49BC: 'Alea iacta est!' (The die is thrown!) With these words, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon into Italy at the head of an army. A Roman aristocrat, Gaius Julius Caesar was a very successful general, in Spain in the late 60s BC, and in Gaul in the 50s. Caesar was a fast, decisive, determined and adaptable general, enabling him to subdue the famously bellicose Gauls. Like most Romans, he used this experience to propel himself up the political ladder, but much more distinctively, Caesar also used the power and prestige gained through military success to become the sole dictator of the Roman Republic. Caesar's victories in Gaul had amassed him great power, and a large, effective, and loyal army. By the last years of the 50s, the powerful men back in Rome, the Optimates, fearing Caesar's power and abilities, started to act against him, trying to limit his scope for action, hoping that by stopping him achieving his next aim, a consulship in 48, they [...]