The dogs of war (phrase)

Foreseeing violence throughout Rome, Antony even imagines Caesar's spirit joining in the exhortations: "raging for revenge, with Ate by his side come hot from hell, shall in these confines with a Monarch's voice cry 'Havoc!'

"[1] In a literal reading, "dogs" are the familiar animals, trained for warfare; "havoc" is a military order permitting the seizure of spoil after a victory; and "let slip" is to release from the leash.

[2][3][4] Shakespeare's source for Julius Caesar was The Life of Marcus Brutus from Plutarch's Lives, and the concept of the war dog appears in that work, in the section devoted to the Greek warrior Aratus.

The 1980 movie, "The Dogs of War" starring Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger was about mercenaries who depose the government of a fictitious African nation in order to secure mining rights.

[15] Jeremy Clarkson used the phrase during a Top Gear special, before attempting a speed run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1, adding "They probably think that's a Bon Jovi lyric here.

The phrase is spoken by Alexander Skarsgård portraying Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert in the Series Generation Kill as Bravo Company drives towards the enemy lines in Episode 6.

Punch cartoon from 17 June 1876. Russia preparing to let slip the "Dogs of War" and its imminent engagement in the growing Balkan conflict between Slavic states and the Ottoman Empire , while policeman John Bull ( Britain ) warns Russia to take care. The Slavic states of Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire two weeks later.