Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Rubicon history

Woodrow

1997
Original poster
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Oregon
No, not Wrangler Rubicon history. Most of us know its been 20 years since the first Wrangler Rubicon in 2003 and that its named for the Rubicon trail, a 22 mile long route in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California ending at Lake Tahoe.

But do you know where the name Rubicon comes from? You may have heard the idiom "crossing the Rubicon" meaning to take a significant and irreversible action. Its origin is one of those things I never paid any attention to but finally I got curious and looked it up. It turns out the Rubicon is a small river in Northern Italy made famous by Julius Caesar. I thought I'd share this brief bit of history from Wikipedia:

"In 49 BC, perhaps on January 10, Julius Caesar led a single legion, Legio XIII Gemina, south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing so, he deliberately broke the law limiting his imperium, making armed conflict inevitable. Suetonius depicts Caesar as undecided as he approached the river, and attributes the crossing to a supernatural apparition. It was reported that Caesar dined with Sallust, Hirtius, Gaius Oppius, Lucius Cornelius Balbus, and Servius Sulpicius Rufus on the night after his crossing.

According to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase alea iacta est
('the die is cast') upon crossing the Rubicon, signifying that his action was irreversible.[2] The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is now used to refer to committing irrevocably to a grave course of action, similar to the modern phrase "passing the point of no return". The presence of Caesar and his legion in Italy forced Pompey, the consuls, and a large part of the senate to flee Rome. Caesar's victory in the subsequent civil war ensured that he would never be punished for his actions."

Also, apparently the river often runs red due to iron deposits in the soil locally, so maybe that would be the most appropriate color for a Wrangler Rubicon?
 
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No, not Wrangler Rubicon history. Most of us know its been 20 years since the first Wrangler Rubicon in 2003 and that its named for the Rubicon trail, a 22 mile long route in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California ending at Lake Tahoe.

But do you know where the name Rubicon comes from? You may have heard the idiom "crossing the Rubicon" meaning to take a significant and irreversible action. Its origin is one of those things I never paid any attention to but finally I got curious and looked it up. It turns out the Rubicon is a small river in Northern Italy made famous by Julius Caesar. I thought I'd share this brief bit of history from Wikipedia:

"In 49 BC, perhaps on January 10, Julius Caesar led a single legion, Legio XIII Gemina, south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing so, he deliberately broke the law limiting his imperium, making armed conflict inevitable. Suetonius depicts Caesar as undecided as he approached the river, and attributes the crossing to a supernatural apparition. It was reported that Caesar dined with Sallust, Hirtius, Gaius Oppius, Lucius Cornelius Balbus, and Servius Sulpicius Rufus on the night after his crossing.

According to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase alea iacta est
('the die is cast') upon crossing the Rubicon, signifying that his action was irreversible.[2] The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is now used to refer to committing irrevocably to a grave course of action, similar to the modern phrase "passing the point of no return". The presence of Caesar and his legion in Italy forced Pompey, the consuls, and a large part of the senate to flee Rome. Caesar's victory in the subsequent civil war ensured that he would never be punished for his actions."

Also, apparently the river often runs red due to iron deposits in the soil locally, so maybe that would be the most appropriate color for a Wrangler
I never made that connection before, but I guess it makes sense. I l love history but Roman history is just so boring to me.
 
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I’m no expert but I certainly appreciate history for its lessons, marvelous and terrible as well as the many great storIes.

Of course, this is just an interesting tidbit. But I thought the (Roman) military aspect might be interesting to folks who appreciate Jeep’s military origin.
 
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So apparently the rubicon trail is named after the rubicon river it crosses near tahoe. The river was named after the rubicon in italy.idk why though
 
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I’m no expert but I certainly appreciate history for its lessons, marvelous and terrible as well as the many great storIes.

Of course, this is just an interesting tidbit. But I thought the (Roman) military aspect might be interesting to folks who appreciate Jeep’s military origin.

I definitely appreciate Roman history but it gets old after a while. Just my opinion though. I really need to learn more Jeep history though. I have a pretty basic understanding of it's involvement in WW2 but I'd love to learn more details. Anyone have any good books they recommend on it?
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator