The French expression, "coup d'etat" = "a blow of state", the (usually violent) overthrow of a government and its replacement by an illegal alternative. In Latin there are a number of terms e.g. "seditio" (feminine noun) = "violent political discord", "mutiny", "sedition" (Oxford); "rebellio" (feminine noun) = "revolt", "overthrow" (Wiki); verb, "usurpo" = "to seize", "to obtain illegally". None of these quite encompasses the whole picture from "violent overthrow" to "illegal replacement", understood from the expression "coup d'etat".
In his erudite answer to excellent Q: How do you say " Coup de grâce " in latin?, Cerberus offered a quote from Cicero:
"...si causam publicam mea mors peremisset," (Cic. Pro Sestio 49.1) =
"...if my death should have dealt the final blow to the cause of the state,".
This rendered to:
"causam publicam perimere" =
"to give the coup de grace (the finishing stroke) to the cause of the state".
As well as a "coup de grace", could this also be translated as a "coup d'etat"?
