all roads lead to Rome
Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs:
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All roads lead to Rome
Cf. medieval L. mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Romam, a thousand roads lead man for ever towards Rome. [c 1391 Chaucer Astrolabe Prologue l. 40] Right as diverse pathes leden diverse folk the righte way to Rome.
All roads alike conduct to Rome.
[1806 R. Thomson tr. La Fontaine's Fables IV. xii. xxiv.]
You know all roads lead to Rome, and they say that Oxford is half-way to Rome.
[1872 W. Black Strange Adventures of Phaeton vi.]
All roads lead to Rome: and even animal individuality throws a ray on human problems.
[1912 J. S. Huxley Individual in Animal Kingdom vi.]
All roads, of course, led to Rome: an expression of Rome's control over the empire's landscape and populace.
[2002 Spectator 16 Feb. 21]
Related to: beginnings and endings; ways and means
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:
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all roads lead to Rome
Many different methods will produce the same result. For example, So long as you meet the deadline, I don't care how much help you get--all roads lead to Rome. Based on the fact that the Roman Empire's excellent road system radiated from the capital like the spokes of a wheel, this metaphor was already being used in the 1100s.
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Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Copyright © 1982, 1992, 1998, 2003, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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