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Question: Julius Cesar Story: Burning boats!?
I was just wondering if anybody had a more accurate but short summary of this story!.!.!.
Cesar and his army once arrived to the country that they were going to war with, and while the army was sleeping on the beach at night, Cesar ordered that the boats they used to travel (his own boats) be burnt, so that when they army woke up in the morning they knew that they either had to win the war or would die!.
Its from this story I believe the 'burning boats/bridges' quote was coined from!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
There is some debate about the origin of this expression!. Some associate it with Cortes's tactics!. However, this is probably inaccurate as the tactic was common in Roman times!. It doesn't refer to one particular incident!.
http://everything2!.com/e2node/Burn%2520o!.!.!.
http://www!.phrases!.org!.uk/bulletin_board!.!.!.
http://www!.bartleby!.com/81/2695!.html
The association with Julius Caesar is obviously connected with his coup d'etat in 49BC, which is known as "crossing the Rubicon"!. Caesar returned from Gaul with his army, and had to decide whether to overthrow the Roman government and seize power!. The Senate had ordered him to relinquish his command!.
The boundary of Rome was the Rubicon river!. So if Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army, it was in effect a declaration of war on the Senate!.
We don't know if Caesar actually burned any boats at the Rubicon (in fact it is rather a small river)!. But it helps explain why we associate the phrase "burn one's boats" with Caesar!. It means exactly the same thing as "crossing the Rubicon": i!.e!. No Turning Back!.
http://www!.rubicon-trail!.com/Rubicon/his!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
The Nomad guy is dead on!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
It is genrally accepted that it was Hernan Cortés the one who burned his ships during the conquest of Mexico to prevent that his soldiers would go back to Cuba!. But the fact is that he didn't burn the boats!. He just disassembled them (wood and materials were pretty scarce: it made no sense to destroy them) He carried the materials with him and later used them to build new boats during the siege of Tenochtitlan!.
Maybe he was inspired by Julius Caesar, who destroyed the bridges that allowed his troops to cross the Rubicon, while saying the phrase "Alea jacta est" (the die is cast)!.
But maybe another source of inspiration was Alexander the Great!. Plutarch ("Lives") refers that: "Alexander wanted to invade India, but his soldiers were so burdened with booty that they moved very slowly on the march!. One day, at dawn, after all of the wagons were loaded, Alexander set fire to his own and to those of his friends!. Then he commanded the rest of the army to burn their wagons too!. By now, Alexander had become very severe and pitiless in punishing any disobedience!. Although a few were unhappy, most of the army was glad to see this barbaric baggage burn away so that they could be warriors again!."
History copycats itself!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
It was actually Cortez who burned his own boats!. Caesar is not reputed to have done this as far as I know!.Www@QuestionHome@Com