ET TU Part Five HOMECOMING

 

I wish I could have seen at least one of the parades in the first week of September, 46 B.C..E. They lasted over four days and the spectacle must have been magnificent. Each morning the units formed up on property once owned by the last King of Rome - renamed the Field of Mars. There were cohorts of unarmed soldiers, battalions of slaves, wagons piled high with booty and treasures, and bizarre animals from distant conquered lands. 

All four parades were to exalt just one man, Julius Caesar. When all was ready each day, Caesar, dressed in his Senatorial robe (called in Latin "a candidus") edged in divine purple and with a laurel wreath atop his bald head, would climb into his chariot, and enter the usually bared Gate of Triumph.

Just inside the city walls Caesar would symbolically surrender his command to representatives of the Roman Senate and the Urban Praetir – the mayor. But if he bothered to notice each day, Caesar would have seen increasing tension on the face of one man in particular, the Praetor and Senator, Marcus Junius Brutus.

The politician Cicero described his contemporary Brutus as having “the courage of a man but the brains of a child”. You see, Brutus suffered from daddy issues. His legal father had been a first rate lawyer and a second rate politician. In 78 B.C.E. Brutus the elder had gotten involved with the Catiline Conspiracy. How much the elder Brutus actually knew of the murky plot is debatable, but he ended up in the Cisalpine city of Mutina (modern Modena), besieged by an army loyal to the Senate. The elder Brutus worked out a deal to surrender the town and switch sides. But the Senate army commander, Pompey the Great, decided he couldn't trust the elder Brutus, and had him executed. 

Thirty years later Brutus the Younger (above) took up to the sword to fight for the Senate and for his idol, Pompey - the man who had orphaned him.

The senators now led the Triumph along the Sacred Way, between cheering crowds. Behind them came the trumpeters, followed by the carts of booty, the slaves, and two white sacrificial bulls. Then came the stacks of captured arms, and then the political prisoners, the generals, kings and queens, staggering in their chains. 

And only then came Caesar, under a shower of flowers. He was over 50 now, but still handsome to Roman eyes. Behind him came the unarmed men from his legions, singing obscene soldier songs, mostly about their commander.

The widow of Brutus the Elder had become the mistress of the young Julius Caesar. Their affair was so well known in Rome that it was rumored Caesar was the younger Brutus' real father. It was an absurd claim. The year Brutus was born, Caesar was just 15. Still, the rumors refused to die, and even gained popularity after Pompey's defeat at Physallus in 48 B.C. After fighting alongside Pompey in that battle, Brutus had written Caesar a letter of apology. And amazingly, Caesar had forgiven him, even adopting him and appointing him governor of Trans-Alpine Gaul, one of Caesar's old posts.

Now, Caesars policy of magnanimity was an obvious attempt to make his one-time enemies beholden to him. But in the case of Brutus, Caesar was also trying to avoiding hurting his old girlfriend, Brutus' mother. I get the feeling this is what passed for love with Caesar, dispensing favors as a substitute for affection and intimacy. And if you were expecting more from the great man, you were certain to be disappointed. Open affection was not Caesar's style. Besides, after Pompey's death, he was pretty busy.

Once each Triumphant parade had reached the Capitoline Hill, Caesar climbed the steps to the Temple of Jupiter. Before entering he removed his laurel wreath as a sign of humility. Then, inside, he watched the two while bulls sacrificed, and their blood was smeared on his face. Then he handed over his political prisoners, such as Leader of the Gauls, Vercongetroix. In fact the big Gaul had spent the last five years held a few hundred yards away, in the prison atop Tullianum Rock. Now he was returned to the prison, lowered back into the dungeon, and tied to a post. A strung bow was slipped over his head and twisted until he was slowly strangled to death. Not all political prisoners were sacrificed during Caesar's four triumphs. On day two Cleopatra 7's younger sister, Arsinoe 4, was spared, but sent to a temple in Greece, from which she was not permitted to leave for the rest of her life.

