Caesar Crosses the Rubicon
Caesar’s victories made him a hero to the people of Rome. But the senators were afraid of Caesar.
“If he comes back to Rome now,” the senators said to each other, “the people will want him to be king of Rome! And then what will happen to us? We won’t be able to run Rome any more!”
Two of the senators decided that they would try to make one of the other consuls, Pompey, turn against Caesar.
This was hard to do, because Pompey had married Caesar’s daughter. But Pompey was jealous of Caesar. He knew that Caesar was much more popular than he was.So Pompey agreed to listen to the senators. “Listen,” they said to him. “Tell the people of Rome that Caesar is a traitor! Tell them that he isn’t loyal to Rome. Take away Caesar’s position of consul before he gets back to Rome. Then you will be the strongest man in the whole city!”
So Pompey agreed. He sent a message to Caesar, telling him that he would be arrested when he returned to Rome. He told Caesar to give up command of his army. And all the people of Rome were told that Caesar was a traitor.
Far away in Britain, Caesar got the bad news. His own city was calling him a criminal and a traitor! And the Senate wanted to arrest him and put him on trial! What should he do?
Caesar knew that the Senate didn’t like him. But he was convinced that the Roman people still thought of him as a great hero. So he took his army and marched back towards Rome.
Soon Caesar came to the Rubicon River. The Rubicon was the border of Roman land. Caesar knew that as soon as he crossed over the Rubicon, he would be in the land controlled by the senators. The senators would try to arrest him, and he would have to fight them. His army would end up fighting against other Romans! If he crossed over the Rubicon, he would start a civil war—a war that a country fights against itself. Should he do it?
He stood at the river for a long time, staring at the bridge.
“Even yet,” he said to the captain of his army, “we may turn back. But once we cross that little bridge … we will have to settle this with our swords.”Finally Caesar drew his sword and stepped onto the bridge. “My enemies have forced me to do this!” he announced. “We will march into Rome. Let the die be cast!” He crossed the Rubicon on January 10, 49 BC/BCE. His army followed him towards Rome.
Back in Rome, Pompey and the senators were trying to raise an army of their own. But no one wanted to fight against Caesar’s soldiers. After all, Caesar’s army had spent years fighting in foreign countries. They were tough, strong, and loyal to their leader. When Caesar and his army came in sight of Rome, all of Pompey’s soldiers ran away. And before Caesar could enter the city, Pompey fled as well.
Caesar marched triumphantly into Rome. No one dared to arrest him. Now the Senate had to admit that Caesar was too powerful to drive away. Caesar wasn’t king yet, but he was the strongest man in Rome.
Today, when someone has to make an important decision, people still say “You’re about to cross the Rubicon.” Crossing the Rubicon means that you’re about to do something that you can’t undo. We get this expression from the story of Julius Caesar’s return to Rome.
