of the Buenos Aires government, Jorge Macri, has an origin that dates back to the 2nd century BC.

The Undersecretary of University Policies, Alejandro Álvarez, explained the origin of the expression in a detailed response to the economist Roberto Cachanosky on the social network X. There, he cited Ab Urbe Condita ("From the founding of the city"), by the Roman historian Titus Livius, where another emblematic episode is mentioned.

During the Gallic siege of Rome in the year 390 BC, led by the tribal chief Brennus, the Romans tried to negotiate the withdrawal of the invaders by offering a payment in gold. However, the Gauls manipulated the scales to demand more. When the Romans protested, Brennus threw his sword onto the scale and exclaimed Vae victis ("Woe to the vanquished!"), as a sign of humiliation.

Subsequently, the Roman army reorganized under the leadership of Marcus Furius Camillus, who managed to recover the city. Upon seeing the devastation, Camillus declared that those who had collaborated with the enemy would be condemned and reaffirmed the principle: "Rome doesn't pay traitors."

Álvarez emphasized that this expression synthesizes the deep contempt that Roman political culture felt for betrayal. A sentiment that, centuries later, still resonates in Argentine political discourse.