While the Roman Republic was teetering on the brink of civil war

While the Roman Republic was teetering on the brink of civil war, Julius Caesar was leading his army to a crushing victory in the Gallic Wars, completely subduing the Celts and Gauls in and around modern day France.

Caesar was a controversial figure in Rome and his battlefield success and popularity contributed to the Roman Senate’s jealousy and suspicion of him. In 50 B.C. the Senate ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar assumed that once there he would be arrested and exiled. In response to the summons, Caesar proceeded toward Rome, but he was accompanied by one of his legions. When he reached the Rubicon, the river that separated Italy from Gaul, he paused. Under Roman law, any military commander who entered the Italian peninsula at the head of an army was deemed an enemy of the state, and he and all of his soldiers were subject to execution. Caesar knew that if he led his men across the Rubicon, civil war would follow. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, Caesar remarked, “Even yet we may draw back, but once cross yon little bridge, and the whole issue is with the sword.” The historian Plutarch wrote the Caesar conferred with his officers, weighing the “great evils to all mankind which would follow their passage of the river” against the fame and glory that might await them if they did. After some time reflecting on what course to take, Plutarch wrote that Caesar suddenly exclaimed, “Let the die be cast!” and he led his men across the river. Over the next five years Caesar battled and defeated the forces that opposed him. When the civil war was over, he was installed as Roman dictator for life. Gaius Julius Caesar and his Thirteenth Twin Legion crossed the Rubicon on January 10, 49 BC, two thousand seventy-one years ago today. In modern language, to “cross the Rubicon” means to cross the point of no return.

All What's You Should Know Dig into history, fact, science, true crime, and beyond with All What's you should know — where you'll discover the most interesting things that you Should know Click Here For more trending stories