On This Day In Roman History, January 10
Julius Caesar leads Legio XIII Gemina across the Rubicon River on January 10, 49 BCE. This movement went against the direction of the Senate which just three days prior issued a Senatus consultum ultimum, which called for the return of Caesar to the capital. The Senate wished to try Caesar for alleged war crimes and multiple instances of corruption. This action set in motion The Great Roman Civil War, which took place between 49 and 45 BCE. Caesar by this time had been evading legal action taken against him legally in the form of political immunity via his proconsulship. As his legal immunity was coming to an eventual conclusion, and realizing the SCU against him would certainly mean his demise if he returned to Rome, he knew what action must be taken to preserve his power and life. At the crossing of the Rubicon, one source most famously quoted Caesar as stating "Alea iacta est", most commonly translated to English as "The die is cast".
Did you know?
The Senate feared Caesar to be at the head of many more troops than the single Legion headed towards Rome. Pompey fearing the same stated, "Rome cannot be defended" and retreated. These actions were later characterized by Cicero as an "outward sign of weakness", and would lead to an easy start to Caesar's dictatorship.
Pictured left: Column of Julius Caesar, where he addressed his army to march on Rome and start the Civil War.
By: Georges Jansoone (JoJan) (Own work (own photo)) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
This Column of Julius Caesar can be found in modern day Rimini, Italy. After this point, Caesar would continue to march towards Brundisium in pursuit of Pompey, who was leading some 11,500 soldiers south. The Optimates plan was to head Caesar off from Etruria in the direction of the Adriatic coast. When this would eventually fail, an estimated 3 Legions would surrender. They were both isolated from any reinforcement and trapped without means of escape, joining and assimilating into Caesar's ranks.
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion. What an exciting day! This is the start of some of the most momentous Roman history there is. It would soon shape the Roman world for the rest of its existence, and there would be no turning back from its eventual conclusion in the form of the Principate. My opinion today is that this war could have ended in its most early stages during Caesar's crossing the Rubicon. Armies win battles, but intelligence wins wars. If the Optimates forces simply had the knowledge of what Caesar was bringing with him during the march on Rome, even a levied senate force combined with Pompey's legions could have probably stopped Caesar early. In the coming days and months, we will probably often jump back into this time frame, seeing as a magnitude of historical days are about to take place. I look forward to discussing specific battles and my opinions on them in the coming weeks.
Sources
Andrews, E. A., Freund, W., Lewis, C. T., & Short, C. (1980). A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Kohn, G. C. (1986). Dictionary of wars. New York, NY: Facts on File.
P., & Rouse, W. H. (1900). Life of Caesar. London: Blackie.
Further Reading:
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