die is cast, the

A final decision has been made; there is no turning back. The term comes from Julius Caesar’s invasion of Italy in 49 B.C. (see CROSS THE RUBICON). According to Suetonius’s account, Caesar said Jacta alea est (The dice have been thrown), which has been repeated through the ages whenever a figurative player must abide by the result of a throw of the dice. It was a cliché by the time George Meredith wrote, “The die is cast—I can- not go back” (The Egoist, 1879).