Transcript 54 – 49 BC: The Path to Civil War

54 – 49 BC: The Path to Civil War
Caesar
Pompey
54 BC
• Death of Julia,
Caesar’s daughter
and Pompey’s wife.
53 BC
• Crassus killed at
Carrhae (in Syria)
• End of the triumvirate
52 BC
• Politics in Rome characterised by violence and
bribery: near-anarchy
• Forces of Clodius (standing for praetorship)
and Milo (standing for consulship) fight on the
Appian Way
52 BC
• Clodius killed, funeral pyre in Senate house
gets out of control, burns Senate house down
• Mob seeks revenge against Milo
52 BC
• Pompey made sole consul to deal with the
chaos
• Law against public violence (Milo prosecuted)
• Law demanding 5 year interval between urban
magistracies and provincial commands
• Law demanding candidates appear in person
at elections.
51 BC
• Optimates and Metellus (consul) call for
Caesar’s return from Gaul.
• Pompey objects on the grounds this would
contradict the five year imperium he and
Crassus granted Caesar in 55 BC. But says he
would be open to the proposal after March 50
BC.
50 BC
• Caesar pays the debts of Curio, a young
nobleman, in return for his political support
• Curio becomes consul
• Curio proposes a compromise where both
Caesar and Pompey give up their commands
(Caesar’s in Gaul, Pompey’s in Spain managed
by legates)
• Guess how Pompey responds
50 BC
• In December, Curio brings on a vote in the
senate on his proposal. Majority vote for it.
• The other consul, Marcellus, dismisses the
senate
49 BC
• Two tribunes are Antony and Cassius (allied
with Caesar). They seek to advance Caesar’s
proposal.
• The consul, Lentulus, declares he will veto any
such proposal.
• Senate, led by the optimates like Cato, pass a
motion declaring Caesar must dismiss his
army or be declared an enemy of the state
• Antony & Cassius veto
this motion but they are
intimidated into fleeing
(to Caesar in Gaul)
• Caesar, by crossing the
River Rubicon (the
frontier between the
province of Cisalpine
Gaul and Rome) begins
the civil war between
himself and Pompey.
49 BC
Activity: Crossing the Rubicon
• Read the quote and comment you have been
assigned from pp. 374 - 378.
• Discuss it with your partner and form a view
about whether Caesar was justified in crossing
the Rubicon.
• Prepare to explain your conclusion to the
class.