Julius Caesar on his horse at the misty bank of the Rubicon at dawn, legionaries behind him.

Roman Republic map: Caesar and the fall of the Republic, 61–27 BC

In 61 BC Rome ruled the Mediterranean as a republic, built so that no one man could hold too much power. Thirty-four years later it had an emperor in all but name.

This map follows that fall through the lives of Julius Caesar and his heir Octavian: the secret deal with Pompey and Crassus, the conquest of Gaul, the Rubicon, the Ides of March and the war that ended at Actium.

Open the mapSee the timeline

Interactive map · 61–27 BC

Roman Republic, step by step

Use Earlier and Later, or tap the bar, to move through 12 moments. Borders and labels change with each one.

Loading the map…

61 BC

The Man Who Owed Everyone

This is the same 3D map, built from real terrain, that the Steel & Sovereigns app uses in every lesson.

Timeline

Roman Republic timeline

One man crosses a river, and a nearly 500-year republic ends.

  1. 60 BC

    Caesar, Pompey and Crassus join forces

    Three men, one secret deal.

    Caesar traded a parade for power. With Pompey's fame and Crassus's money behind him, he was elected consul for 59 BC.

    In the app: lesson “The Man Who Owed Everyone”

    Pompey and Crassus, wary rivals, on either side of a lamp-lit table while Caesar leans in between them

  2. 59 BC

    Caesar's consulship

    The year of Julius and Caesar.

    Caesar bullied his laws through, married his daughter to Pompey and won five years in Gaul with an army. His enemies swore to prosecute him the day he gave it up.

    In the app: lesson “The Year of Julius and Caesar”

    Young Julia in a saffron bridal veil beside Pompey, a broad-faced man in his forties, at their wedding

  3. 58 BC

    The Helvetii march west

    The bridge is down.

    How did a broke politician get an army? A secret deal with Pompey and Crassus bought him a consulship, and the consulship bought him Gaul. Now he had his war.

    In the app: lesson “All Gaul Is Divided”

    At night, Gauls on rafts are driven back from a long Roman rampart along the river below Lake Geneva

  4. 56 BC

    The deal is renewed at Luca

    Rome's new hero.

    In two summers Caesar beat the Helvetii, Ariovistus and the Belgae, and Rome gave thanks for 15 days. At Luca the deal of three was renewed. Gaul looked won. It wasn't.

    In the app: lesson “Rome's New Hero”

    The streets of a small Italian town are jammed with senators waiting while three men confer in a courtyard

  5. 53 BC

    Crassus dies at Carrhae

    Two giants left.

    Caesar crossed the Rhine and the sea and made himself a legend. But Julia and Crassus were dead, Pompey was turning to the Senate, and Gaul was rising behind him.

    In the app: lesson “Over the Rhine, Across the Sea”

    Caesar alone in his campaign tent at dusk, a letter lowered in his hand, his face drawn with grief

  6. 52 BC

    Vercingetorix surrenders at Alesia

    Gaul is Rome's.

    How did Gaul make Caesar too strong to stop? It gave him gold, fame, and battle-hardened legions loyal to him, not to the Senate. Now his command is ending, and Pompey and the Senate are waiting.

    In the app: lesson “Alesia”

    Vercingetorix in his finest armour throwing his sword down before Caesar, who sits on a raised seat among his officers

  7. 49 BC

    Caesar crosses the Rubicon

    The die is cast.

    In about two months Caesar took Italy without a battle, and by summer he held Spain. But Pompey was in Greece, gathering the whole East. The real war was still ahead.

    In the app: lesson “The Rubicon”

    Pompey, grey-haired and heavy-set, on the deck of a warship at night, looking back at the Italian coast

  8. 48 BC

    Caesar wins at Pharsalus

    I came, I saw, I conquered.

    Pompey was dead, the East was Caesar's, and Egypt had a queen who owed him her throne. But Pompey's sons and Cato were raising new armies in Africa.

    In the app: lesson “Pharsalus and the Queen”

    Roman soldiers hold the palace quarter of Alexandria as warships burn in the harbour beside the Pharos lighthouse

  9. 15 March 44 BC

    Caesar is assassinated

    The Ides of March.

    Could one general beat the Republic and keep it? Speed and mercy won Caesar every war. Ruling like a king got him killed by men he had pardoned. And his killers had no plan for what came next.

    In the app: lesson “The Ides of March”

    A marble statue of Pompey in a dim hall, a crumpled purple-bordered toga and an overturned golden chair at its base

  10. 43 BC

    The Second Triumvirate

    The boy with Caesar's name.

    Octavian turned a name into an army, used the Senate, then dropped it for a deal with Antony. Now the avengers turned east, where Brutus and Cassius were waiting.

    In the app: lesson “The Boy With Caesar's Name”

    The white-haired Cicero leans out of a litter on a wooded path near the sea and looks back calmly

  11. 42 BC

    Philippi

    Two men, one world.

    Caesar's killers were gone. Antony had the East, the glory and now Cleopatra. Octavian had Italy and its troubles. A line at Scodra split the Roman world in two.

    In the app: lesson “Philippi”

    Cleopatra dressed as Venus reclining under a gold-embroidered canopy on her barge, attendants fanning her

  12. 27 BC

    Octavian becomes Augustus

    The Republic is dead. Long live the Republic.

    How did an unknown 18-year-old beat Caesar's best general? With Caesar's name, Agrippa's fleet and endless patience, then by pretending to give power back. Augustus ruled for 40 more years. The Republic never returned.

    In the app: lesson “Actium”

    Cleopatra seated upright and composed in full royal regalia in her stone mausoleum, a basket of figs beside her

Learn it in the app

Caesar: The Fall of the Republic

Twelve five-minute lessons in four units, each with the map, hand-painted scenes, British narration and a few quick questions. Steel & Sovereigns is a history learning app for iPhone, built like Duolingo.

Unit 1

The Three-Headed Monster

  1. The Man Who Owed Everyone
  2. The Year of Julius and Caesar
  3. All Gaul Is Divided

Unit 2

The War in Gaul

  1. Rome's New Hero
  2. Over the Rhine, Across the Sea
  3. Alesia

Unit 3

The Die Is Cast

  1. The Rubicon
  2. Pharsalus and the Queen
  3. The Ides of March

Unit 4

The Heir

  1. The Boy With Caesar's Name
  2. Philippi
  3. Actium
Start your free weekWatch the channel on YouTube

7 days free, then $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month.

More maps and timelines