The Cross of the Rubicon River - Essay Example

The Cross of the Rubicon River Order no. 244988 No. of pages: 16 Premium 6530 Biography of Julius Caesar Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. These words are by te great Julius Caesar – the man man responsible for changing the course of Greco – Roman history. Julius Caesar is famously known to be one of the finest statesmen, generals, conqueror and also author, who had changed the fortunes of the Roman Republic into a monarchy. He was born on July 12th in 100 B.C. At the young age of 16, Caesar’s father Gaius Caesar died and thereafter his mother Aurelia played a major and influential role in his life. The original aristocracy of Rome called Patricians was related to Caesar’s family, even though they were not particularly influential nor rich. In 86 B.C, he sought election to public office, though the position he was given was that of an archaic priesthood and nevertheless held no power. In 84 B.C he got married to Cornelia, daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna thus strengthening his radical side, but was given order to divorce her on the order of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was an enemy of the radicals. Instead of divorcing his wife, Caesar prudently enrolled himself into military service in places like Cilicia and Asia. His wife died shortly after he was elected as quaestor and during the funeral orations, he performed a purely political maneuver, he took the opportunity of praising both his uncle Cinna and also his father- in – law Marius. Later, he married Pompeia who was a close relative of Pompey. Soon after, in 65 B.C. Caesar was duly elected as curule aedile, in 63 B.C. as a pontifex maximus and in 62 B.C as a praetor. Gradually, Caesar created a stamp for himself as a political figure. After a scandal took place, Caesar divorced Pompeia and the following year when he went to Rome, he joined sides with Pompey and Crassus and thus formed the first triumvirate. Caesar’s alliance with Pompey was further solidified when Pompey took the hand of Julia, Caesar’s only child in marriage. During the year 59 B.C. went up a step on the political ladder by being elected as consul and that same year he got married to Calpurnia. The very next year Caesar was given the post of the Governor of Roman Gaul. The following eight years saw many conquests by Caesar and finally he was successful in conquering the Gallic Gaul in the North. However, the Senate ordered Caesar to lay down his command in 49 B.C. With the death of Crassus in 53 B.C, Pompey became the sole consul in 52 B.C. Finally, in 54 B.C when Pompey’s wife Julia died, the ties between Caesar and Pompey were severed forever. Then on the 7th January, 49 B.C Julius Caesar was ordered by the Senate to hand over ten of his very well – trained legions to the governor who was newly appointed. Caesar had two choices. He had to choose between either prosecution or rebellion. With the idea of safe- guarding his dignity Caesar chose to rebel against them. It is at this juncture that Caesar quoted his most favorite poet called Menanader and said “alea iacta est” which meant ‘the die is cast’. With this he took his army and advanced through the passes and across the Apennines, thereby crossing the Rubicon and by invading Italy, he provoked the Second Civil War. Italy became a terror stricken place with panic stricken people moving from one place to the other. Nobody could bring control to Italy, neither the authorities, nor eloquent orators. People exhibited both fear and anger at all the proceeding and all steps taken to bring the situation under control failed or were ineffective. Many people showed anger at Pompey for having given authority to Caesar to go against him and the state. Since reports of Caesar’s advancement came pouring in from all quarters Pompey declared that the city was in a state of anarchy and then fled from Rome. Consequences of crossing the Rubicon River Great historical events are more often than not, shaped by those irrevocable steps, which prove to be the catalysts for far reaching historical consequences. 10th Jan 49 B.C., when Julius Caesar crossed the insignificant Rubicon stream, in defiance of the Senate’s command, and entered Italian territory followed by his armed legions, set in motion events that would alter the course of Roman history and lead it into a tumultuous period of revolts, assassinations, political intrigues, and the subsequent transformation of the Republic into a monarchy. Julius Caesar occupies the position of one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, and his military acumen was matched only by his political ambitions, which he most skillfully conveyed to his faithful legions through his oratorical skills. Julius Caesar maneuvered his way through the political hierarchy of Rome, moving from the position of quaestor to that of Consul in 59 B.C., with the help of Pompey and Crassus. Events leading to the crossing of the Rubicon: After becoming Consul, he was appointed the Governor of Roman Gaul, and during his years there he overpowered almost all of modern France and Belgium, ensuring that Rome had nothing to fear from the semi-nomadic tribes who peopled these nations. These triumphs of Caesar invested him with great power and enormous wealth, which made Pompey, the man who held power in Rome, insecure. In an effort to clip Caesar’s wings, the Senate, under the influence of Pompey, ordered Caesar to resign his command, disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar found himself caught between the Senate and face prosecution for having defied the decree of surrendering his legions, or