50/49 BC. WI Cato falls severely ill.

Caesar was not the kind of man to break the law unless he felt he had not alternatives. Stretching it was a totally different thing and both Caesar and Sulla were masters in reaching the limits while formally respecting the laws (the most blatant breaks of the laws, marches on Rome excluded, came all from Marius, Pompey, Octavian and Cinna, who inherited Marius' Rome). Cicero's handling of the conspiration of Catilina violated the laws and uses of Rome more than the majority of the actions of Caesar (the correct punisment for Catilina and the other senators/equitees involved was the exile not the death who Cicero persuaded the other to vote)

But if Caesar manages to avoid the civil war, avoid assassination, and remain the first citizen for another decade or two, Caesar would have found a way to make Octavian (or whomever he wished) his effective heir, establishing the principate in the same manner as Octavian eventually did (although perhaps with a different exact arrangement). Although I don't fully buy the idea that Caesar liked to respect the law. He had himself declared dictator for life when that was certainly not necessary to consolidate his rule, since he was already "elected" to five consecutive consulships (which was also illegal btw).
 
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