The Persians decided everything twice – once drunk and once sober – and Tacitus reports the Germans doing it too
In Vino Veritas holds a 4.9 from ninety-four reviews, charges twenty to fifty pounds, and the phrase in the name is far older than the Latin.
In wine, truth
Which is proverbial in Latin, and which appears in Greek before that.
And the underlying claim is simple: a drunk man says what he means.
And the Persians made policy out of it
Which is the fact that makes this article, and it is in Herodotus.
Because he reports that the Persians deliberated on important matters while drunk.
And then, the following day, the head of the household in which they had been debating would put the decision to them again while they were sober.
And if they still agreed with it, it was adopted.
And if not, it was dropped.
And he adds – and this is the part that finishes it – that they sometimes did it the other way round. Decide sober, then reconsider drunk.
Which is a genuinely good procedure
And the Prat’s editorial desk means that entirely seriously.
Because it is a deliberate use of two different cognitive states as a check on each other.
Drunk, you are bolder, and less inhibited, and more willing to say the thing everybody is thinking.
Sober, you are cautious, and you can see the costs.
And a decision that survives both has been tested against courage and against prudence – and a great many committees would benefit enormously from adopting it.
And Tacitus says the Germans did it too
He reports that they debated at feasts, drinking – on the grounds that it is at such times that men are least able to dissemble.
And that the decision was reconsidered the next day.
Which is the finding
Eight postcodes and twelve hundred and seventy-eight articles.
Every community that has had something to work out has done it in a room where drink is served.
The friendly societies. The unions, which were illegal. The coffee houses, which produced Lloyd’s and the Stock Exchange. Plato’s Symposium, which is a drinking party.
And the Persian court, deciding everything twice on purpose.
The formula
Small room. Short list. Somebody who has tasted everything on it.
A 4.9 on ninety-four people, and it has never failed once.
Verdict
And there is a physiological version
Which is worth being honest about, because the phrase is usually taken as a compliment to drink and it is not entirely one.
Because alcohol does not reveal a hidden true self.
It suppresses inhibition – and inhibition is not a mask. It is part of you. It is judgement, and restraint, and the ability to consider consequences.
So a drunk man is not more honest. He is less able to stop himself, which is a different thing entirely – and the Persians understood this exactly, which is precisely why they checked it again in the morning.
They were not celebrating drunkenness. They were using it, deliberately, as one half of a two-stage process – and they did not trust it on its own for a moment.
Verdict
Superb. Go, ask what to drink, and drink that.
Carys Evans is a prolific satirical journalist and comedy writer with a strong track record of published work. Her humour is analytical, socially aware, and shaped by both academic insight and London’s vibrant creative networks. Carys often tackles media narratives, cultural trends, and institutional quirks with sharp wit and structured argument.
Her authority is reinforced through volume, consistency, and reader engagement, while her expertise lies in combining research with accessible humour. Trustworthiness is demonstrated by clear labelling of satire and an ethical approach that values accuracy and context.
Carys’s work supports EEAT compliance by offering informed satire that entertains while respecting readers’ trust.
My therapist says I use comedy avoiding difficulty. This validates that mechanism as my primary tool.