Designing an Image Gaius Julius Caesar was posthumously elevated to deity status, but even during his lifetime, his exceptional leadership motivated and mobilized his armies to accomplish extraordinary feats. He had no equal in terms of political clemency, superlative leadership and militant celerity; these were among the traits that distinguished him. He has demonstrated his courage and boldness on many occasions; one such notable event occurred during his Gallic War when he attempted to cross the Rhine in an area that was explicitly foreign and beyond the reach of Roman territory at the time. It was the year 55 BC and the unofficial triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Licinius Crassus, and Pompey the Great had just been renewed. Crassus was among the richest in Rome, indeed, he had also been one of the main financial sponsors of Caesar's aedile. Pompey had also been established as a figure of power; he was credited with the triumph of the third Mithridatic war, the repression of the slave revolt led by Spartacus and the victory over the pirates of the Mediterranean. Pompey and Crassus were consuls for that year, and Caesar was eager to demonstrate his ability with his campaigns in Gaul. His war in Gaul had been mostly successful and most of the Gallic tribes had been subjugated or allied. However, there were some difficulties as a couple of tribes who had claimed allegiance to Rome turned against Caesar. Despite being taken by surprise, Caesar led his troops to total victory. Some of the surviving opposition fled across the Rhine, saying the river was the limit of Roman influence. Furthermore, there was a particularly fearsome Germanic tribe, the Suevi, who resided on the other side of the Rhine and posed a constant threat to the Gauls. These actions challenged Caesar, ... middle of paper ... for his engineering successes, a clear message had been sent to Rome's enemies. In itself, the technical aspect of the construction was impressive enough, but the significance of the illustrious bridge went far beyond assembly. Caesar showed his militant determination to conquer, as Alexander had, and this instilled awe and fear in his enemies. He is shown to hold the power of creation, as well as the power of destruction. It set a precedent: Emperor Germanicus later had a bridge built over the Rhine as a show of power at the start of his campaign to confront German enemies (Tacitus 109). Its spiritual importance was the symbolic victory over the river god and it successfully hindered the morale of the barbarians (O'Connor 1993, 219). This inconceivable feat accomplished by Caesar was so transcendent for its time that it served as a precursor and provided the reason for his subsequent apotheosis..