Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (52 to 49 B.C.E.) transcript

The conquest of Gaul should have been the apex of Julius Caesar's career. The experience transformed him into Rome's richest citizen, and its second most accomplished general. Politically, he was more popular than ever, and an entire generation of young politicians now considered him the leader of their faction. In three years, he would be eligable to run for consul for the second time, and was projected to win in a landslide.

It seemed that Caesar would dominate Roman politics for the rest of his life. Instead, a little over after his victory at Alesia, Caesar marched on Rome, and the Roman Senate declared him an enemy of the Republic. How could this happen? Let's answer that question. In the aftermath of Alesia, Caesar was beginning the decades long process of transitioning Gaul from an unruly frontier to a Roman province. But there was only so much he could do as governor.

For the sake of administration, Caesar had simply thrown his conquests into the province of Transalpine Gaul. Eventually, Gaul would need to be partitioned, but a this would require new legislation from the Senate. Moreover, Caesar had spent the last several years buying off Gallic aristocrats with promises of Roman citizenship. Failure to deliver on this would jeopardize his new conquests. However, this would also require separate legislation from the Senate.

Then, there was his army. To conquer Gaul, Caesar had mobilized 50,000 soldiers. Most of these men were now approaching retirement, which usually meant that they received a plot of land from the government. If Caesar could find a way to settle these people in Italy, his 50,000 veterans would become 50,000 voters. That was enough to swing elections. But that, like everything else, would require its own legislation from the Senate.

To put it quite simply, the Senate had to uphold Caesar's conquests with new legislation. Currently, that wasn't happening. In order to make it happen, Caesar would need to be elected consul for a second time. Back in Rome, the city was still recovering from a dark period in its history. A few years earlier, angry politicians had taken advantage of disfunction in the Senate, and gangs of armed supporters had taken control of the streets.

For a while, it seemed that the Republic may be taken down by an angry mob. In a moment of desperation, the Senate turned to Rome's other most popular politician, Pompey, and empowered him to restore order. Pompey was a popular politician and a skilled general, but he wasn't one of those guys who had strong ideological beliefs. That's a kind way of putting it. Some of his less kind contemporaries describe him as stupid.

In his new role, Pompey surrounded himself with Conservatives, and we can say with some confidence that the more he did this, the more conservative he became. In the year 52 B.C.E., Rome received a double whammy of good news. Pompey restored order to the streets, and Caesar won an unprecidented victory against the Gauls at Alesia. After so many years of uncertainty, Rome could now feel secure both at home and abroad.

The city erupted into celebration. In the midst of this wave of public support, all ten Tribunes of the Plebs backed a bill that would allow Caesar to stand for election in the year 49 without having to leave Gaul. The bill passed into law. Let's pause here. Why did Caesar and his allies want this? Rome had a strict rule that forbade governors and generals from entering the city. Even Pompey, who was technically the governor of the two Spanish provinces, was forced to take up residence just outside city limits.

But Rome had another rule, which said that all candidates for office had to stand for election in person, in the city. So, what did governors who wanted to stand for election do? One rule telling them they could not enter the city, and nother saying that they must. Usually, they just resigned 6 months early, and entered Rome as a private citizen. But Caesar didn't want to do that. Why? Because while in office, consuls and governors were immune from legal prosecution.

We should remind ourselves why legal immunity was so important to Caesar. During his year as consul, Caesar illegally passed legislation after it was vetoed by his co-consul and several Tribunes of the Plebs. He oversaw and perhaps ordered the assault of a fellow consul. He incited a riot. He arrested a Senator for political reasons. I could go on. As consul, Caesar showed no respect for the rule of law. Cato, one of the leaders of the Conservative Faction, went so far as to swear an oath to personally lead the prosecution of Caesar whenever his legal immunity expired.

Prosecution would endanger all of Caesar's legislative accomplishments. Banishment was also a possibility. These guys weren't playing around. Were Cato and the Conservative Faction coming after Caesar for political reasons? Yes. Was Caesar guilty of these crimes? Also yes. Long story short, Caesar didn't want to risk battling it out in the courts. The Conservative Faction was well connected, and if it came down it, he might lose.

That's why, at the urging of Caesar's supporters, the Tribunes of the Plebs passed a law permitting Caesar to stand for election in absentia. This way, he could transition seamlessly from governor to consul, and then from consul to governor again, extending his legal immunity indefinitely. Cato and the Conservatives were pretty upset by this law. They pushed back, and the Senate descended into a heated debate over the issue.

