On the Kalends 1 January 49 BC, Marcellus and Lentulus entered office, and were presented at once with letters from Caesar, the tenor of which was claimed to be a declaration of war: Caesar would stand his legions down provided Pompey did as well; otherwise, he intended to retain them and "move quickly" to avenge the wrongs done against him—presumably against Rome. The Senate's response was an ultimatum: Caesar was to disband his legions or be declared a public enemy. After a week of angry exchanges, on 7 January 49 BC, the senate under Lentulus and Marcellus passed the "final decree" (senatus consultum ultimum); the tribunes Antonius and Cassius fled with Caesar's envoy, the younger Gaius Scribonius Curio, from Rome to meet Caesar at Ravenna. Whilst Lentulus is recorded as the more vehement of the consuls in instigating the action that caused the tribunes to flee, Marcellus does not seem to have been aloof. On 10 January, Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon, starting the Civil War.