Et facere et pati fortia Romanum est.

“Et facere et pati fortia Romanum est” is a Latin phrase. It means “"Acting and suffering bravely is the attribute of a Roman"”. Its author is Livy ("Ab Urbe condita", 2, 12, 9).

Origin

According to legend, once Mucius Cordus tried to kill the Etruscan king Lars Porsena, who beleaguered Rome. When the Etruscans caught him, he said “"Romanus sum civis"” ("I am a Roman burgess"). In order to prove his audacity, he held his right hand into fire. In this way, he is assumed to have got his byname “"Scaevola"” ("The “left-hand”"). Porsena was so impressed by that, that he gave up the besiegement of Rome. In this way Mucius Cordus became an example for a brave and audacious Roman burgess. A similar phrase, for example, is Civis romanus sum.

References

* [http://books.google.de/books?id=qepmsXSNHtsC&pg=PA641&lpg=PA641&dq=Et+facere+et+pati+fortia+Romanum+est&source=web&ots=60zIZcLeTt&sig=DooM8Kzs8XcfjhD7V-Ij_x4WoaI&hl=de#PPA641,M1 Page 641 (German)]
* [http://elib.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/publications/diss/E-Diss199_thesis.pdf Page 168, 3,5 (German)]