In October 48 B.C., after learning of the death of Pompey, Caesar had taken possession of the royal palace in Alexandria, Egypt. He then destroyed the army of the Pharaoh Ptolemy 13 and his younger sister Arsinoe 4. The boy Pharoh drowned, she had been captured. Then Caesar set Cleopatra 7 on the throne, making a firm alliance with her to feed his armies and refill his purse. After a fertile diversion with Cleo, on 23 June, 47 B.C., Caesar set off on a forced march, reminiscent of his quick invasion of Spain two years earlier. Caesar crossed the Sinai, marched through Judea and Syria, and the eastern half of modern day Turkey, covering 800 miles in just 47 days. On 2 August, at Zile, Caesar crushed an army under the the rebellious King Pharnaces, and captured his Roman Senate advisor, Gaius Cassius Longinus.  So smashing was his victory, that Caesar's message informing the Senate was reduced to only three words - “veni, vidi, vici”. The translation reads, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But in this case, Caesar proved to be slightly optimistic.

His mistake was underestimating Cassius, a smart and feisty aristocrat. Cassius had warned against the invasion of Parthia back in 53 B.C. The few legionnaires who survived the debacle of Carrhea, were saved because Cassius lead them to safety. But after his own capture in 47 B.C., when Caesar offered Cassius a command in the expedition to destroy the last of the Senates' forces in Tunisia, Cassius said no. Almost any other Roman politician would have killed Cassius for that refusal. But again, Caesar chose to be magnanimous. He even decided to risk leaving this hot head unattended, loose back in Rome.

Leaving the Temple of Jupiter, Caesar now stood at the top of the steps while Marc Anthony held the Laurel wreath over his head. The crowd cheered this ritual, meant to display the hero's rejection of an offer of Kingship. But it seemed to those with suspicious minds that on each of the four days, Caesar waited a little longer before rejecting the laurel wreath. Brutus wasn't certain he noticed such reluctance on Caesar's part. But his brother-in-law Cassius, assured Brutus that he had indeed seen it.

From the Capitaline Hill, via the Sacred Way , each Triumpate parade marched to the Circus Flaminius, adjacent to the Tiber River and Mars' Field. Here the city held amateur chariot races, and public meetings. But now long tables were set for a banquet, where thousands of average Roman citizens could feast on exotic foods from the newly conquered lands. But this had been a civil war, Roman had killed Roman, and other than the first days triumph to celebrate Caesar's conquest of Gaul (50 B.C.), the lands Caesar had recently conquered had already been Roman lands. There were many within the Senate who did not feel Caesar should have been granted a triumph for his victories over Egypt (48 B.C.), King Pharnaces (47 B.C.) nor over the Senate Armies in North Africa and Spain (46 B.C.)

But the promise of parades and free meals, and the hundreds of new Senators Caesar had appointed, had swayed the Senate to vote to approve the unprecedented four Triumphs. As the sun set on the final Triumph, as the last tipsy guest staggered off to the vomitorium, Julius Caesar was at the pinnacle of his power.

But of all men, Caesar was the most likely to have known, there was nowhere left to go from here but down.

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ET TU Four Jewel of the Nile

I don't always believe the accuracy of Roman historian Plutarch (above).  Still, Plutarch always told a good story.  His version of the death of Pompey the Great is a perfect example. According to Plutarch, after losing at Pharsalus, Pompey sought refuge in Egypt.

The general was expecting support from fourteen year old Theos Philopator -  Pharaoh of Egypt, also known as Ptolemy 13.  Interesting number, don't you think?  Pompey had loaned his father, Ptolmey 12, enough money to put down a revolt, and figured the son would feel obligated to help him.  But Ptolmey 13 was having a few problems of his own.

You see, Pompey unexpectedly ran into Ptolemy 13 was in Pelusium, the silt plagued port and fortress at the eastern edge of the Nile delta. The new Pharoh was there because he was avoiding his two sisters, both of whom were trying to kill him. It was a great confused mess, and a very bad time to arrive in Egypt seeking help. But then Pompey's timing had never been very good.

