Caesar Loses Battle of Alesia

WI Caesar lost the battle of Alesia, considered to be the turning point in the Gallic Wars. What would the immediate consequences be?
 
How badly does he lose? If the relief force manages to force through and he as to withdraw his troops, he will likely recover and come back. The loss might be a political embarrassment, but Caesar had lost troops before, and it wasn't like this would be a shock. If his army is cut to shreds, he will have to abandon his conquest and his Roman rivals will likely rationalise it by pointing out that it was an illegal war from the start. He's not going to have much of a future in Rome.

In the long run, Gaul is still likely to end up Roman, but it'll take until the next big man needs glory (or Vercingetorix gets stupid).

Down the line, of course, the butterflies can be massive. For one thing, it won't be Caesar trying to establish himself as the Republic's first single ruler. I don't think pompey had the imagination for this kind of thing, but sooner or later it's bound to happen. If we still get an Alt-Principate, its traditions would end up looking quite different.
 
How badly does he lose? If the relief force manages to force through and he as to withdraw his troops, he will likely recover and come back. The loss might be a political embarrassment, but Caesar had lost troops before, and it wasn't like this would be a shock. If his army is cut to shreds, he will have to abandon his conquest and his Roman rivals will likely rationalise it by pointing out that it was an illegal war from the start. He's not going to have much of a future in Rome.

In the long run, Gaul is still likely to end up Roman, but it'll take until the next big man needs glory (or Vercingetorix gets stupid).

Down the line, of course, the butterflies can be massive. For one thing, it won't be Caesar trying to establish himself as the Republic's first single ruler. I don't think pompey had the imagination for this kind of thing, but sooner or later it's bound to happen. If we still get an Alt-Principate, its traditions would end up looking quite different.

Yes, there would probably be no Augustus as emperor, and the effects of that would be massive.
 
Yes, there would probably be no Augustus as emperor, and the effects of that would be massive.
For starters, you would probably have a different username.

With Caesar and Crassus gone Pompey can dominate Roman politics with no real opposition, so he likely ends up as the next Marius/Sulla. He didn't have Caesar's mass popularity or quite as much naked ambition though, so the Senate might not be quite so inclined to see him as a monarch in the making; he likely is able to live out his terms as dictator for life in relative comfort assuming no further rivals present themselves.

As for what happens after Pompey, it seems reasonable to me that he'd try to build up a successor for some sort, though it would be a political protege rather than a blood heir. If that doesn't work, the Republic staggers on until the next ambitious strongman siezes power, though at some point some degree of stability will have to be established. This could have some interesting results if rather than becoming a pseudo-monarchy Rome is run by Imperators that have a succession system similar to the Five Good Emperors with an apprentice/protege as the heir rather than the crypto monarchy Augustus established.
 
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