Crossing the Rubicon
Posted from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
This morning I crossed the river Ebro, the first big landmark of my tour. I don´t know why Julius Cesar´s “crossing of the Rubicon” came to my mind, I hope my decision does not have so far-reaching consequences like good old Cesar´s.
The day went perfect! No hick-ups with the navi and the tons of baby creme on my butt had some alleviating effect. Instead of the left knee now the right one starts aching at exactly the same point, but no panic, now I know how to treat it. The best of all was the tailwind on almost all the journey. It was like sailing before the wind and that´s probably the reason why I am still feeling so good now.
Entering Tarragona from the south is horrible. I past kilometers along huge chemical plants which smelled like the devil´s kitchen. But the old town is quite nice. They have ancient roman remnants like an amphitheatre and my hotel is at a nice little square with lots of bars and terraces. The landlord asked me already if I mind the noise of the bars. So maybe I will enjoy some “marcha” tonight.
Todays route: 107,92 km
Micha, mach mals langsamer, sonst bist du in ‘ner Woche daheim :-). Viel Spaß!,
In the Roman Republic the Rubicon marked the boundary between the imperial provinces, where the Roman generals’ could do as they pleased, and Italia proper where law and order reigned. Julius’s term as governer of Gaul had ended and he was supposed to return to Rome as a private citizen, but he enjoyed being supreme boss I think. By crossing the Rubicon with his army Caesar was acting in defiance of the law and would face prosecution by the senate and possible execution. By entering with his army he was essentially starting a civil war which would lead to either his death and the continuance of the Republic, or in the event that he was victorious, the destruction of the Republic and his ascent to the dictatorship. So it was all of nothing. Crossing the Rubicon he uttered the famous phrase “alea iacta est” – the die is cast, and so one of the biggest ego in history launched a bloody civil war that would eventually lead to his assasination and to the foundation of the Roman Empire by his nephew Octavian(Augustus) twenty years later.
If this is your metaphorical Rubicon, it means that you have passed the point of no return. You cannot come back Michael! Or is it the dictatorship you are after?
Hi Conor, thanks for this master class. As I told you, I really don´t know why the Rubicon story came to my mind on the bridge over the Ebro. But for me definitely the decision to cross was not a question of “live or die”.
So nen kleinen Gin Tonic haste Dir jetzt schon mal verdient, finde ich. Wenn Du erstmal aus Spanien raus bist gibt es eh keine marcha mehr
No dann kaaf der ans! Hau nei.
enjoy la marcha!
Hola! Nos alegramos que vayas bien y que hayas tenido un buen día de ruta. Disfruta del viernes y cuídate las rodillas 😉