'The Die is Cast'

On the defining moment of one of the greatest men to ever live and what it means for us today

Caesar crossing the Rubicon (Lanmas/Alamy Stock Photo)

On this day in 49 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Rather than surrender his command and arms to the Senate, he chose to march onward to Rome. This momentous decision commenced a civil war in the late Roman Republic and changed the course of world history forever.  

According to Roman historian Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous words, “The die is cast,” the moment he and his army crossed the Rubicon; a phrase that essentially means “passing the point of no return.” Caesar understood perfectly well that there was no going back and that he irreversibly altered the course of history. He was Rome’s Man of Destiny, and nothing was going to stop his daring and inevitable march to glory and victory. 

Of course, we know the rest of the story. After emerging victorious in the civil war, he was declared dictator perpetuo of Rome and was assassinated shortly thereafter in 44 BC by a group of conspirators in the Senate. Rome descended into abject chaos and was never the same again.  

Caesar’s phrase “the die is cast” hits especially hard today, a time in which we find ourselves trapped in a situation that is vastly complicated and dangerous. In many ways, America has passed the point of no return. The overall situation is ridiculous and the regime that currently controls the levers of power is openly hostile to the American people, their values, beliefs, culture, and traditions.  

If history is any indicator, which it surely is, then time is becoming ripe for an American Caesar to arrive at the forefront and take this country back once and for all from the enemy forces that rule over it.

Bad times produce great men. Whether it was Caesar in Rome, Napoleon in France, or Franco in Spain, men of destiny arrive at the call of their countrymen in times of extraordinary political upheaval and chaos.  

In a time of crisis, men of destiny arise, whether we like it or not. Some of these men throughout history have done remarkable good, and some have been immensely destructive. I tend to think that Caesar was a good leader rather than a bad one. At a time when the Republic and its people needed him to step into the arena the most and save Rome from the corrupt forces that were occupying it, he chose to cross the Rubicon.

There is no denying that America is in a unique situation and is well past the point of no return, for the Rubicon has been crossed numerous times. The die is indeed cast. What is yet to be determined is whether a man similar to Caesar will step into the arena and deliver his country from the darkness.