Mortui non mordent.

The dead do not bite, cannot hurt you. This apothegm was used by Theodore Chius, master in rhetoric to Ptolemy king of Egypt, when consulted by him whether they should grant an asylum to Pompey, who had landed on their coast, after being defeated by Julius Cæsar. He advised them to receive him, and put him to death; adding, «Mortuos non mordere». Our more common phrase, and which is probably used by ruffians who determine to murder those they rob, is, the deads tell no tales.