Rebel History 2034 years ago today in 49 BC, against the orders of the Roman senate, Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon river with his army sparking a civil war. The years presiding, Julius Caesar essentially ruled over the ancient Roman Republic in a triumvirate with Marcus Crassus and Pompey Magnus. Crassus was killed in a foreign adventure, and Pompey married Caesar’s daughter to seal a political alliance. Caesar spent the last decade conquering Gaul making him; one of the richest men in the Republic, beloved amongst the common people, and earning him the loyalty of hardened war veterans. Fearful of his rise to power, the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army on his return to Rome as was customary. The Rubicon river was a boundary between Gaul and Italy, and once Caesar crossed the river with armed soldiers it was considered insurrection, treason, and a declaration of war upon the Roman Senate. The Senate turned to Pompey to help, and Caesar would end up defeating him in the upcoming civil war over the next few years and becoming the most powerful man in Rome. Eventually the Senate would assassinate Caesar causing another civil war where his nephew Octavian would come out victorious as the first emperor of Ancient Rome. [Online References] (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/.../julius-caesar.../ ) (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/.../Caesar/Civil_Wars/home.html ) (http://sites.psu.edu/cams.../the-fall-of-the-roman-republic/ ) Authored by R.E. Foy