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Title: Caesar at the Rubicon: A Play About Politics by Theodore H White ISBN: 0-06-014602-8 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: January, 1978 Format: Textbook Binding List Price(USD): $8.95

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Summary: A political reporters play about Roman power politics
Comment: Theodore H. White became known for his three versions of "The Making of the President," one of which won a Pulitzer Prize. So when one of the more astute political observers of his day writes a play about power politics and a pivotal moment set a half-century before the birth of Christ the work has to be of at least passing interest. "Caesar at the Rubicon" seeks to explore the psychology behind the decision that has become a political shorthand term for making an irrevocable decision that sets a fateful course.

As Caesar sat with his legions on the far side of the Rubicon, Rome was a city where mobs rioted in the streets, murder was a political tactic, and extermination a foreign policy. But for White the figure of Julilus Caesar stands out because the author sees the general as seriously questioning the limits of force and first tentatively exploring mercy as a governmental policy. After all, Ceasar treated his captive Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, with a respect and consideration that amazed his political foes. But from our contemporary perspective, whether we are talking 1971 when the play was first produced at Princeton's McCarter theater or today, the paradox of a world power trying to deal with force and mercy is painfully important.

"Caesar at the Rubicon" takes place in the year 50 B.C.E., when Caesar has returned to Italy after a nine-year campaign beyond the Alps. With 50,000 legionnaires he has conquered the three parts of Gaul with its 15 million barbarians. Caesar expects a triumphal welcome at which point he plans to run for the office of Consul. Then he will be in a position to impose on Rome the unwelcome reforms he knows are necessary to turn the corrupt capital on the path to true greatness. Caesar is a man of poltiics, who understands the way to sway votes and to mobilize the ordinary citizens of Rome against the "factio paucorum" ("faction of the few") who rule. But as long as Caesar wears the scarlet cape of Imperator, supreme military commander of the Republic, he is forbidden to cross the river Rubicon with his legions unless he receives permission from the Senate. This permission is about to be denied.

This play focuses on the political debate, not only between Caesar's earnest suporters for the benefit of their leader, but the internal struggle that is revealed in Caesar's monologues where the future dictator repeatedly declares he does not want to be a god. But when his envoys are forced to flee the city and word comes that Pompey's men are patrolling the streets while the citizens gather and speak in whispers, Caesar is forced to make his fateful decision. The result would be the end of the Roman Republic.

What is most fascinating about this play is the way White makes it speak to two totally different worlds. Students of Roman history will argue about the playwright's fidelity to the people and details of that time while those interested in the power politics of the late 20th century will be equally provoked to debate White's implicit assumptions about how the United States should be flexing its international muscles. Ultimately, "Caesar at the Rubicon" is neither history nor drama, but a creative exercise in political rhetoric. The play ends with the announcement of Pollio the historian "We cross the Rubicon at dawn," and while we know the consequences of that action to that time and place, it is the political calculus that the play constructs that you continue to go over in your mind.