This is a rough outline of what I will hopefully be remembering to say on Monday...
Knowledge of wrongdoing:
Caesar knew all along that what he was doing wasn't going to sit well with the rest of Rome. It started in 50 BC when Pompey, who was the leader of the Senate at the time, ordered Caesar to disband his armies that he had built up. He ordered him to go back to Rome because his term as governor of Rome was to be finished. Caesar ignored both of these commands. He did not disband his armies and return to Rome. Instead, he took one legion and continued to push towards the Rubicon. He did this because at the time, Caesar thought that he would be prosecuted if he went back into the city after losing his powers as the governor. But he also knew that if he crossed the Rubicon into Italy, he would start a civil war and there would be no turning back for him. Despite all of that, he crossed the Rubicon in January of 49 BC with his legion. It is said that as Caesar was crossing the Rubicon, he said the phrase "the die is cast"--which is very important because that means that he knew the consequences of his actions, and he was choosing to "cast the die" and go ahead with his decision to cross the Rubicon. He knew it was wrong, and he knew what was going to happen once he committed this treasonous act, but he did it anyway. His decision to not return to the city because of the fact that he was no longer governor and was vulnerable to punishment was a cowardly move, and he only dug a deeper hole for himself when he crossed the Rubicon despite the laws against it and the consequences resulting from it.
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