The expression ad calendas graecas was widely used in ancient Rome and is attributed to Emperor Augustus (27 BC–AD 14). Literally, it means “until the Greek calends.” In practice, it signifies “at some indefinite point in the future” or, more frankly, “never.” It roughly corresponds to the saying “when pigs fly.”
The reason is simple: the Greeks of that era did not divide the year into months according to the Julian calendar; such a system did not exist for them. Accordingly, from a Roman perspective, speaking of deadlines based on a Greek calendar was meaningless. The phrase was used especially in reference to hopeless creditors, since the beginning of each month was traditionally the time when debts were to be repaid.
Armenia has now entered a pre-election period, and all political forces will, quite naturally, be generous with promises. To assess how serious these promises are, one must recall those made in the past. In this case, the discussion concerns the authorities, because only those in power had—at least theoretically—the capacity to deliver on their words. Ahead of the previous electoral cycle, in 2021, the Civil Contract party promised the “peaceful de-occupation of Shushi and Hadrut” and the “separation for the sake of salvation” of Artsakh. We are fully entitled to ask: when is this supposed to happen?
Yesterday, within what might, with a dose of irony, be called the Abu Dhabi “peace festival”, the deputy prime ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Grigoryan and Mustafayev, met and, presumably, discussed the so-called “delimitation and demarcation” of the border. The authorities insist that it is precisely this process that will lead to the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. This claim is, incidentally, rather odd, since to date no one has relinquished occupied territories through “demarcation.” But let us assume, for the sake of argument, that this is possible. When?
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When will the academic city be built? The technocity? The “Sepuh” automobile plant? The “American modular nuclear power plant”? …
…The Latin expression ad calendas graecas can be rendered in Armenian as: “when the Ajapnyak metro station is built…”
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