Pompey, as Rome's leading citizen, decided to stay above the fray. Caesar should have been annoyed that the Conservatives in the Senate were coming after him like this. As far as he was concerned, he was abiding by the letter of the law. Besides, earlier im Pompey's career, he had done the same thing, and nobody batted an eye. It's also worth reminding ourselves that Pompey was serving as consul in the year 52, even though he was legally prohibited from doing so.

This fact was definitely not lost on Caesar. If the Senate was going after him, why weren't they going after Pompey? Debate raged in the Senate. The Conservative Faction tried repealing the law allowing Caesar to stand for election, but the Tribunes of the Plebs vetoed every attempt at doing so. The two sides were at a stalemate. Caesar had been elected consul in 59, and because of Roman law, he was not allowed to run for a second term until the election of the year 49.

Immediately after his term as consul, Caesar became the governor of the Gallic provinces for a five-year term, from 58 to 54. In the year 55, with the end of his term in sight, Caesar had the Senate extend his command for an additional 5 years. Now, with the Senate debating Caesar's future, members of the Conservative Faction went back and examined this law. They discovered that it was quite badly written, and never actually specified when Caesar's second 5-year term would begin or end.

The Conservative Faction took this information and ran with it. They argued that since the law didn't give any specific dates, Caesar's second term actually began the moment the legislation passed. This would mean that his term as governor would expire in March of the year 50, almost two years earlier than expected. I've said it several times, but it's key to this whole thing, so I'll say it again. Whenever Caesar's command expired, so did his legal immunity.

This may seem like a tiny disagreement, but it would have massive ramifications. Obviously, Caesar vehemently disagreed with the Conservative Faction's interpretation of the law. He argued that even if it was poorly written, the intent was obvious, and subsequent legislation implicitly upheld its original meaning. Specifically, he pointed to the law that the Tribunes had passed in the year 52, which allowed him to retain his commad in Gaul while he stood for election in the year 49.

The fact that that law existed meant that everybody was in agreement that his command expired at the end of 49. The Conservative Faction pressed on. They decided to proceed as if they had already won the debate, and introduced new legislation to name Caesar's replacement for March of the year 50. Caesar couldn't let this happen, so he flooded the city with bribes, and the bill narrowly went down in defeat. Late in the year, Pompey finally decided to weigh in on the debate.

He sided with the Conservative Faction, which surprised nobody, and asked Caesar to voluntarily step down before the March deadline. Caesar refused, obviously, and continued to argue that he was on the right side of the law. And to an extent, he was right. Even if you take the Conservative Faction at their word and accept that there was some ambiguity in the law, they had failed to clarify the issue with additional legislation.

The question of Caesar's command dominated the elections that of year. Two candidates from the Conservative Faction were elected consul, and each agreed that Caesar should resign his command by March of the following year. At the beginning of the year 50, one of the new consuls introduced legislation that would force Caesar to step down. The other consul shocked everybody by coming out against the proposal, even though he had been elected on this very issue.

We later learn that Caesar purchased this betrayal with a massive bribe. With the two consuls split on what to do, there was chaos and confusion in the Senate. Finally, one of the Tribunes of the Plebs spoke up, saying that if the Senate was going to ask Caesar to step down, they should also ask Pompey to do the same. Pompey was in this strange position where he had been given the command of the Spanish provinces, but had left the governing to his deputies while he remained politically active in Italy.

It was highly unusual. Caesar's allies in the Senate began to argue that this made them uncomfortable, and if Caesar needed to step down, so did Pompey. This is classic whataboutism. Criticize Caesar? What about Pompey? The two situations really had nothing to do with each other, but Caesar's allies drew a false equivilence between the two, and accused the other side of hypocracy. This kept the Senate busy for several months.

The Conservative Faction introduced several bills to formally strip Caesar of power, but each one was vetoed by one of Caesar's Tribunes of the Plebs. The March deadline came and went. With one deadline ignored, the Senate decided to make up a second one. The Conservative Faction told Caesar that he had until November to step down. This date seems completely arbitrary, and nobody quite knows why they picked it. My best guess is that they were waiting for Caesar's Tribunes of the Plebs to leave office in December.

As the months dragged on, the Caesar Question continued to dominate Roman politics. Each side vetoed the other's proposals, resolving nothing. Tempers flared. That summer, the Senate sat to discuss the growing threat of Parthia in the east. For once, the two factions could agree on something, and they decided to send two additional legions to Syria. But even this relatively simple procedure became hijacked by politics.

For the sake of fairness, the Senate decided that Pompey and Caesar should each contribute a legion to this endevour. Both men agreed. Caesar started to make preperations, but Pompey pulled a fast one, and announced that his contribution would be one of the legions that he had loaned Caesar four years earlier. Caesar had just been bamboozled into giving away 20% of his army. He was not pleased. He visited both legions, and announced that for their loyalty, he was doubling their pay, and giving each soldier a Gallic slave.

