Crossing the Rubicon

I have become addicted to HBO Series "Rome" on DVD lately.  It is wonderful modern representation of the rise of  Julius Caesar (50 BC) and the Roman Civil War with a full panopoly of talented British actors playing key characters.  The series is portrayed from the perspective of two dedicated centurions, Officer Lucius  VORENUS and one of his cohort's soldier-slaves, Titus PULLO who is a rough but dedicated warrior.  It really is a spellbinding series (that I have yet to finish as it stretches 3+ seasons and counting).

After returning to Rome with Caesar after 8 years in Gaul, VORENUS retires from the Legion in an attempt to reconnect with his wife and neglected family. (It was obviously part of the producers intent to portray VORENUS as suffering from a 1st century version of "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder".)   VORENUS finds he can not abide the decadent and immoral Rome he has come home to and in order to support his family is compelled to rejoin Marc Anthony's 13th Legion as a prefect of  the "Evocati".   From there his decent into hell begins, matched of course by the decent of Roman society.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:

"Crossing the Rubicon" is a popular idiom meaning to pass a point of no return. This phrase is often used by journalists in newspapers.[1][2][3] It refers to Caesar's 49 BC crossing of the river, which was considered an act of war.

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army in 49 BC, supposedly on January 10 of the Roman calendar, to make his way to Rome, he broke that law and made armed conflict inevitable. According to historian Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase ālea iacta estdie is cast").[4]

Suetonius also described how Caesar was apparently still undecided as he approached the river, and the author gave credit for the actual moment of crossing to a supernatural apparition. The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has survived to refer to any people committing themselves irrevocably to a risky and revolutionary course of action – similar to the modern phrase "passing the point of no return". It also refers, in limited usage, to its plainer meaning of using military power in a non-receptive homeland.