The Rise of Caesar
As Caesar led his troops across the Rubicon in early January 49 BC, it was clear to all that Rome was once again facing the nightmare of civil war on its own soil. In the final years of the Roman Republic, military men who had gained fame and fortune through imperial conquests would increasingly come to dominate Roman politics. In the 80s, Rome had experienced a bitter civil war fought between the forces of Marius and Sulla — two ambitious military leaders who had turned their troops into personal armies. Within the space of a generation, Rome would once again see fellow countrymen pitted against one another — with the forces of Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great locked in a bitter conflict for control of the Roman world. When looking for omens of the Roman Republic’s impending collapse, warnings signs can be clearly seen in its last generation. Between 88 and 49 BC, Rome had experienced a brutal civil war, a spell of bloody proscriptions and cruel executions, a spate of mob violen