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The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means "passing a point of no return". Its meaning comes from allusion to the crossing of the river Rubicon by Julius Caesar in early January 49 BC.
Jul 15, 2019 · Learn how Julius Caesar used the phrase "let the die be cast" to cross the Rubicon River and start the Roman civil war in 49 B.C.E. Find out what the phrase means and how it relates to Caesar's ambitions and legacy.
Jan 12, 2023 · On 10 January 49 BC, Roman general Julius Caesar defied an ultimatum set to him by the Senate. If he brought his veteran armies across the river Rubicon in northern Italy, the Republic would be in a state of civil war.
- History Hit
May 26, 2024 · In January 49 BC, he ordered his army to cross the Rubicon River, the formal northern boundary of Italy. Crossing the Rubicon with an army was forbidden – and Caesar‘s move was a deliberate, unmistakable act of defiance against the authority of the Senate and the Republic.
Apr 20, 2014 · The expression means to make a difficult decision with irreversible consequences – in short, to pass the point of no return. It refers back to a decision made by Julius Caesar in January 49 BC that changed ancient Rome forever.
- Abigail Whyte
On January 10, 49 B.C.E., General Julius Caesar entered Roman territory by crossing the Rubicon, a stream in what is now Northern Italy. In crossing the Rubicon, Caesar began a civil war that signaled the end of the Roman Republic.
Historians of the period and biographers of Julius Caesar imbued the crossing of the Rubicon with heavy significance. The poet Lucan describes Caesar arriving at the Rubicon and encountering there a vision of Rome personified.
