49 BCE, the Rubicon. An event.
49 BCEthe Rubicon
2,074 years ago
, the Rubicon
Caesar leads his army over the river that marked the edge of his province, which the law forbade. It starts a civil war with Pompey and the Senate.
Let the die be cast, he hastened to cross the river
“We may still retreat; but if we pass this little bridge, nothing is left for us but to fight it out in arms.”
Background: Crossing the Rubicon, Wikipedia (opens en.wikipedia.org)
The crossing set off a civil war that eventually made Caesar dictator for life. It also gave us the idiom crossing the Rubicon, meaning passing the point of no return.
The crossing precipitated a civil war, which eventually led to Caesar becoming dictator for life (dictator perpetuo).
The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom meaning "passing the point of no return".
Wikipedia, Crossing the Rubicon (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-08-19. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.
In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.
Caesar puts the republic's dignity before life
Rests on this eventCaesar crosses the Rubicon, as Plutarch tells it
Rests on this eventAlso in the RubiconCaesar at the Rubicon, as Suetonius tells it
Rests on this eventAlso in the RubiconAlso about war and empireSee it among its momentsSee it in the feedExplore by place and time
