this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2024
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Rough Roman Memes
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As much as I love Caesar, I doubt he would have changed the fundamental structural problems with the Republic. He was a lifelong populare, and his belief in land reform was probably genuine, but the Roman Republic needed a total constitutional overhaul. It just was not a well-functioning entity by that time, and I don't think Caesar ever expressed interest in that kind of radicalism.
And, I mean, let's face it, he got stabbed by the conservatives for doing exactly what the ultraconservative Sulla did a generation before (taking dictatorial power without express term limit), only with Caesar forgiving instead of murdering his enemies, and being more poor-friendly - the chance of him getting through something more radical even if that was on his mind was effectively nil.
I don't doubt for a second that he would have tried to reform and change the system. I just doubt whether he could have succeeded or not.
Reform, quite possibly, but in what way? To what degree? The Republic's constitution was a mess, and I don't know that there was any salvaging it without rebuilding it from the ground up - or scrapping it, as Augustus effectively did.