42–43)Ĭaesar was declared an enemy of the state on January 7th 49 B.C. 94–97 Boatwright, Gargola & Talbert, p. (Rondholz, p. 433)Ĭaesar proposed that he would lay down his command over Gaul if Pompey gave up the command he held over Spain. the Senate wished to replace him as governor of Gaul and decided that his army should be disbanded by November 13, 50 B.C. THE PAINTING DEPICTS THE SURRENDER OF THE GALLIC CHIEFTAIN AFTER CAESAR’S VICTORY IN THE BATTLE OF ALESIA IN 52 B.C.įor quite some time, he had moved within a rather grey area, legally speaking by 51 B.C. VERCINGETORIX THROWS DOWN HIS ARMS AT THE FEET OF JULIUS CAESAR. PAINTING BY LIONEL ROYER, 1899. Suggested reading: Omnia Vincit Amor: Love in Ancient RomeĪt the time of his famous quote, Caesar had for 9 years successfully been campaigning in his provinces north of Italy – Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul and Illyricum – gaining quite a lot of popularity. Crassus, however, fell in the battle of Carrhae in the Parthian war. The alliance between Caesar, Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus had been an informal coalition, know to history as the First Triumvirate. there were some political tensions between Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey, a man he had previously been in an alliance with. JULIUS CAESAR AND THE CROSSING OF THE RUBICON, FRANCESCO GRANACCI, 1494. However, in order to get a good grasp of the meaning of Caesar’s enormously famous expression, let me just give you a short recap of the story. Movies have been made, books have been written, TV-series produced,so we shall not dwell too long on the issues of war. Thousands of pages have been written about Julius Caesar, Pompey and the Civil War fought between them.
On January 10th, 49 B.C., Gaius Julius Caesar uttered one of history’s most famous lines, Iacta alea est (sometimes written alea iacta est), after which he crossed the Rubicon river with his army and set the Roman Civil War in motion.