Caesar

DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION

In a well-written paragraph (5-7 sentences in length), answer the following based on the
primary source document and note taking questions below:

Why was the crossing of the Rubicon was a major decision for Caesar?
What did it represent?

Life of Julius Caesar

. . . [Caesar] had heightened his glory by his victories [in Gaul], so that his reputation could
now challenge that of the great Pompey. As Caesar had long ago resolved to overthrow
Pompey, so had Pompey resolved to crush Caesar. The Triumvirate of the three
ambitious men began to fall apart . . .

At this time, Caesar had only 5,000 soldiers with him, but he decided to move suddenly
with these few, knowing the rest of his army would follow later. He preferred to surprise
and to frighten the enemies immediately, rather than to given them warning and time to
organize their forces.

While some of his officers and men went ahead to attack the key town of Ariminum, . . .
Caesar spent the day in full view of the unsuspecting people, feasting and watching the
gladiators. During the evening banquet, he and his key officers, one by one, slipped away
to join the army at Ariminum. At the Rubicon River, the boundary of his province
[Cisalpine Gaul], he stopped to consider the civil war and whether to go ahead toward
absolute rule. [For a general with troops to cross the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul
and the rest of Italy amounted to an invasion of Rome. It was a direct challenge to
Pompey and the government.]

He wavered during the day, trying to compute how many calamities his passing that river
might bring upon mankind. He worried about the many Roman deaths that would follow
and wondered what history would say about his decision.

Then he considered the greatness of the enterprise and cast aside calculation.
Abandoning himself to what might come, he cried, "The die is cast," and plunged into the
river.

In passing the limits of his province, Caesar shattered Roman law beyond repair. Once
across the river, he sped to Ariminum, arriving there before daylight. The capture of
Ariminum opened up northern Italy to Caesar's war. The march of Caesar's growing
army toward Rome brought fear to Pompey's party, confusion to the Senate, hope and
aggressiveness to the common people, an excuse for looting and violence, and disorder
for Rome. The City was overrun as if by a deluge [flood], with both exultant and frightened
people entering and leaving Rome.

. . . Pompey still had a larger army than his opponent, but he was filled with panic. . . . He
declared the City in anarchy and left Rome, urging the Senate and all who preferred
Rome and liberty over tyranny to follow him out of the City. . . . Pompey mustered a great
fleet and took his supporters to Greece. Caesar wanted to pursue him, but because he
had no navy, he went back to Rome. He had, in sixty days, made himself master of all
Italy without bloodshed.

From Lives from Plutarch, the Modern American Edition of Twelve Lives, ed. by John W. McFarland, Pleasant and
Audrey Graves (New York, Random House, 1966).

NOTE TAKING QUESTIONS

1. Who was Julius Caesar's main rival for power in Rome?

2. Where was Caesar coming from when he crossed the Rubicon River to enter Italy?

3. What did Caesar mean by "The die is cast"?

4. From his actions here, what conclusions can you draw about the kind of person

Caesar was?