when in Rome, do as the Romans do

English

Alternative forms

• when in Rome, do as the Romans

Etymology

First attested in medieval Latin si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sicut ibi (“if you were in Rome, live in the Roman way; if you are elsewhere, live as they do there”); which is attributed to St Ambrose.

Proverb

when in Rome, do as the Romans do

1. behave as those around do

Derived terms

• when in Rome (ellipsis)

Translations

behave as those around do

• Arabic: عندما تكون في روما، افعل ما يفعله الرومان (ar) (3indamaa takuun fi ruuma, if3al maa yaf3ala-hu al-rumaan)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: в Рим като римляните (bg) (v Rim kató rímljanite)
• Burmese: ရောမရောက်ရင် ရောမလို ကျင့်ရမယ် (my) (yaw ma youk yin yaw ma lo kyint ya mal)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 入鄉隨俗 (cmn), 入乡随俗 (cmn) (rùxiāngsuísú)

  Min Nan: 入鄉隨俗 (nan), 入乡随俗 (nan) (ji̍p-hiong-sûi-sio̍k)

• Danish: skik følge eller land fly (da), man må hyle med de ulve man er iblandt (da)
• Faroese: sær er siður á landi
• Finnish: maassa maan tavalla (fi)
• French: autre pays, autre coutume (fr), à Rome, fais comme les Romains (fr)
• Georgian: სადაც წახვალ იქაური ქუდი დაიხურე (ka) (sadac’ caxval ik’auri k’udi daixure)
• German: andere Länder, andere Sitten (de), mit den Wölfen heulen (de), (dated) Wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing. (de)
• Hebrew: ברומא התנהג כרומי (he)
• Hindi: जैसा देश वैसा भेष (hi) (jaisā dēś vaisā bhēṣ)
• Hungarian: ha Rómában élsz, élj úgy, mint a rómaiak (hu)
• Icelandic: sinn er siður í landi hverju (is)
• Indonesian: dimana bumi dipijak, disitu langit dijunjung (id)
• Italian: paese che vai, usanza che trovi (it)
• Japanese: 郷に入っては郷に従え (ja) (gō-ni itte-wa gō-ni shitagae)
• Korean: 입향순속 (ko) (入郷循俗, ib-hyang-sun-sog)

• Latin: si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sicut ibi (la)
• Maltese: meta tkun Ruma, agħmel bħal Rumani
• Polish: jeśli wejdziesz między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one (pl), kiedy wpadłeś między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one (pl) (when you fall among crows, you should croak like them)
• Portuguese: quando em Roma, faça como os romanos (pt)
• Russian: с волками жить — по-волчьи выть (ru) (s volkámi žit’ - po-vólč’i vyt’) (to live amongst wolves, you should howl like a wolf), со своим уставом в чужой монастырь не ходят (ru) (so svoím ustávom v čužój monastýr’ ne xódjat) (don’t go with your own rules to someone else’s monastery)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у друштву се и калуђер жени (sh)

  Roman: u društvu se i kaluđer ženi (sh)

• Somali: Meel Il laga la'yahay ishaa layska tuura
• Spanish: a dónde fueres, haz lo que vieres (es)
• Swedish: ta seden dit man kommer (sv) (literally, "Take to the custom from where you're at")
• Thai: เข้าเมืองตาหลิ่ว ต้องหลิ่วตาตาม (th) (kâo meuang dtaa lìw dtông lìw dtaa dtaam)
• Turkish: Roma'dayken Romalılar gibi davran (tr)
• Vietnamese: nhập gia tùy tục (vi) (入家隨俗 (vi)) (enter house, follow customs), nhập gia tùy tục, nhập giang tùy khúc (vi) (入家隨俗, 入江隨曲 (vi)) (enter house, follow customs, enter river, follow bends)