Pompey's arrival on 29 September,  48 B.C.E., presented Ptolemy 13's advisors with a bit of a conundrum. If they helped Pompey they would anger Julius Caesar, who had just defeated Pompey's army at Pharsalus. It they sent Pompey packing and he later won his civil war with Caesar, Pompey would make sure bad things happened to Ptolemy 13 and his advisers. However, there was a simple solution to this problem, and I am surprised it never occurred to Pompey. It certainly occurred to Ptolemy 13's advisers.

According to Plutarch, Ptolemy 13's advisors sent a boat out to Pompey's ships, which were anchored just outside the harbor of Pelesium.  In the boat was a Roman centurion named Lucius Septimius, who had been sent to Egypt by Pompey to reinstate Ptolemy 12.   

Septimius assured his old commander that it was safe to come ashore.  So, leaving his wife and children on board, Pompey climbed down into the boat. As they approached the shore, Pompey could see Ptolemy 13 in his sedan chair, waiting on the beach. But something did not seem right, and Pompey hesitated. Then one of Ptolemy's generals, a half Greek named Achilles, called out that the Pharaoh was very busy but could give Pompey a few minutes of his time, right now. It still smelled fishy, but Pompey really had very little choice. His crews and his family needed water, and food, and somebody who knew the coastline down to Tunisia, where he had more legions and allies...So the old fool got in the boat. Well, as they say in  Apocalypse Now, "Never get out of the fucking boat".

According to Plutarch, as the boat passed the breakwater Pompey was rehearsing his Greek greetings for the Ptolemy 13, when Septimius stabbed him in the back. They then dragged the boat ashore and then dragged the wounded Pompey up onto the sand. There they  chopped off his head   It was a cold and heartless thing to do, particularly since Pompey's wife was watching from the galley off shore. But it wasn't anything Pompey hadn't done to countless others. And that was the death of Pompey the Great, one of the most overrated generals in history, a man whose greatest sin was in believing his own press releases, which he had written.

That was one problem solved, leaving Ptolemy 13's advisers with their original problem, his sisters - in particular his elder sister. She had hired an army, and she and it were hovering out in the Sinai desert, short of food, water and money to pay her soldiers.  It  looked as if she was about to crushed by Ptolemy 13's army when, just two days later- 1 October, 48 B.C. - yet another Roman annoyance arrived off shore. This time it was Julius Caesar (above), with a single Roman legion. Dutifully, the advisers of Ptolemy 13 sent a boat out to Caesar, carrying the head of Pompey.   But if Ptolemy 13's advisers expected Caesar to thank them for eliminating his enemy, leaving them free to finish off their sororicide without further distraction, they were sadly mistaken. Oh,  Caesar did sail off from Pelusium. He just didn't didn't sail for Rome. A few days later Cesar landed in Alexandria and took over the empty royal palace.

I honestly don't know if Caesar really cried when he saw Pompey's head. He said he did. But Caesar must have known the instant he looked into those foggy dead eyes that he had won his civil war. There was more fighting to be done, of course. He would have to move on to Tunisia, to finish off Pompey's troops there. But there was no longer any need to rush. With Pompey dead the Senate aristocrats had lost their champion and rallying point. Caesar could allow their army in Tunisia to wither on the vine a little, while he took advantage of an opportunity right here in Egypt. 

Ptolemy's army at Pelusium might be blocking his sister's army from entering Egypt, but Caesar's 5,500 man force in Alexandria was sitting on the Egyptian treasury, and the gold used to pay Ptolemy 13's soldiers. To paraphrase an American Vietnam War general, grab them by their ingots and their hearts and minds will follow. Caesar now summoned both Ptolemy 13 and his sisters to Alexandria to settle their civil war. And to be honest with you, I don't think Caesar particularly cared which ones, if any of them, showed up.

It turned out they all did - Ptolemy 13 and his two sisters, Asinoe 4, and Cleopatra 7. Ptolemy 13 had the easier time getting to the Alexandria, but even Cleo made it, and she first had to slip around her brother's army and be smuggled into the palace in a rolled up carpet - if you believe Plutarch. But once she was there, Caesar was required to protect her since he had summoned her. And as Caesar was a heterosexual, he quickly fell under the spell of this extraordinary young woman.

