After the loss at Actium, Cleopatra and Antony tried to negotiate with Octavian. He was smitten, and the two began an affair that produced three children. He installed her as queen they became allies and lovers and she bore him a son, Caesarion.ĭetermined to protect herself and her son’s future after Caesar’s death, Cleopatra wooed Mark Antony. In 47 B.C., when Julius Caesar came to Alexandria, she was in exile, fearful of the ambitions of her brother Ptolemy XIII, so she had herself carried in a sack into her palace, where Caesar was staying. Although often portrayed as a femme fatale, she was a shrewd politician, using intelligence more than feminine wiles in relationships with Rome. ( How Cicero's murder ushered in the Roman Empire)Ĭleopatra was the last member of the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt from 305 B.C. The great Roman philosopher was an outspoken critic of Antony, and upon his death, Antony’s wife, Fulvia, took Cicero’s severed head, spat on it, and jabbed his tongue repeatedly with her hairpin, taking postmortem revenge against the famous orator. In one of their most atrocious acts, they put to death and confiscated the property of some 3,000 patricians, including Cicero, who openly rebuked the triumvirate. But at first, the triumvirate worked together to make and veto laws to their benefit, appoint governors and consuls, and decide judicial cases without appeal, even though the Senate and assemblies still met and elections continued. The year after Caesar’s death, in 43 B.C., Octavian, Caesar’s great-nephew and protégé, formed the Second Triumverate with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, a Roman general and statesman, and Mark Antony, a Roman general under Caesar, proclaiming they were “settling the Republic.” It would prove an uneasy alliance in the long term-one that in the end would leave one man standing. Once in Italy, he was at war with the Roman Senate. At the riverbank, Caesar paused and, quoting Greek poet Menander, said, “The die is cast,” then crossed. The Rubicon separated Cisalpine Gaul-the piece of land where Italy joins the mainland, at the time inhabited by Celts-from the Italian peninsula, and crossing into Italy would violate a law (Lex Cornelia de Majestates) that forbade a general to lead an army out of his assigned province-a scandalous crime. On January 10, Caesar approached the small Rubicon River with his soldiers. Noble consul Lentulous ordered Caesar to yield control of his army, a mandate that incited Mark Antony and other allies to flee Rome and join Caesar. The year was 49 B.C., and Caesar, Pompey, and their allies were embroiled in a three-year civil war against Rome.

The metaphor “Crossing the Rubicon” describes a step that commits to an irreversible course of action, but where does it come from? Julius Caesar, of course. Pompey and Caesar, who never really liked each other, clashed.

and the following year his ally Crassus was killed in battle, breaking up the powerful triumvirate. But then catastrophe his daughter Julia died in 54 B.C. Hands down.)Īfter his consulship ended, Caesar secured the command of the armies and united all of Gaul and invaded Britain, proving himself a ruthless general, while amassing incredible wealth for himself and the Roman treasury. Caesar enacted land reforms that allotted land to Pompey’s veterans, and altered the tax code, which mollified Crassus’ supporters. Together, the trio ensured no step would be taken by the government that did not suit their needs. It worked, and with their support, Caesar was elected senior Roman consul in 59 B.C. In order to get elected, he formed an alliance-the First Triumvirate-with Marcus Licinius Crassus, Rome’s richest man and Pompey, Rome’s leading general (it was sealed by the marriage between Caesar’s daughter Julia to Pompey). Unauthorized use is prohibited.Ī crafty and ambitious Roman general and politician who quickly rose through the ranks of the Republic, Gaius Julius Caesar set his sights on becoming one of the Roman Senate’s two consuls-similar to presidents.

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