An immediate rupture was now unavoidable ; and the consul Marcellus, the third of that name in the succes sion of consuls, being thwarted in all his measures by the tribunes, declared, in a fit of impatience, that he would put the exercise of his power into hands more likely to make it respected ; and upon this he went and presented his sword to Pompey, bidding him employ it in the de fence of his country.
Cxsar had now left the northern parts of Gaul, and took up his residence at Ravenna, the nearest point of his province to Italy : From this place he sent a letter to the senate, not couched in the most respectful terms, and complaining of their injustice in robbing him of the honours decreed to him by the Roman people. This let ter was deemed an insult by the senate ; and a resolution was framed, ordering Coesar to dismiss his troops by a certain day, and, in case of disobedience, declaring him an enemy to the state, To this resolution the tribunes interposed their Upon this it was moved, that the senate should put on mourning, as in a case of public. calamity ; this the tribunes also forbade. The members, however, of their own accord, appeared at their next meeting in mourning, and gave it in charge to the con stils, in conjunction with Pompey, to provide, by every means in their power, for the safety ofthe state.* The tribunes, who had occasioned this measure, af fecting to apprehend clanger to their persons, disguised themselves in the habits of slaves, and, together with Curio, fled in the night to the camp of Cxsar. The consuls repaired to Pompey in the suburbs, and claimed his assistance in the discharge of their duty. Cxsar, upon hearing. of these measures, called Dull his troops then at Ravenna, enumerated the injuries which he had received, depicted, in glowing colours, the injustice of his enemies, and exhorted his soldiers to support the honour of their general, under whom they had so long, so gloriously, and so successfully served their country. Ile was answered by a general acclamation from the ranks, that they were ready to avenge the injuries done to their general, and to the tribunes of the people. At this time Cxsar had but a small force on the side of Italy, and it was not supposed that he was in a situation immediately to commence hostile operations ; and, so long as he did not bring any alarming force towards Rome, his enemies continued secure, and made no ef fectual provision to resist him ; so that the seeming ne glect with which he suffered himself to be taken, was probably a preconcerted measure, and the best prepa ration he could make for beginning the war. I le had
most to apprehend from Pompey's legions in Spain ; and he had made the best disposition against them, by placing the strength of his army between the Pyrenees and the Alps.
On the very day in which he harangued his soldiers at Ravenna, he passed the Rubicon, the boundary be tween his province and Italy, by which he virtually de clared war against the state. Plutarch, and others, have given us an account of the scruples and agitations which disturbed his mind on the passage of this famous stream ; he himself makes no mention of any such scruples in recording this event, and, indeed, it is very unlikely that he should have had any, after the lengths he had gone. He who had held it as a maxim, ?W/ csse rempublicam, appellationem modo, sine copore es specie ; and who had overleapt the most sacred laws which had been devised for the defence of the state, was not likely to feel com punction on crossing a trilling stream.
He immediately seized Ariminum, the first fortified town beyond the Rubicon. Here lie again addressed his soldiers ; presenting the tribunes to them in the same dress in which they had fled from Rome, " See," said he, " to what extremities persons vested with the sacred office of tribunes arc reduced, fur having supported their friends, and pleaded the cause of an injured army." Sonic ad\ ances were now made by Pompey, probably merely with the view of gaining time ; these Cxsar knew well how to evade. Accordingly lie was continu ally making offers of peace, that he might throw the odium of the war upon his enemies ; whilst, at the same time, he was pushing his military operations with the utmost vigour. As fast as troops could march, he seized Pisaurnm, Faunum, Auxinium, Ancona, and every other place which was necessary to give him the command of the country, or to open his way to Rome.