She was 21, and he was 52. He came from a world where women were not allowed to compete with men. The only thing that had kept her head on her shoulders to this point was her brains. A modern Egyptologist described the lady this way, “Cleopatra was a mistress of disguise and costume. She could reinvent herself to suit the occasion, and I think that's a mark of the consummate politician.” 

Was she a great beauty? Plutarch, who was born a half-century after she died, wrote that she was not. But he also consulted every word written about her by people who had known her, and the consensus was that “her presence...was irresistible.... (Her) character...was something bewitching.” Wrote another Roman historian, she was “...brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate every one, even a love-sated man already past his prime.” By all indications, the love-sated old man succumbed the very first night.

The advisers of Ptolemy 13 saw which way the perfumed wind was blowing.  They formed a secret alliance with Cleopatra's younger sister, Asinoe 4. She slipped out of Alexandria and hurried to join Ptolemy 13's army at Pelusium. But, once there she started calling herself Pharaoh, and when the commander of the Ptolemy 13's army, General Achilles, protested her use of the title. She had him killed. Well, turn about is fair play, isn't it? The army did not approve of the lady's ego trip, and offered her in trade for Ptolemy 13. For some reason Caesar accepted the deal.  But once back with his army, Ptolemy 13 and his advisers chose to lay siege to Cesar in Alexandria in December of 48 B.C.

Caesar was trapped in the city, with just one legion, and that was not enough. But he had already called for reinforcements, and when they arrived in early January of 47 B.C. they smashed Ptolemy 13's army. On 13 January  the fifteen year old Ptolemy 13 was drowned in the Nile, maybe by accident and maybe by a bribed Egyptian. But however the boy died, Cleopatra 7 was now the Pharaoh in Egypt. Caesar had Asinoe 4 placed under arrest, probably to protect her from Cleopatra – the lady had an understandably heightened sense of self preservation.

Just 8 months after Cleopatra 7 first rolled out of a carpet at the feet of Julius Caesar, on 23 June, 47 BC, she gave birth to a son. It was observed that as the boy, Ceasarian, grew, the more he resembled Caesar. This infant was one of two males who may have been Caesar's sons. The other was the child of Caesar's widowed girlfriend, Servilla. That boy, whom Caesar never officially adopted, was Marcus Junius Brutus.

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ET TU Part Three A Bloody Drill

I know little about the soldier Crastinus, except that he died on 7 June, 48 B.C.E. of a sword wound to the mouth. I know that on that day, as he was about to face the 45,000 of his fellow Romans who were serving in Pompey's army,  Crastinus swore an oath to his own general. “General, I will act in such a manner today that you will feel grateful to me, living or dead.”  

This is not to say that Crastinus was happy to be on the plain that day, just north of the central Greek town of Pharsalus (modern Farsala). But we can be certain he had already proven his bravery and his ability to inspire men, else he would not have achieved the rank of Centurion, entrusted this day with directing 80 of the men in a 22,000 man army. The men in his Century or company, depended upon Crastinus. He was the second most important man in their lives, after Julius Caesar.

Caesar had crossed the Rubicon on 11 January,  49 B.C. with just 5,000 men. His primary opponent, Pompey the Great, had more than twice that many men defending the walls of Rome. But less than a week later, without even offering battle, Pompey, most of his army and most of the Senate aristocrats fled Italy, sailing for Epirus, in north western Greece. That left the Roman stage to Caesar. First he got his hands on the treasury. Then, what remained of the obedient Senate voted him dictator for a year.  Caesar ordered all government posts abandoned by the aristocrats to be filled with his allies. That gave him political control of Rome. Still, he was caught between Pompey's Spanish legions and Pompey himself, gathering new legions and allies in Greece.

