According to tradition, Caesar decided to move into Italy with his battle-hardened veterans of Gaul, by crossing the Rubicon River. Bringing troops into Italy was a treason in ancient Rome. It made you an outlaw who anyone could kill. But Caesar was facing political catastrophe, if he disbanded his men, and Caesar’s enemies were waiting for a defenseless Caesar to return to the city of Rome. The fateful day was January 10th. Caesar gathered his men by the Rubicon, little more than a shallow stream. But at the water’s edge he hesitated.
Legend (and the Roman historian Suetonius writing decades later) says the gods then intervened. Suddenly there appeared “a being of wondrous stature and beauty, who sat and played upon a reed.” When some soldiers, understandably confused, stepped towards the apparition he grabbed one of their trumpets, “rushed to the river, and sounding the war-note with a mighty blast, strode to the opposite bank.” Caesar was not slow in responding. “Let us go where the omens of the gods and the crimes of our enemies call us!” he shouted to his men. “The die is cast!”
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário