AHC: Save the Roman Republic.

Your challenge if you choose to accept it is, with a pod no earlier then 100 B.C is to save the Roman Republic and prevent it from becoming an empire.

Bonus if you can prevent civil wars and no one gets decleared dictator for life.
 
I'm a fan of Pompey winning the Battle of Pharsalus as a PoD (though I realize it's more of a challenge then, say, the Gracchi Reforms -- then again, that would be prior to the OP anyway). Some events that come after the OP, which can broadly considered as PoD potential candidates:

  • Social War
  • Spartacan Revolt
  • Lex Gabina
  • Cicero's Consulship
  • First Triumvirate
  • Battle of Pharsalus
 

Maur

Banned
I cant see it happening after Marius reforms, and arguably even after second Punic war.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
I have an outline for a future novel built around this POD. Unfortunately it's in at least 4th place down the pipeline (after two more Shattered Nation novels and a WWII novel), so several years away.
 
May I recommend reading "The Last Generation of The Roman Republic" by Gruen? He takes his conclusions a bit far methinks, but in general he makes a good case that the republic was not necessarily doomed up and until the moments before Caesar crossed the Rubicon, and even then not really until he won the civil war.

Anyway, it's not difficult to have the republic last longer. Having it last indefinitely is a problem because you really can't predict what will happen with the next generation. You can prevent Caesar and Pompey's generation from starting a civil war and/or destroying the republic really up until Pharsalus (and I guess even as far as the death of the liberatores though it would be extremely weak). The problem is, you don't know what the next generation will do-so you can then make it not fall in the next generation, and the next, etc. But this is a thing that is probably going to have to be taken one generation at a time since I don't think any sweeping reforms that can prevent the republic falling are likely.

Edit: You might wanna take a look at this: http://obstinateclassicist.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-last-generation-of-roman-republic.html
 
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Supposing, after defeating Ceasar, Pompey and similarly minded Senators work together to reform the Roman Constitution?
For some reason, I believe I remember reading in Gruen of a lex Pompeia that set a 5 year gap between when someone could be consul to when they get their pro-consular command (and praetor and pro-praetor command, etc.) I can't for the life of me find this anywhere else so take it with a grain of salt. Even so, it would be interesting if it was actually put into practice (the civil war kind of threw it out the window). It would drastically cut down on campaign spending since the candidate can't look forward to extorting his province for all its worth in a year to get his money back. Similarly it will cut down on extortion and I guess corruption, though probably not by much on the latter.
 
This might sound mad, but...

Have Caesar die of old age about 10 years later than in OTL. The Republic was pretty much non-functional by that point, so you could have the last 6-7 years or so of Caesar's rule consist of instituting a sweeping series of reforms intended to revitalize it.

All you need to do is have Caesar decide that doing so is a good idea. Seriously, if you want any Roman to accomplish something almost impossible, Gaius Julius Caesar is probably your best bet.
 
Caesar's actions suggest he was moving more towards some kind of permanent monarchy. Give him enough time and he'll accomplish it.

That said, he was also on the path to almost certain assassination. Being so overt with his power with a senate that still actually had the capability and the will to govern on their own was bound to end in an Ides of March. Octavian realized this perhaps like no other which was why he went to great lengths to mask his power behind a veneer of constitutionality and senatorial authority and make it look like he governed by consent rather than through his own political authority.
 
Caesar's actions suggest he was moving more towards some kind of permanent monarchy. Give him enough time and he'll accomplish it.

That said, he was also on the path to almost certain assassination. Being so overt with his power with a senate that still actually had the capability and the will to govern on their own was bound to end in an Ides of March. Octavian realized this perhaps like no other which was why he went to great lengths to mask his power behind a veneer of constitutionality and senatorial authority and make it look like he governed by consent rather than through his own political authority.

Well this was the precedent set by the Hellenic states - democracies / oligarchies evolving (devolving?) into monarchies.

The republic was just too unstable if ANY Senator could hold power by and for himself after military success or financial success.

What if the optimates / populares factions actually evolved into more formal political alliances (parties?) - could Rome have survived with a "balance of power" between the two groupings with the Army in between
 

GdwnsnHo

Banned
Personally I'd go with Sextus Pompey emerging victorious over all others during the Second Triumverate. If he can use heavier ships, or counter Agrippas tactics, combined with taking on and winning against Lepidus, you have a strong Republican who could easily dominate the Mediterranean, and win the Civil War. He just needs to play Octavian and Antony against each other long enough to claim victory.

Assuming he stays a republican, you could see a reformed republic, and considering the chaos of the 2nd Triumverate, there is a very strong argument to do so.
 
Well for starters perhaps prevent Crassus from getting killed at carrhae so he remains part of the triumvirate. With Crassus around I doubt Mark Antony and Ocravian would make play at each other.

Or you could have Marius or Sulla win a definitive victory and lead the republic how they see fit.

Its difficult really because the roman army owed loyalty to their commanders not to the senate simply because it was the commanders who paid the men. If the senate is able to adopt or implement a treasury system and from that system pay the army directly rather than through middleman such as commanders the army will show more loyalty to the state and so might continue protecting the republican senate
 
We can toss back and forth which great man wins this civil war or that. But it doesn't matter who wins, if the fundamental structure of the Republic is not reformed, once we enter in the post-Marian era, military force becomes far too valuable a means of enacting political change within the system.

I maintain, as I have for some time, that after Marius, your best bet for prolonging the Republic is to reform the Comitia Centuriata, so that its composition better reflects the composition of the army. Once the land requirements were waived, Rome had a mass of highly trained soldiers who's voice in the government was orders of magnitudes smaller than those of previous generations' legions.
 
1. Caesar was otl on Sullas proscription list, keep him on it.
2. A bonus would be if any of the other Boni, like lucullus works in politics a bit after his death, anything that keeps Pompey from tearing down the Sullan reforms to increase his own personal Dignitas.
 
With a similar question, I suggested that if Marcus Livius Drusus had lived and been able to pass all his reforms (admittedly not at all easy to accomplish) and thus opened up Rome's political life that would have helped enormously. Also it would have preempted the Social War, and thus butterflied the First Mithridates War, thus butterflying the split and civil war between the Marius faction and the Sulla faction.

But others here made reasonable suggestions that it wouldn't have made a difference.


Someone mentioned the Triumvirate surviving longer, hinging on Crassus not getting himself killed and Pompey's wife (Caesar's daughter) surviving child birth. That might work for a while.


Caesar being defeated by Pompey might have worked for a while too. The question is whether Pompey after a victory would be satisfied with only First Man of Rome status or not. Was he truly wedded to the Republican cause/Boni of the Senate? Or was he more driven by rivalry with Caesar? If he ultimately went down the dictator route he has a pair of militarily competent enough sons to have a shot at making it heriditary.
 
Supposing, after defeating Ceasar, Pompey and similarly minded Senators work together to reform the Roman Constitution?

Given that Pompey hadn't shown much constitutional propriety in his earlier career, I doubt that he's the man to restore the constitution.

Anyway, I think that any reforms to save the Republic would need to be twofold. First of all, more colonies both in Italy and the Empire as a whole, to get rid of the indigent mob which provided demagogic politicians with a ready-made source of support. Secondly, reduce the influence of powerful generals. Regularising the discharge system (as Augustus would end up doing) would be a good start, since troops would no longer be dependent on their generals to get a good settlement after the war was over. Maybe the Senate could also introduce a system similar to that used in several modern countries, whereby everybody has to serve a few years' military service, after which they could choose either to become full-time soldiers or to enter the reservists, in which case they'd have to go to training camps every so often but wouldn't be called up except in cases of emergency. That way, if a general did go rogue, the Senate would have a ready-made defence force, and wouldn't have to resort to playing off powerful warlords against each other as in OTL.
 
Supposing, after defeating Ceasar, Pompey and similarly minded Senators work together to reform the Roman Constitution?

Sadly Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus was not a constitutional expert. It would be better to have the Gracchi succeed, avoid the Social Wars, avoid Sulla's march on Rome and above all keep Cicero alive.
 
Your challenge if you choose to accept it is, with a pod no earlier then 100 B.C is to save the Roman Republic and prevent it from becoming an empire.

Bonus if you can prevent civil wars and no one gets decleared dictator for life.
The Cimbri and the Teutones decisively defeat the Romans headed by Gaius Marius. Italy is properly devastated by them. The Roman provinces rebel, combined with invasions from abroad. The Roman Italian allies side with the Cimbri and the Teutones against Rome to save themselves from the Germanic/Celtic wrath and plunder.
In the end the Cimbri and the Teutones settle in the South Italy, the Northern Italy gaines independence.

Rome keeps only the Central Italy, it is poor, proud...
and republican :D
 
see also
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