The Latin word for a Roman soldier, “legionnaire”, meant a military conscript, who was drafted under the Republic to serve for 6 years. The professionals, who were beginning to dominate the Roman Army, signed 25 year contracts. For non-Romans, such as the Gauls in Caesar's army, an honorable discharge meant Roman citizenship and a plot of farmland upon which they could retire. And most who signed up, made it to retirement - for every hour a legionary spent on a battlefield like Pharsalus he spent years drilling. It was said of Caesar (but could have been said of any good general) that his drills were bloodless battles and that his battles were bloody drills.

In late March of 49 B.C. Caesar left Rome and crossed the Alps. In Gaul he met up with three of his own legions.  Without pausing, he now forced the passes through the Pyrenees mountains, and outside of the Spanish village of Illerda confronted the Spanish legions loyal to Pompey.  Caesar had covered the 800 miles so quickly – just 27 days – that the troops loyal to Pompey were caught unprepared and were defeated.  On 2 August all five of Pompey's Spanish legions surrendered, and rather than being disbanded were integrated into Caesar's forces.

The core formation of the Roman Army was always the squad of 8 men, called a contubernium, who shared a barracks room or a tent, and a mule to carry their supplies. Ten such groups, or 80 men, formed a century (a company) , six centuries formed a cohort (a battalion), and a legion (a division) was made up of 10 cohorts. Everything they did was a standardized drill. They even ended each day's march by building a standardized camp. A legionary could walk into any camp from Judea, to Britain, to Africa, and walk directly to the armory, the barracks, or the stables. The basic plan for European and American cities grew out of the standardized design of Roman Army camps.

By early 48 B.C. Caesar had gathered three legions in Brundisium, at the heel on the Italian boot. He still lacked enough ships to carry all his men across the Adriatic to Greece, but so eager was he to come to grips with Pompey, that Caesar sailed with just half his force. For once, Pompey moved quickly. His ships cut Caesar off from reinforcement, and his larger army forced Caesar’s men into battle at Dyrrhachium, in what is today Albania. Caesar lost 1,000 men and would have been destroyed, had Pompey not suddenly become cautious. While he paused, Mark Anthony slipped the rest of Caesar’s legions through Pompey's blockade. The two opposing armies now began a dance, southwestward, down the Greek peninsula, until, by late May they had reached the plain of Pharsalus, where Caesar’s men grew so hungry, they would march no further.

At Pharsalus Caesar’s legionaries were facing fellow legionaries and neither side had a technological advantage. Pompey's larger army held the high ground, which meant Caesar’s hungry men would have to attack uphill.  Pompey formed each of his legions as usual, three ranks deep, with three feet between each man. But Caesar thinned out his men to add a fourth line. It was a minor alteration.

After throwing their spears, each Century battered into the enemy with their shields, strapped to their left forearm. The overlapping shield walls pushed and shoved the enemy, the enemy pushing and shoving back. A Roman battle was mostly a brutal shoving match, both sides looking for an opening to thrust in their 2 foot long gladius (sword) with their right arms. Every 90 seconds the Centurion would blow his whistle. The front rank would sidestep right and backward. The fresh second rank would surge forward, pushing and shoving. The exhausted rank would then fall back to the third line, to rest. As long as both armored sides maintained their discipline, the causalities in ancient battles were few. But the instant either side broke formation, showing their backs, the slaughter would begin

On Caesar’s right, Pompey's cavalry scattered their weaker opponents. But this uncovered Caesar’s fourth line of legionaries. Caesar's incessant drilling allowed his men to smoothly swing to their right, and thrust at the enemy cavalry.  And here Caesar displayed a new tactic, developed to deal with the Gaelic cavalry. Instead of throwing their spears, Caesar’s legionaries used them as five foot long spikes. The enemy's horses would not hold formation against the advancing spikes, and were scattered and driven off the field.  Caesar’s fourth line swung to their right, outflanking Pompey's troops. Now the fourth line threw their spears and pulled their gladius. Now the slaughter began.

Pompey saw what was happening and panicked. He rode back to his camp, gathered up his wife and servants. urged his soldiers there to resist Caesar to the death, and then rode for the coast, some say dressed as a peddler. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Caesar’s 22,000 man army lost just 200 legionnaires killed, and 30 Centurions – including the brave Crastinus. Another 800 legionaries were wounded. But because Pompey's 45,000 man army's formation had broken,  the field was littered with 15,000 of their dead.

