Caesar's command in Gaul was to expire in 49 B.C. The
senatorial party desired that he should return to Rome without an army. His
opponents intended to prosecute him when he became a private citizen. Caesar
had no inclination to trust himself to their tender mercies and refused to
disband his legions unless his rival did the same. Finally the Senate,
conscious of Pompey's support, ordered him to lay down his arms on pain of
outlawry. Caesar replied to this challenge of the Senate by leading his troops
across the Rubicon, the little stream that separated Cisalpine Gaul from Italy.
As he plunged into the river, he exclaimed, "The die is cast." [24]
He had now declared war on the republic.
[24] Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 32.
CAESAR MASTER OF THE WEST
Caesar's bold movement caught the senatorial party
unawares. Pompey could not gather his legions before his audacious foe reached
Rome. Finding it impossible to make a stand in Italy, Pompey, with the consuls
and many senators, withdrew to Greece. Caesar did not follow him at once. He
hurried to Spain and, after a brilliant campaign only six weeks in length,
broke down the republican resistance in that peninsula. Having now secured
Italy and Spain, Caesar was free to turn his forces against Pompey in the East.