This had its intended effect. Instead of marching east, the two legions marched south, and set up camp just north of the Alps. The message was unmistakable. The Senate could say whatever it wanted. Caesar's legions weren't going anywhere. As the year progressed, frustration mounted, and public opinion started to shift. Some people began to call on Pompey to take up arms, and end this stalemate. It might not be a coincidence that around this time, Pompey got very sick, and recused himself from public life for a while.

I read one historian that said that Pompey definitely got malaria, and another that said that he was definitely faking. There's really not much evidence to support either claim. I kinda think that he was faking it to dodge questions, but that belief is based on nothing, so make up your own mind. By the time Pompey returned to public life, he was filled with a new resolve. When somebody asked him what would happen if Caesar refused to step down, he answered, "what would I do if my son came at me with a stick?" If Pompey ever had any reservations about a direct confrontation with Caesar, they were long gone.

In fact, from this point forward, it's safe to say that Pompey was the leader of the Conservative Faction. In a sense, the Caesar Question had become the central ideological issue in Roman politics. Consequently, it's no longer very useful to think in the terms of a Reform Faction and a Conservative Faction. Instead, let's call them the Caesarean Faction and the Pompeian Faction. By and large, Pompeians dominated the Senate, but it's worth mentioning that there was an entire generation of young and radical senators who strongly identified with Caesar.

Cicero sought to play the moderate, and reconcile the two sides. He argued that Caesar had undeniably won great victories for the Republic, and deserved another term as consul. He also argued that it was incumbant on everybody, including Caesar, to acknowledge the supremacy of the law. Cicero proposed a middle path, where Caesar subject himself to a slap on the wrist, and then be allowed to run for consul unimpeded. Neither side was interested in what Cicero had to say.

Month after month, the Senate continued to meet. Month after month, the Pompeians demanded Caesar's resignation. Month after month, the Caesareans would answer, "what about Pompey's command?" Whenever one side got close to passing a piece of legislation, the other side would veto it. Time was running out. Next year, Caesar had every intention of running for consul, and nobody knew what would happen when he did. Crutial elections were held for the upcoming year, and Pompeians candidates won big, securing both of the consulships.

Marc Antony, who had served under Caesar with distinction at the Battle of Alesia, was elected Tribune of the Plebs, making him the highest ranking Caesarean in Rome. The Senate's November deadline came and went, and for the second time, Caesar refused to step down. In December, the Senate met yet again to discuss the Caesar Question. Pompey spoke first. He announced that he was prepared to make a concession. Once Caesar resigned his command, Pompey would agree to do the same.

Mutual disarmament. All Caesar had to do was step down first. One of Caesar's men rose to speak. He said that the only way Caesar would even consider something like this was if Pompey was the one to step down first. The Caesareans had been demanding Pompey's resignation all year, and this precondition had never been part of negotiations. These guys were moving the goalposts. Did the Caesareans even want an agreement, or were they trying to derail the whole thing?

We don't know. Pompey saw right through this tactic, and angerly told the Caesareans that he would not leave Rome undefended with Caesar still in the field. Pompey would step down, but only if Caesar did so first. This was the Senate, so they put the whole thing to a vote. Should Caesar resign his command? A majority said yes, but the measure was vetoed by a Caesarean Tribune of the Plebs. Should Pompey resign his command?

A majority voted no, and even so, a Pompeian Tribune vetoed it for good measure. This wasn't a great look for Caesar. He couldn't be seen to be defying the will of the Senate. A Caesarean Tribune stepped forward, and suggested that the two sides compromise by combining the two bills. This question was put before the Senate. Should Pompey and Caesar resign their commands simultaneously? This is one of the rare cases where we actually know the final tally for this vote. 370 voted yes. 22 voted no.

Despite the Senate's antipathy toward Caesar, most believed that a compromise like this was the only peaceful way forward. However, most of the Pompeian leadership, including Pompey, Cato, and the two consuls, opposed the compromise. They no longer believed that the Caesareans were negotiating in good faith. If Pompey resigned on a certain date, they have no way of guaranteeing that Caesar would do the same. The whole thing could be a trick.

Despite the Senate's overwhelming vote, Pompey reiterated his position that he would only step down if Caesar did so first. Now, both men appeared to be acting in defiance of the Senate. This was kind of a brilliant maneuver by the Caesareans. Before the vote could be finalized, one of the consuls rose in disgust, and screamed at his fellow Senators, "the enemy is on the march, and your response is to lay down arms? Enjoy being Caesar's slaves!" With that, he nullified the vote by dismissing the Senate, and stormed out.

