The First Triumvirate and the rise of Caesar: the alliance of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar in 60 BC, Caesar's consulship and Gallic command, the breakdown of the alliance after Crassus's death, and the crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BC that began the civil war.

What this dot point is asking

The depth study reaches the First Triumvirate and the rise of Caesar, the alliance that dominated the 50s BC and led to civil war. This page covers the alliance of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar in 60 BC, Caesar's consulship and Gallic command, the breakdown of the alliance after the deaths of Julia and Crassus, and the crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BC that began the civil war. The prescribed sources include Caesar's own writings, Cicero's letters, Plutarch and Appian.

The answer

The alliance of 60 BC and Caesar's consulship

The alliance is the key development: it demonstrated that the constitution could be bypassed by a private combination of the most powerful men, a concentration of power that the Senate could not control.

The Gallic command and the breakdown

The deaths of Julia and Crassus are usually judged the structural causes of the breakdown: they removed the personal tie and the balancing third party, leaving Pompey and Caesar as rivals.

The drift to war and the Rubicon

With the alliance gone, Pompey drifted towards the Senate and the optimates, who feared Caesar's army and reputation and wanted to strip him of his command before he could return to a second consulship (and the immunity it brought). The dispute over Caesar's command could not be resolved peacefully. In January 49 BC, rather than give up his army and face prosecution, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the river marking his province's boundary, with one legion, an act of war (allegedly with the words "the die is cast"), beginning the civil war.

The depth-study debate is why the alliance broke down and who was responsible for the war: the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey's drift to the optimates, the Senate's refusal to compromise, and Caesar's determination to protect his dignitas and avoid prosecution all played a part. Caesar's own account presents him as the wronged party, which is why it must be evaluated.

Examples in context

A model answer ranks the causes (deaths, Pompey's drift, the command dispute) and reads Caesar as self-justification.

Try this

Q1. "Caesar, not Pompey or the Senate, was responsible for the outbreak of civil war in 49 BC." How far do the sources support this view? [20 marks, depth essay style]

• What the marker wants. An argument from the sources weighing Caesar's determination to keep his army and avoid prosecution against Pompey's drift to the optimates and the Senate's refusal to compromise, reaching a judgement on responsibility, and reading Caesar's account critically.

Q2. What did Caesar do in January 49 BC that began the civil war? [2 marks]

• Cue. He crossed the Rubicon, the river marking the boundary of his province, with his army, an act of war (allegedly saying "the die is cast") rather than give up his command and face prosecution.