go to war against the Senate, whom he thought did not want him to pursue his goals of conquest. In the event of not doing so, Caesar was threatened with being declared an enemy of the State, or “hostis”. The Senate’s decision to have him recalled was communicated to Caesar while he was camped with his army at the Northern Italian city of Ravenna. Caesar could either obey the Senate, or move southward towards Rome with his army and plunge the Republic into a Civil War. The events of the fateful day, as documented by Suetonius, a Roman historian and biographer, give a vivid picture of the events of the day. According to this account, when Caesar was informed that the “interposition of the tribunes in his favour” had been rejected, and they had fled Rome, Caesar secretly sent some cohorts and kept himself occupied with his day -to -day affairs, in order to keep up an appearance of normalcy. In the evening, though, Caesar, at the head of a small retinue, moved out of his camp, but due to poor light, he had lost his way. Around daybreak a guide led them to a road which was on the banks of the Rubicon, the frontier, which divided his province from Rome. Caesar contemplated upon whether he should move forward and cross the Rubicon, since, in doing so, he would be challenging the edict of the Senate, and as he himself proclaimed to his troops, in his stirring speech that “….. nothing is left but to fight it out with arms”. Suetonius, in his narrative, talks of an incident which occurred then, that may have strengthened the resolve of Caesar to cross the Rubicon. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there came a man of noble appearance, playing a pipe, who snatched a trumpet from one of the trumpeters and sounded the “Advance”, and himself crossed the river to the other side (Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar in Davis, William Stearns, Reading in Ancient History 1912.) Caesar interpreted this as an omen from the Gods and with the immortal words, made famous by the Athenian playwright Menander, proclaimed “the die is cast” (Lending). With these words, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, and unleashed a chain of events which would have far reaching consequences for the Roman Republic and the European nations. The crossing of the Rubicon was an act of treason, since according to ancient Roman law, it was forbidden to enter Rome at the head of a standing army by a general (Duruy, Victor, History of Rome, Vol.V, 1883). By crossing this little stream, Caesar had made his intentions clear and marched to Rome, to confront the Senate, which held him guilty in absentia. Second Civil War: By crossing the Rubicon, Caesar had defied the Senate and Roman laws and in effect triggered a Civil War. But the Senate had miscalculated the power which Caesar held over the people of Rome. The Senate hoped that the people would look upon Caesar as a rebel and support them but here too they had miscalculated. His conquests had made Rome the richest city of the time and his conquests as narrated by him in his Bellum Gallicum (the Gallic Wars) made him a much loved hero. The towns of Italy did not send troops for the defense of Rome and its Senate, and in the absence of an army to defend itself, Pompey and the Senate moved east to Greece, in order to plan their offensive against Caesar. On the other hand, Caesar’s army were well aware that this campaign would decide their future, since only a win would guarantee them their pensions. As Pompey had already fled, the army did not have to fight and instead Caesar marched through Northern Italy, accepting capitulation and support. Pompey, in the meantime had moved the bulk of his army across the Adriatic to Dyrrachium, keeping only two of his legions with him in Brunsidium. Caesar with his 6 legions hoped to defeat Pompey but still made an attempt at peace. Pompey made use of the time during the negotiations and made good his escape to Greece with the whole Roman fleet. Caesar was left stranded and decided instead to go to Rome in order to quell the riotous situation that arose after his departure from Rome. From there he planned to go to Spain, so as to take over the 7 legions of Pompey which waited there for their General. While in Rome, as a gesture of reconciliation, Caesar pardoned his enemies, constituted a new Senate and under its authorization moved towards Spain. He defeated the Spanish armies in the Battle of Ilerda. Caesar declared himself the emperor and one of his first decisions was to attack Pompey. By attacking Pompey and his followers, Caesar showed his disdain for the Senate, since Pompey had been merely carrying out the orders of the Senate. When he returned to Rome after these conquests, he forced the Senate to make him dictator, through his friend Lepidus, who was then the prefect of the Senate. (Beck) With Caesar having been proclaimed dictator, a new era began in Roman politics, Pompey, in the meantime, with the help of the Eastern provinces and client kings raised 8 legions and a fleet of 300 ships, under the command of Bibulus. Pompey out maneuvered Caesar and held him in a blockade at Dyrrachium. Caesar might have been defeated, but for the timely arrival of Marc Antony and his 4 legions. The reinforced armies cut through Pompey’s lines and defeated the Roman army at Pharsalus. Pompey though, survived this battle and fled to Egypt. Caesar followed Pompey, but he had already been murdered by Ptolemy XIII, the boy ruler of Egypt. After defeating Pompey, Caesar “swept around the Mediterranean, suppressing rebellious provinces” (Ellis and Esler, 137), Caesar had rid himself of his nemesis and after settling the succession dispute in Egypt and defeating Pharnaces, he returned to Rome triumphant. It was after these conquests that Caesar declared “Veni, Vedi, Vici.”