Lucius Munatius Plancus had long experience of Gaul, which he gained as an officer in Julius Caesar’s army. He was also someone with the rare ability to survive political and military upheavals due to his ability to shift his allegiance smoothly. In 43 BCE, Rome was engulfed in civil war following the assassination of Julius Caesar the previous year. The Senate wished to prevent recruits from joining the army of Mark Antony, who was trying to avenge Caesar’s death. It so happened that there was a group of Roman refugees expelled from Vienne, a town in southeastern France, by the Allobroges, a Gallic people. The refugees encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, uncertain what to do until Munatius Plancus appeared and gave them specific directions.