Once again, Caesar chose to be magnanimous. He separated Pompey's soldiers from their Centurions. He put his officers in command of Pompey's legions, and he transferred Pompey's officers to positions in his legions, where superior and junior officers could keep watch over them.  Caesar learned that Pompey had sailed for Egypt, intending to quickly move on to his allied forces in Tunisia and what is today Libya. And with each step Caesar took in following Pompey, he took one step closer to his own murder.

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ET TU Part Two Gambling

 

I have no doubt there were spies in Ravenna on 11 January, 29 BCE. There are always spies in border towns.  And traveling north out of Roman territory, the first town you reached in Cisalpine Gaul was the little fishing village of Ravenna, a quarter way down the western boot of Italy.  A man could be a general  here.  But just fifteen miles to the south in Ariminum, he would command no soldiers. He would be governed by the politicians 200 miles to the southwest, in the self described center of the civilized world, in Rome. And the man the spies from Rome were watching this winter day was the governor of both CisAlpine and TransAlpine Gaul - Julius Caesar.

Caesar's stated reason for being in Ravenna was to check up on his investment in a gladiator's school (above).  That was logical - given that the tens of thousands of slaves Caesar had captured in his conquest of TransAlpine Gaul (i.e. France) and during his recent invasion of Britain, had be converted into cash. Laborers and house servants could quickly be sold, but Gladiators always sold at a premium, so, of course, Caesar was here to inspect the construction of his school, and to witness a display of his gladiators in training. Then, after a light lunch, Caesar went to the baths -  another public appearance for a Roman politician. 

And in the evening he sat down for a banquet, the kind of thing public officials are still expected to do.  And, according to Plutarch,  as the sun set, “...he left the company, having desired them to make merry till his return, which they would not have long to wait for."  It was enough to lull most spies to sleep. But the Romans were about to learn what the Gauls had learned before them - if you want to know what Caesar is about to do, you did not watch Caesar. You watch his troops.

Three years earlier, in December of 53 B.C., a member of the ruling First Triumvirate, the primary ally of Caesar, Crassus (above), a had been killed in Parthia. At about the same time another Caesar supporter, Tribune Publious Clodius Pulcher, had been killed in a staged brawl – something which had become common in the dying Roman Republic. 

The Tribune's angry supporters had built Plucher's funeral pyre in the Senate House, which resulted in the Senate House burning down. The Senate aristocrats used this act of vandalism as justification to elect the second member of the Triumvirate, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (above), as Sole Counsel, with powers to put down what was described as an insurrection. When some nervous Senators hinted that there were few soldiers in Rome to protect them, Pompey reassured them, “I have only to stomp my foot to raise an army”  And while he began to arrest Caesar's supporters, on 7 January,  49 B.C.E.,  the Senate voted to order Caesar to disband his own legions and return to Rome for trial. That law was vetoed by the two Tribunes who were were still loyal to Caesar, Mark Antony and Quintus Cassius Longinus. They were promptly driven out of the Rome at sword point.

Caesar (above), was just across the border, in CisAlpine Gaul.  When informed of the Senate's move against him,  he offered a compromise.  He was willing to give up  command of his army and return to Rome, if Pompey gave up his post as Sole Counsel.   Caesar also requested the Senate allow him to stand for re-election as Counsel while he was still in Gaul, with, presumably, Pompey standing for re-election as co-Counsel at the same time.  It seemed a fair compromise. If elected both men would have immunity from prosecution in the courts, and would jointly rule the city of Rome for a year. 

