General Roman what if thread

This is a thread for what ifs ranging from the founding of Rome to now the fall of Constantinople. Here are two of mine.

Just before his eastern campaigns finishes Pompey decides to take war to the Parthians. He gathers as many men as he could and sets out for the Parthian empire. And against all odds he beats the Parthians in battle after battle breaking there military power for a generation. In the end the Parthians are forced to surrender to Rome there territory west of the zargos. Pompey then organizes the new Roman territory as provinces and client kingdoms. To top off his conquest of the east he takes the remnants of Ptolemaic empire and makes it into a Roman provience.

Would pompeys actions count as illegal warfare in the eyes of the senate? If it's what would Pompey and the senate do. If it isn't how powerful is Pompey now? How would Crassus handle the fact he got robbed of all the good eastern conquest by Pompey? Now that Pompey is in the east longer what would Caesar do without his support? Can anyone top pompey as first man in Rome? With more power can Pompey get his eastern settlement and land for his veterans passed by the senate alone?


And

In 65 bc Cato the younger dies from a bad fall. Can the consertive faction of the senate rally from there most famous members death and try to stop pompeys demands and Crassus demands. And if they can't what does ceaser do with the two most powerful men in Rome not needing to join him?
 
What if the gothic war was as short as the conquest of the vandal kingdom and had just as much effect on the infusctructer? After that Justinian decides to suspend European conquests and intergrate his new holdings into the empire and completely reestablish complete Roman control over North Africa and man the boarder both new and old. By 540 this is finshed. Justinian will go after no new conquest after this. He just wants to maintain his current holdings. How does this affect this affect the empire in the long run?

And

Alexander Severus while a competent peace time emperor was not a very good general which got him killed by his own soldiers because of that. What if on top of his peace time competence he was a general on the level of caeser or Trajan. Can this change avoid the crises of the 3rd century? Or is it inevitable. Still either way what would a great general Alexander Severus do in his wars.

And

What if the last son of Constantine the great lived instead of dying in Anatolia. How would he handle his userping cousin? If he wins against his cousin who does he select as Caesar in the west while he handles the Persian? How would his survival affect the empire?
 
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