---“I came, I saw, I conquered” (Ellis and Esler 137).  Having consolidated his position in Rome and vanquishing and suppressing revolts in Asia Minor, Egypt and Asia, Caesar turned his energies into putting down the Civil insurrections. In the spring of 46 B.C., he emerged victorious over the Republicans in Thapsus Africa. Cato the younger had committed suicide. Caesar also annexed territories belonging to the Numidian King Juba. Caesar had four glorious victories to his name i.e. defeating Vercingetorix, Ptolemy, Pharmaces and Juba and he rounded off these by defeating at Munda, a son of Pompey Caesar’s actions had far reaching impact on the social, economic, political and military life of the people of Rome. The greatest casualty of this was the Republican model of government practiced by the Romans for the past 460 years. With Caesar being proclaimed dictator, a new era began in Roman politics, wherein, the men who ruled Rome, took the title of Caesar, by birth or adoption. Caesar is remembered most as a conqueror, but his legacy as a builder, a statesman and a visionary are of equal importance. The conquests of Caesar had made Rome a great colonial power and in dealing with his colonists, Caesar showed magnanimity and foresight. Caesar ordered the rebuilding of cities like Corinth and Carthage and founded new towns like Seville and Arles, and the poor of Rome were allowed to build new lives for themselves in these new cities. The policy of granting citizenship was another feature of Caesar’s rule. The subjects of the Roman Empire were eligible to receive a set of extra civil rights as well as a part of the benefits of the empire. Caesar’s uncle, during the Social War had bestowed Roman citizenship on his Italian allies, and Caesar carried this act a step further by making the Gauls along the Po and also those whom he had subjugated, Roman citizens. He even appointed senators from outside Italy, a clever move to strengthen his position. When Caesar had returned to Rome in 46 B.C., he knew he had to settle the political and social uncertainty that lay over Rome. Social Changes: Romans had suffered much from the time of Gracchi, who was the ruler of Rome for a century before Caesar. After the Second Civil War, the people were afraid that Caesar would strip them of their powers like Sulla before him, but instead, Caesar granted a general pardon to any and all of his citizens who had opposed him during the Civil War. This endeared Caesar to the masses, who in turn became his staunch allies, but the Senate members whom he had hoped to appease were still wary of Caesar. He ordered a census of the city which reduced the burden on the granary. Till the time of the census, the free grain dole was distributed to about 300,000 people but the census arrived at a figure of 150,000, reducing the amount of corn being given away. Owners of the larger farms were induced to hire at least about 1/3 of their labor from among the citizens of Rome rather than employing slaves. This ensured work for the large chunk of landless poor. Also, about 80,000 of the poor people of Rome were sent to the new colonies of Rome, in order to work and start a new life there. During the Civil war, interest rates had gone sky high due to the increased amounts of debt; Caesar passed a law by which debtors had to give back to their creditors’ an amount, based on the pre-war valuations of their possessions. The interest which had already been paid was also deducted from the amount, resulting in the wiping out of about one fourth of their debts. But radical reformers like Marcus Caelius Rufus were not pleased for they expected Caesar to completely cancel the debts. Caesar himself being a man of letters, granted full citizenship to Greek doctors and teachers in order to promote education and culture among the people. He also passed a set of guidelines which would help in the social conduct as well as financial transactions, although these remained largely ignored. Caesar disbanded the private guilds, akin to the modern day labor unions, since they had caused a great deal of mob violence over the years. Caesar gave protection to the Jews for they had helped him in the Alexandrine war. One of the greatest contributions of Caesar to the world at large was the re-organization of the calendar. The Republican year had 355 days and the deficit was made up by adding an extra month at random. On the advice of Sosigenes, Caesar added 10 extra days to the calendar and aligned it with the solar cycle. He added 67 days to the current year, aligning it with the seasons and other celestial events, and this calendar has been in use since 1st January 45 B.C. Changes in Govt.: On the manner of running the government, Caesar decided to add to the machinery of the state and thus enlarged it. While earlier, the Senate consisted of 600 members who also performed the duties of a judge, along with magistrates, governors and their personal staff, Caesar increased the number of senators to 900, praetors from 8 to 16, the aedeils from 4 to 6, and the quaestores from 20 to 40. This helped in the efficient taxation of the provinces but still, the bureaucracy was not totally professional. Caesar brought about far reaching changes in the governance of the provinces, which were being grossly mismanaged. This he did by limiting the term of provincial governors, reducing it for a 1 year term for praetors and 2 for pro-consuls. Historians call it a hypocritical move since this would stop the governors from becoming all-powerful