Caesar Crosses the Rubicon

Sometime on the night of January 10th or early on the 11th in 49 BC, Julius Caesar stood

at a literal crossroads that would change the world forever. At the banks of a small river called

the Rubicon, he faced a career-ending, life-or-death choice. He had two options. He could obey the

Senate and surrender his army, knowing his political enemies in Rome were itching to

try him as a criminal. Or, he could commit high treason. You see,

Roman law strictly forbade any general from bringing a standing army into Italy.

Crossing that river with his troops was a straight-up act of war. But turning back?

That meant certain personal and political ruin, and very likely his own death.