Page:The story of Rome, from the earliest times to the death of Augustus, told to boys and girls (IA storyofromefrome00macg).pdf/431

 Rubicon. The Rubicon was the stream which divided his province from Italy.

Should he cross the stream with his army, it would be a declaration that he had determined on war.

So momentous was the decision, that as Cæsar drew near to the Rubicon he hesitated. Looking down upon the stream, he stood for a time deep in thought, while his soldiers watched him anxiously from the distance.

Turning at length to his officers, he said, 'Even now we may draw back.'

At that moment, so it is said, a shepherd on the other side of the stream, began to pipe carelessly upon his flute.

Over the stream dashed some of the soldiers, perhaps to dance to the shepherd's lilting measure.

It was an omen! Cæsar at once made up his mind. 'Let us go where the omen of the gods and the iniquity of our enemies call us,' he cried. 'The die is cast.'

Then at the head of his army, on the 16th January 49 , Cæsar crossed the Rubicon.

So important was the decision, that the words, 'to cross the Rubicon,' grew into a proverb. And still to-day, when one takes the first step towards a great undertaking, one is said to have 'crossed the Rubicon.'