Caesar killed at Dyrrachium?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dyrrhachium_(48_BC)

Julius Caesar, usually always one step ahead of all his opponents, was defeated in this battle by Pompey, whose forces didn't pursue fearing a trap.
What if the Optimates pursue and destroy Caesar's army and kill JC?:D
Would the civil war continue? What could be the course of the Populares vs.Optimates thing? Could we still see the emergence of the Empire?

Mentos
 
Dyrrachium had the potential to end the civil war right then and there. It was Pompey's chance to absolutely crush Caesar if he pursued him, but he feared the retreat was a feint and that he was being pulled into a trap. Caesar was very lucky to escape with his army still largely intact from Dyrrachium.

That said, if Caesar loses and dies at Dyrrachium, its effectively game over for his side. Oh, there will be more resistance, but the war is all but won. What remains of Caesar's legions, assuming they are not large enough to be an effective force and rally, will likely surrender. The Caesarian's in Italy would likely still put up a fight--after all, most of them joined Caesar because they were desperate and destitute and had little to lose. After that, I can see some holdouts in Spain and perhaps Gaul, but not as effective as say, Sertorius' resistance post-Sulla's victory.

Now an interesting side effect of the continuing of the republic is the lex pompeia of 52 BC, which would still be intact. It stated a magistrate must wait 5 years before governing a province as a pro-magistrate. This is extremely important to the republic's future, because it solves a lot (not far from all) of the corruption, lavish spending on campaigns, and extortion of the provinces for all they're worth. Someone running for consul normally could spend a LOT on his campaign, knowing that if he won, he could get it all back the next year and then some when he went to govern his province. With this law, all of a sudden, going into massive debt to fund a campaign doesn't seem as attractive, since one would still have to wait 5 years before being able to make that money back. They also of course have 5 years of being a private citizen, which means they could be prosecuted for their actions while in office.

Now I imagine this law would face stifff opposition to remaining, but it would be interesting to see the effects if it does.
 
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