WI: After the Assasination of Caligula the Republic is Restored
- Thread starter TMS2224
- Start date
tuareg109
Banned
Well first you'd have to wonder if such a thing is possible.
By Caligula's assassination, the Empire had known 70 years of absolute rule; there was barely anybody alive who could remember when Gaius Octavianus hadn't been Augustus.
The senators and equestrians are used to having somebody order them about, telling them what laws to pass and which provinces to govern. They have no history of independent rule, and any opposition would have been rooted out by the Emperors. The terror of Sejanus under Tiberius, and Caligula's proscriptions due to insanity, made sure that the senators became a group of very quiet, timid men.
The army, too, has no history of following senators. Most of the legions served under one commander for quite some time, and these commanders for the most part exclusively served the Emperor's interest (at this point in time).
What I foresee happening, is one of two things. A situation similar to what happened when Nero died--namely, no successor in the family, and civil war by ambitious generals, with one general coming out on top and becoming Emperor; or that same situation, but with the victorious general reorganizing the Empire into the Republic, relinquishing his powers, and putting all senators on a level playing field.
However, the second option seems nearly ASB to me. You have an ambitious military man setting down his power, for one; then you have him making a new nobility out of thin air, and restoring peace with Dictatorial powers--basically being Emperor for a few years; last of all, you have him replacing a working system that was notoriously peaceful and productive with the same system that burned up like tinder when the size of the Republic and a few ambitious men ruined it.
By Caligula's assassination, the Empire had known 70 years of absolute rule; there was barely anybody alive who could remember when Gaius Octavianus hadn't been Augustus.
The senators and equestrians are used to having somebody order them about, telling them what laws to pass and which provinces to govern. They have no history of independent rule, and any opposition would have been rooted out by the Emperors. The terror of Sejanus under Tiberius, and Caligula's proscriptions due to insanity, made sure that the senators became a group of very quiet, timid men.
The army, too, has no history of following senators. Most of the legions served under one commander for quite some time, and these commanders for the most part exclusively served the Emperor's interest (at this point in time).
What I foresee happening, is one of two things. A situation similar to what happened when Nero died--namely, no successor in the family, and civil war by ambitious generals, with one general coming out on top and becoming Emperor; or that same situation, but with the victorious general reorganizing the Empire into the Republic, relinquishing his powers, and putting all senators on a level playing field.
However, the second option seems nearly ASB to me. You have an ambitious military man setting down his power, for one; then you have him making a new nobility out of thin air, and restoring peace with Dictatorial powers--basically being Emperor for a few years; last of all, you have him replacing a working system that was notoriously peaceful and productive with the same system that burned up like tinder when the size of the Republic and a few ambitious men ruined it.
I agree with Tuareg. Also, there are a lot of members of he extended imperial family, and the republicans can't kill all of them even if they were all in Rome. That's a recipe for disaster.
Not to mention, I seems like some in the republican camp like saturnine were eying the principate for themselves...
Not to mention, I seems like some in the republican camp like saturnine were eying the principate for themselves...