The thread a few days ago about a larger Roman Empire in the West (taking over either Germany or Persia) got me thinking: what about a SMALLER (but maybe longer-lasting) empire? Certainly, one that still dominates Italy; otherwise, they're just not so important to history. And I still want them to win the Punic Wars too (otherwise, it's more like "what about a huge Carthaginian Empire?"), giving them Spain and a lot of North Africa, at least. Also, I'll give them Greece at least (otherwise, it's too culturally different from OTL Rome for my taste), and maybe even their other Eastern conquests (I'd be interested to hear possibilities in that area, but I think we at least need Egypt for its wealth).
But Gaul, it seems to me, is pretty easily avoided: we just kill off Julius Caesar before most of the events of the Bellum Gallicum, and replace him with a more cautious or less militarily gifted governor. And we can add that Augustus*, as in OTL, has a will limiting the boundaries of the empire to the current ones, including the boundaries of the original province of Roman Gaul (will that hold? Is Gaul just too tempting, in the long run?).
Does leaving Gaul alone insulate Rome at all from the German migrations later? Does it leave fewer opportunities for 3d-c. generals to win glory and declare themselves emperor? Is the East-West split less inevitable with less territory in the West? How much does Gaul matter, in the end?
*I mean, of course, Sextus Pompeius Augustus, first emperor of Rome.
But Gaul, it seems to me, is pretty easily avoided: we just kill off Julius Caesar before most of the events of the Bellum Gallicum, and replace him with a more cautious or less militarily gifted governor. And we can add that Augustus*, as in OTL, has a will limiting the boundaries of the empire to the current ones, including the boundaries of the original province of Roman Gaul (will that hold? Is Gaul just too tempting, in the long run?).
Does leaving Gaul alone insulate Rome at all from the German migrations later? Does it leave fewer opportunities for 3d-c. generals to win glory and declare themselves emperor? Is the East-West split less inevitable with less territory in the West? How much does Gaul matter, in the end?
*I mean, of course, Sextus Pompeius Augustus, first emperor of Rome.