Famous Men of Rome · Ch. XXI, part 2 · Unit 4: The end of the Republic

30. Julius Caesar, part 2: Crossing the Rubicon

Goal: Your child can tell why crossing the Rubicon was so serious, and can explain "the die is cast" and "I came, I saw, I conquered."

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this chapter
  • A map of Italy and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
  • Paper and colored pencils

What's in the book

Chapter XXI, section II, to the battle of Zela: Caesar grows rich and popular. Pompey and the Senate order him to give up his army and declare him a public enemy. At the little River Rubicon Caesar pauses, then crosses with his army. Pompey flees to Greece and is beaten at Pharsalia, then murdered in Egypt. Caesar wins at Zela and writes "Veni, vidi, vici."

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Find the north of Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Say: The Rubicon was a little river there. Nobody today knows for sure which river it was.

  2. Read the chapter

    Read from section II to Caesar's famous message from Zela. Section II begins:

    Caesar was engaged eight years in his wars in Gaul and Britain.

  3. Tell it back

    Prompts:

    - What did Caesar say when Pompey told him to give up his army?

    - Why was it against the law to cross the Rubicon with an army?

    - What did the shepherd do?

    - What happened to Pompey after Pharsalia?

  4. Two famous sayings

    Read what Caesar said at the river:

    "We can retreat now," said Caesar to some of his officers who stood near him, "but once across the Rubicon it will be too late to draw back."

    Then:

    The die is cast!

    SayA die is one of a pair of dice. Once it is thrown, you cannot take it back. People still say "crossing the Rubicon" for a step that can't be undone.

  5. Remember it

    Read Caesar's message from Zela:

    "Veni, vidi, vici," which is, in English, "I came, I saw, I conquered."

    Say it in Latin together: veni, vidi, vici.

  6. Talk it over

    Ask: Can you think of a "Rubicon" in your own life, a choice that could not be undone once made?

Answers to the book's problems

Caesar said, "If you will disband your army, I will disband mine." By law it was treason, punished with death, for a general to bring an army into that territory without the Senate's permission. The shepherd seized a trumpet, sounded the advance and marched across the bridge. Pompey fled to Egypt and was murdered there by order of the king, Ptolemy.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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