About

All Roads Lead to Rome is a catchphrase and proverb meaning that no matter which path you take to achieve a certain goal, you will always end up in the same place. The phrase is purportedly a reference to the road systems in the Ancient Roman Empire and was derived from French poet Alain de Lille in 1175, who said, "Mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Roman," translating to, "A thousand roads lead a man forever towards Rome." The saying became the subject of memes throughout the 2010s and 2020s. In September 2025, the phrase saw a resurgence in virality as a meme on TikTok, often associated with an image of the White Rabbit pointing at a clock from Alice in Wonderland.

Origin

The phrase "all roads lead to Rome" is derived from French poet Alain de Lille, who, in 1175, coined the phrase, "Mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Roman," meaning, "A thousand roads lead a man forever towards Rome."^[1] It is thought that the phrase references the design of the Ancient Roman Empire's roads, which all branched out from the Milliarium Aureum in Rome's central forum, meaning any road followed would lead back to the heart of Rome.

It is unclear who first used the phrase as a meme, but it appeared online as early as 2011. On November 14th, 2011, a Dwight Facts meme referencing the phrase was uploaded to QuickMemes^[2] that gained over 400 shares in 14 years. This is one of the earliest known memes to reference the phrase.

Spread

Memes about the phrase became increasingly popularized in the late 2010s. For example, on June 3rd, 2019, Redditor u/atehriblefrenchnoise posted a meme to the /r/RoughRomanMemes^[3] subreddit about the idea of all roads leading to Rome, garnering over 3,200 upvotes in six years.

On October 7th, 2022, Redditor u/arigashiarashi posted a Left Exit 12 Off Ramp meme to the /r/memes^[4] subreddit referencing the phrase that gained over 16,000 upvotes in three years.

In September 2025, the phrase became the subject of memes on TikTok, many of which use another meme of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland pointing at a clock and a map that visualizes the idea of all roads leading to one location.

For example, on September 11th, 2025, TikToker^[5] @bisskon posted a meme that features both images flashing over text messages between a person and their romantic interest, the first texts showing promise and the second a rejection, garnering over 540,000 views in six days.

On September 15th, TikToker^[6] @theactuallybryan posted a meme using the same images, captioned, "When bros telling you about his girl but you've been here before," suggesting that all roads lead to heartbreak, garnering over 2.3 million views in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References