Commentary
The Roman historian Suetonius described Julius Caesar as timid and noncommittal as he initially approached the Rubicon River—a shallow and narrow waterway that, at the time, demarcated the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy proper—in January 49 B.C.E. In fact, the historian ultimately attributed Caesar’s decision to cross the waterway, precipitating a four-year civil war and ultimate Caesarian dictatorship, to the supernatural. Prior to crossing, again according to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the now-infamous phrase: “The die has been cast.”
