"Who will watch the watchmen?" is a translation of the phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" made famous by the Roman Poet Juvenal in his satires.
Contextually it referred to the notion that
male guards should not guard women against sexual assault as they themselves are capable of committing such crimes, the only solution would be to have the women guarded by eunuchs.
Generally though it is considered the embodiment of the philosophical question as to where ultimate
power should reside. It can be attributed as the basis, or at least the summarization, of the United States' concept of division of political
power. At any given moment a watchman is watched by
two watchmen thus eliminating the possibility of corruption.
The phrase is also
well known as the basis for the graphic novel, and film, Watchmen.
Synonymous phrases include:
Who will guard the guards?
Who will protect the protectors?
Who will
police the
police?
"Privacy is a farce, if you have done
nothing wrong then you have
nothing to hide. Surveillance is the only way to assure that no crime goes unpunished."
"But who will watch the watchmen? Themselves?"
