Content deleted Content added
m Technical tweaks |
|||
Line 9:
The phrase "'''crossing the Rubicon'''" is an [[idiom]] that means "passing a [[point of no return]]".{{sfn|Beard|2015|p=286}} Its meaning comes from allusion to the crossing of the river [[Rubicon]] by [[Julius Caesar]] in early January 49 BC. The exact date is unknown.<ref>{{harvnb|Beard|2015|p=286|ps=. "Sometime around 10 January 49 BCE, Julius Caesar... crossed the Rubicon... the exact date is not known, nor even the location of this most historically significant of rivers".}}</ref> Scholars usually place it on the night of 10 and 11 January because of the speeds at which messengers could travel at that time.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=322}} It is often asserted that Caesar's crossing of the river precipitated [[Caesar's civil war]];<ref>Eg {{Cite web |last=Redonet |first=Fernando Lillo |date=2017-03-15 |title=How Julius Caesar Started a Big War by Crossing a Small Stream |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/julius-caesar-crossing-rubicon-rome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410214055/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/julius-caesar-crossing-rubicon-rome |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=History |publisher=National Geographic }}</ref> however, Caesar's forces had already crossed into Italy and occupied [[Ariminum]] the previous day.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|1990|p=30|ps=. "The civil war did not begin with Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon. By the time he reached the river, Q. Hortensius had already occupied Ariminum".}}</ref>
The civil war ultimately led to Caesar's becoming [[Roman dictator|dictator]] for life (''[[dictator perpetuo]])''. Caesar had been appointed to a [[Roman_governor|governorship]] over a region that ranged from southern [[Gaul]] to [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]]. As his term of governorship ended, the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. As it was illegal to bring armies into
==History==
During the late [[Roman Republic]], the river Rubicon marked the boundary between the [[Roman province]] of [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to the northeast and
Governors of Roman provinces were appointed [[promagistrate]]s with ''[[imperium]]'' (roughly, "right to command") in one or more provinces. The governors then served as generals of the [[Roman army]] within the territory they ruled. [[Roman law]] specified that only the elected [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] ([[Roman consul|consul]]s and [[praetor]]s) could hold ''imperium'' within Italy. Any magistrate who entered Italy at the head of his troops forfeited his ''imperium'' and was therefore no longer legally allowed to command troops.
| |||