Pompey and the aristocrats in the Senate rejected the deal out of hand. Caesar's ten year term as Governor of both Gauls was about to run out, and as soon as he was no longer legally protected by his legions, the Senate could deal with him. So Caesar's enemies in the Senate thought they could afford to wait and watch

Caesar could not, and did not.  His 6,000 veterans of the 12th legion had been in winter barracks near present day port of Trieste, Serbia, at the head of the Adriatic. Early in January, before the Senate had even rejected his compromise, Caesar had ordered these men to sail for Ravenna. The advance elements had arrived at the little fishing village a week later. And on the afternoon of the 11 January,  5,000 infantry and 300 cavalry marched out of the “Rimi” gate, headed south.

After dusk, having slipped out on his dinner party, Caesar made his way on foot to a mill on the outskirts of the Ravinna.  Here his aides had a hired carriages, which were waiting for Caesar.  Pulled by four mules he followed a back road across the surrounding marshes.  In the dark he got lost, and his carriage got stuck in the mud. Dawn found the great Caesar on foot, asking for help from a lowly farmer. By mid morning he had joined his men, on the banks of the River Rubicon (or the red river),

the traditional northern border of Rome. 

Beyond, in the village of Rimi, was the end of the 200 year old great “Northern Road”, the Via Flaminia (above), which wound its way across the Apennines, the central mountain spine of Italy, through narrow gouges and bridging rushing torrents, to the Field of Mars, then through the Flaminia gate in the city's walls, right to the base of Capitoline Hill, the central citadel of Rome itself. Crossing this border at the head of an army had been forbidden for a Roman general for two hundred years. Crossing this border would brand Caesar and his soldiers as outlaws, subject to execution by any citizen at any time. So this called for a bit of theatre.

The veterans of the 12^th legion  had followed Caesar from conquest to triumph across Gaul, had even crossed the Rhine and invaded Germania. But this was something different, this was an assault on the Senatus, Populusque, Romanus - the Senate and the People of Rome, symbolized by the S-P-Q-R atop every banner the soldiers followed, on the very coins they were paid with. Nervously the legionaries awaited the stirring speech they expected Caesar to give before asking them to commit an act of treason.

Instead, a common soldier suddenly grabbed a trumpet from one of the musicians, raced across the shallow stream blowing “the advance”.  Caesar turned to his officers, and said, “We can still retreat. But once we pass this little bridge, there is nothing left but to fight..”  Then he turned toward the bridge, and called out, “Let us go where the omens of the Gods and the crimes of our enemies summon us”   As he crossed the stream  himself, he is supposed to have said, almost to himself, 

“Alea iacta est”, the Latin phrase usually translated as “The die is now cast!”

He did not look over his shoulder. He knew his men were following him.

On the southern shore waited Mark Anthony and Cassius Longinus, physical evidence of the arrogance of the Senate.  Here Caesar drew the troops into a square, tore his robes in a show of humility, and led the soldiers in a personal pledge of fidelity to himself, to Caesar.  The Roman Republic was now dead. The only thing required was to bury it. According to Suetonius, his legion now “marched so fast the rest of the way that he reached Ariminum before morning and took it.”

Rome was electrified by the news.  It quickly became clear that the Senate's arrogance had turned Caesar's march down the Via Flaminia into a triumphal parade. So great was the frustration with the Senate that city after city threw their gates open to Caesar. Forces sent to stop him, went over to his side.

Senator Favonius suggested it was high time that Pompey (above) stomped his foot. But Pompey's own legions were in Spain. The city had raised two legions and was assembling a third, but they were new recruits, and Pompey was not interested in matching them against Caesar's veterans from Gaul. Pompey did not increase his popularity when he informed the aristocratic members of the Senate that they should get out of town. Many denounced Pompey as a coward. But they still followed Pompey and their fellow aristocrats when they grabbed their wealth, and ran for Brundisium, the traditional port at the heel of the Italian boot. In their haste they left behind the treasury of Rome, the horde of gold and silver looted from Carthage, stolen from Egypt, taxed from Spain and Macedonia. It was the first place Caesar went, when he got to town.

They couldn't find the keys to the vaults. Caesar sent for locksmiths. A Tribune reminded Caesar he was violating the law. Caesar suggested, “If what I do displeases you, leave.” The doors were forced open, and Caesar had enough money to pay his soldiers.  But murder stepped through that door, right next to him.

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