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Hello. In 49 BC a Roman army marched south from the Alps and crossed the Rubicon, a shallow river

which marked the northern border of the territory controlled by the city of Rome.

The army was led by a young general called Julius Caesar, and when he crossed the Rubicon

he ignited the series of civil wars that led eventually to the overthrow of the Roman

Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire.

Julius Caesar could be the ultimate case study for the view that history is made by great

men.

He extended the borders of Roman power to the English Channel, introduced political reforms

that echo down to the present day, and left accounts of it all that are considered high

points of Latin literature.

It is also famous for the manner of his death, murdered on the steps of the Senate in all

of the most notorious political assassinations in history.

But was Caesar a power crazed tyrant or a missionary statesman willing to do whatever

he took to see through much needed reforms?

We would need to discuss Julius Caesar, our Maria Waik, professor of Latin at University

College London, Chris Pelling, Regist professor of Greek at the University of London, at

the University of Oxford, sorry, and Catherine Steele, professor of classical at the University

of Glasgow.

And we got the blooms out of the way.

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