The die is cast!

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• PugJesus@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Explanation: After conquering Gaul, the Roman conqueror and politician Julius Caesar was presented with an unexpected ultimatum by the Senate: give up his office (protecting him from prosecution) early, return before elections begin (preventing him from being elected to another office), and submit himself to the mercy of the Senate (dominated by conservatives who hated his guts and who had a long history of killing reformist politicians). A negotiated compromise was found that satisfied both Caesar and the moderates, but was scuttled by the conservatives in the Senate.

  Caesar, famously, instead chose to cross the Rubicon, a small river marking the formal border between Italy and the provinces, with his legions, starting a civil war. When he did so, he supposedly said “Alea Iacta Est!” - “The die is cast!” (some sources suggest he said it in Greek, which he was also fluent in).

  There’s no going back from this point, no choosing not to ‘play’ - you win or you lose!

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