When in Rome, (do as the Romans do). St. Ambrose, 347 AD
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Act like the locals when visiting their place
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Hãy hành động như người địa phương khi thăm nơi họ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: imitate Roman customs in Rome
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “When in Rome, (do as the Romans do). St. Ambrose, 347 AD” mean?
Act like the locals when visiting their place Literally: imitate Roman customs in Rome
Is “When in Rome, (do as the Romans do). St. Ambrose, 347 AD” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.