High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant" or "Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant" ("Hail, Emperor (Caesar), those who are about to die salute you") is a well-known Latin phrase quoted in Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum ("The Life of the Caesars", or "The Twelve Caesars"). It was used during an event in AD 52 on Lake Fucinus by naumachiarii—captives and criminals fated to die fighting during mock naval encounters—in the presence of the emperor Claudius. Suetonius reports that Claudius replied "Aut non" ("or not").