49 BCE: CAESAR CROSSES THE RUBICON

Jan 10: Roman General Julius Caesar defies the Roman Senate and crosses the Rubicon River (in Northern Italy) enroute with his armies to Rome itself.

Caesar seizes power and reigns as “perpetual dictator” of Rome.
This marks the transition from the 450–year–old
“Roman Republic” to the commencement of the
“Roman Empire.”

But Caesar’s reign is to be short–lived….