After being so close to an agreement, the two sides were back where they started. A few days later, it was rumoured that Caesar had responded to this news by marching south with four legions. It wasn't true, but nobody knew that at the time. The city broke into a panic. One of the consuls took matters into his own hands, and showed up at Pompey's home with a crowd of supporters. The consul presented Pompey with a sword, and said, "we charge you to march against Caesar, and save the Republic." Pompey accepted the sword, and answered, "I will, if no alternative can be found." Cicero privately confessed his fears in a letter.

"The current political situation terrifies me. Almost everybody I know wants to avoid a fight and give in to Caesar's demands. Sure, his demands are shameless, but no more shameless than when he asked for a five-year extension to his term as governor. Why fight him on this?" He closes the letter by bashing Pompey for failing to see that this conflict posed an existential threat to the Republic. Shortly after this incident with the sword, Pompey began raising troops in Italy.

The Caesareans were apoplectic, and attacked Pompey for illegally assembling a legion without the Senate's permission. The Pompeians in the Senate were happy to just look the other way. For the rest of the year, the Senate continued to call for Caesar's resignation, but every time legislation was introduced, Marc Antony and other Tribunes of the Plebs vetoed it. On January 1st, two new Pompeian consuls took office. In the Senate, Antony read aloud a letter from Caesar.

Caesar bragged about his achievements in Gaul, and his constributions to the Republic. He concluded by saying that if the Senate passed legislation ordering him to step down, he would refuse to comply unless Pompey resigned his command first. Cicero would later call this letter offensive. Caesar's threat didn't go over well in the Senate. Legislation was introduced, saying that if Caesar did not resign his command by a third and final deadline, he would be considered an enemy of the Republic.

The bill gave Caesar approximately 7 days to step down. The Senate voted on the bill, and it was nearly unanimous. Then, Marc Antony vetoed the whole thing. The Senate erupted into chaos. Behind the scenes, key senators decided to ignore the veto, and proceed as planned. If Caesar missed the deadline, they would consider it a declaration of war. Some days later, an elite group of senators met at Pompey's home to see if they could reach some kind of informal agreement.

Pompey, Cato, Cicero, and the two consuls for that year represented the Pompeians. Marc Antony and several Tribunes of the Plebs represented the Caesareans. Cicero cast himself in the role of mediator, and attempted to find common ground between the two sides. Marc Antony and the Caesareans came with an offer. Caesar was prepared to step down from 2 of his 3 provinces, and would agree to relinquish 8 of his 10 legions.

His only condition was that the Pompeians allow him to serve as consul next year. Cicero would have been happy with this compromise, but the rest of the Pompeians rejected the offer. Cicero cornered Marc Antony for a minute, and then came back with a new offer. What if Caesar only kept one legion? This was probably the best deal that the Pompeians could hope for. Caesar in control of a province and a legion was hardly a threat to the Republic.

Cicero, Pompey, and one of the consuls accepted the offer. But then, as the two sides were coming together, Cato and the other consul spoke up, saying one of their preconditions to any agreement was that Caesar relinquish all of his legions. Antony responded, saying that Caesar would never accept a deal like that. Negotiations broke down, and everybody went home frustrated. I cannot overstate how close they were to an agreement.

They basically had it in their hands, and then Cato, that idiot, blew it up. On January 7th, which we assume was the date of the Senate's third and final deadline, the Senate passed the Senatus Consultum Ultimum, also known as the Final Act. Uniquely, the Final Act could not be vetoed, all it needed was a simple majority in the Senate. This was basically the Roman equivilent of martial law. It temporarily suspended existing laws, and empowered the consuls to do whatever was necessary to defend the Republic.

Both of the consuls were Pompeians, and now, they could do whatever they wanted. Both agreed to hand their authority over to Pompey. Three days later, on January 10th, Caesar learned that the Senate had passed the Final Act. He was wintering with the 13th Legion near the Italian border. He spent the afternoon working, and that evening, attended a dinner party. Nothing unusual. Then, under the cover of darkness, Caesar ordered the legion to break camp, and march south at first light.

While the legion was making preparations, Caesar and a few of his officers loaded into a wagon and headed for the Italian border. They stopped at the Rubicon river, which was an insignificant body of water that Romans used to mark the border between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. The law forbade any general from entering Italy unless they were specifically invited to do so by the Senate. Caesar had received no such invitation.

He stopped at the north bank of the river, and remained there for the rest of the night. In the morning, the 13th Legion caught up with him. Once the legion was in position, Caesar paused for several long moments. Finally, in Greek, he quoted a famous play. "Let the die be cast." With that, Caesar ordered the 13th Legion across the Rubicon. At that moment, Rome entered a state of Civil War.