Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum
“You are led about like a wooden puppet moved by someone else’s strings.”
Horace, Satires 2.7.82
What does “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum” mean?
Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum translates as “You are led about like a wooden puppet moved by someone else’s strings.”
A biting image of a person with no will of their own, pulled this way and that by others. It still fits anyone who follows fashions, bosses or passions without thinking for themselves.
“Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Duceris | you are led | second person singular present passive indicative of duco, “I lead”; the subject “you” is built into the ending |
| ut | like, as | here a comparison word: “as” or “like” |
| nervis | by strings | ablative plural of nervus, “sinew, string”; ablative of means or agent: “by, with” |
| alienis | belonging to another | ablative plural of alienus, “another’s”; agrees with nervis |
| mobile | movable, easily moved | nominative singular neuter adjective of mobilis, agreeing with lignum |
| lignum | a piece of wood | nominative singular neuter of lignum, “wood”; here the puppet itself |
How to pronounce “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum”
The main differences are the c in duceris (k or ch), the v sound in nervis (w or v) and the gn in lignum (g plus n, or ny). Stress duceris on its second syllable, nervis on its first, and lignum on its first.
The story behind it
Word for word the line says “you are led like a movable piece of wood by another’s strings”. The wood is a marionette, and the strings are other people’s will pulling it around.
It comes from Horace’s Satires, book 2, poem 7. During the Saturnalia, the December festival when Roman slaves could speak freely to their masters, Horace’s slave Davus takes the chance to lecture him.
Davus argues that his master, who thinks himself free, is really the slave of his own desires and moods. The puppet image is the sharpest moment of that attack, turning the usual order of master and slave upside down.
The image of a person worked by strings has stayed in use ever since, and today it is a common way to describe someone who follows crowds, bosses or passions without thinking.
How to use “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum”
Fits an essay on independent thinking, a poster or speech about resisting manipulation, or a pointed caption about people who follow trends blindly. As a tattoo it is better as a reminder to yourself to think freely than as a boast.
- Latin
- Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum
- English
- You are led about like a wooden puppet moved by someone else’s strings.
- Source
- Horace, Satires 2.7.82
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Freedom
Common mistakes
- The line is addressed to one person (“you”) and is not a general statement; to speak to several people the verb would change to ducimini.
- Nervi here means “strings”, not “nerves”; the word originally meant sinews or cords.
- It is not advice to be a puppet or about puppeteers admiringly: in Horace it is an accusation made by Davus against his master.
- Writing it without the verb, as just “mobile lignum”, loses the sense of being led by others’ strings.
Questions about “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum”
What does “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum” mean literally?
“You are led, like a movable piece of wood, by another’s strings.” The English version renders it as a wooden puppet moved by someone else’s strings.
Who said “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum”?
It is from Horace, Satires 2.7.82. It is spoken by the slave Davus to Horace during the Saturnalia festival.
How do you pronounce “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum”?
In Classical Latin: doo-KEH-ris oot NEHR-wees ah-lee-EH-nees MOH-bih-leh LIG-noom. In Church Latin the c becomes ch and the v a v sound.
Is “Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum” good for a tattoo?
The Latin is correct and meaningful, but it is long and quite harsh. Check that you want its sense of being controlled by others as a personal warning.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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