and wealthy much like he had become during his governorship of Gaul. The new governors were appointed more on their moral qualities rather than their management acumen, for Caesar favored total justice for his provincial citizens. The task of tax collection was handed back to the provinces, instead of the tax farmers, who were very corrupt. Caesar also standardized regulations for the municipal constitutions and put forward a law against extravagance. The City of Rome: Like all dictators, Caesar too desired to leave a permanent stamp on the realm of which he was ruler, and like all those before him, commissioned great public works. The most notable of these was the Forum of Caesar, a shopping complex located in the center of Rome. He rebuilt the Senate building as well as the speaker’s platform and the courthouse. The citizens of Rome were treated to the magnificent spectacle of the victory procession of Caesar, which lasted for 10 full days, showcasing his triumphs as well as a show of gratitude to the people of Rome who had to endure enormous hardships. The spoils of war which Caesar displayed to Rome was valued more than 300 million sesterce, a large part of which was given to the veterans of his army as well as the people of Rome. The veterans were given 20,000 sesterce, the Centurious 10,000 and the tribunes 20,000 denarii’s. The citizens of Rome were given 300 sesterce and a lavish dinner along with free doles of oil and grains. But here too, the members of the Senate were not impressed. Political Change: Rome, in theory was a Republic, but in reality it was an oligarchy, where power was shared by the members of the Senate. Inspite of having defeated the Senate, Caesar was still not able to bring the Senators to his side and so Caesar decided to exercise his personal rule by getting himself appointed as the dictator, in 46 B.C., for a period of 10 years. Along with the dictatorship Caesar also served as Consul, as Pontifex Maximus and as Plebeian Tribune for life. But dictatorship, as a political measure did not suit the Republican Romans, and so in 44 B.C., Caesar got himself elected as consul with the support of Marc Antony. In the weeks just before his murder, in order to placate the aristocrats, Caesar accepted the powers of several magistratures without occupying any of them. In this way, Caesar hoped to control the government without being a threat to the nobles, but the Senators refused to accept this controlled oligarchy. Caesar had increased the number of senators from 600 to 900, thus packing the Senate with his supporters. The senate became a mere puppet of Caesar and that was how in February 44 B.C. he became “Dictatus Perpetus” or dictator for life. This position gave him immunity from the constitution and law since the veto power of the tribunes could not be used against him. Caesar, in the meantime planned to leave on a campaign to Spain and he appointed two equities to rule over the Consuls, officials and Senators in Rome. This move may have been prompted by the fact that earlier on, in his absence he had been declared an enemy of the state, and had no desire for a repeat of this ignominy. Although Caesar had declared himself dictator for life, he did not live long enough to fulfill his ambitious plans for Rome and its citizens. A group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus stabbed him fatally in the Senate on 15 March 44BC, referred to as the “Ides of March”. Caesar was dead but the bloodshed unleashed by him years ago continued unabated with wars of succession being waged between Marc Antony and his great grand nephew Octavianus, which ended with the latter accepting the power of the magistrates. Caesar’s assassins had hoped to make Rome a Republican city once again, but instead set into action the change from a democracy to a tyranny. As Gaius Matius, a friend of Caesar remarked "If Caesar, with all his genius could not find a solution, who is to find one now?" (qtd. in Cicero 90). The senators had hoped that the death of Caesar would automatically usher in democracy but instead what erupted was chaos. Octavianus proved equally ambitious as Caesar and used the power given to him by the generals to seize total control (Lendering). He claimed to be Caesar divi filius, or the son of a God (Akinde, "Epilogue"2) and with the resources of the state and Caesar’s army he created a tyranny, knowing how to keep the Senate on his side without investing any powers in them and exploited the weaknesses of the Republic to the hilt. The assassins of Caesar, through their ill-thought plans established the seeds of dynastic rule and created the horror called the Roman Empire. REFERENCES Duruy, Victor, History of Rome vol. V (1883); Suetonius "Life of Julius Caesar" in Davis, William Stearns, Readings in Ancient History (1912). Julius Caesar Crosses the Rubicon, 49 BC http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfcaesar.htm Crossing the Rubicon http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/caesars-civil-war.php Writing.Com: Crossing the Rubicon and the Republic http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1405922 Rome: Julius Caesar http://wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/JULIUS.HTM HSCOnline http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/ancient_history/historical_periods/rome/2536/Rome78_28BC.html   The Career of Julius Caesar http://www.fargonasphere.com/piso/caesar.html Julius Caesar http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/caesar.html The Controversy Over Caesar: Who really started the Roman Empire? http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/4989/caesar.html#oct Read More