Day 27 – What Does “Crossing the Rubicon” Mean?

Did You Know? Italy

Today, when someone makes a decision that cannot be undone, we often say they’ve “crossed the Rubicon.”

The phrase comes from Julius Caesar.

Caesar was a successful and very popular general whose time as proconsul over the Cisalpine Gaul, an area outside of Rome, was set to expire. There was much turmoil within the Roman Republic, and in 49 BC the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome as a private citizen. It would be considered an act of treason punishable by death if Caesar returned with his army. He was faced with a difficult decision. Return to Rome and be ruined politically, or rebel. In 49 BC, he crossed the Rubicon River, which marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul to the north and the Roman-controlled area to the south, with his troops, effectively declaring war on the Roman political establishment.

According to the famous tradition, Caesar recognized the seriousness of the decision by declaring, “The die is cast” (Latin: alea iacta est).

There was no turning back.

Caesar’s decision triggered a civil war that eventually brought down the Roman Republic and paved the way for the rise of the Roman Empire.

Today, “crossing the Rubicon” means making an irreversible decision.

What’s a decision you’ve made that felt like your own “crossing the Rubicon”?

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