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Suppose the following: Caesar does not die in 44 BC, and lives to, lets say, at least 40 BC. Lets us also suppose this additional detail: Caesar does not want anyone after him to emulate him, and wants to prevent anyone from having such autocratic power within the Republic.

He is in the position of knowing exactly how to obtain such power and wield it effectively, so one could argue he is the best person to make an attempt to prevent it from happening again. Sort of like sending Joe Kennedy after corruption on Wall Street.

So, what could Caesar do to prevent the rise of another Caesar, and how successful might he be? And if he’s not successful, what might that look like? Even if the broad arc of history is the same, we might regard him very differently.

My gut instinct is the same with almost every ‘save the Republic’ proposition: we need to have a military-political reform. The army needs to have some way of expressing themselves within the Constitutional framework. That could be as simple as reforming the Centuriate Assembly.

Another needed reform would be to find a way to end the exploitative nature of the provincial governor system. Not so much for the sake of the provinces (though that helps) but to prevent anyone from amassing a lot of wealth and power. It’d be too much to consider turning the provinces into socii en masse, but at least there is a framework for allowing the locals more autonomy.

On a more personal note, if Caesar dispenses of his fortune before his death, it would help limit the ability of his heir to polevault into power.
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