As much as I love Caesar, I doubt he would have changed the fundamental structural problems with the Republic. He was a lifelong populare, and his belief in land reform was probably genuine, but the Roman Republic needed a total constitutional overhaul. It just was not a well-functioning entity by that time, and I don’t think Caesar ever expressed interest in that kind of radicalism.
And, I mean, let’s face it, he got stabbed by the conservatives for doing exactly what the ultraconservative Sulla did a generation before (taking dictatorial power without express term limit), only with Caesar forgiving instead of murdering his enemies, and being more poor-friendly - the chance of him getting through something more radical even if that was on his mind was effectively nil.
Reform, quite possibly, but in what way? To what degree? The Republic’s constitution was a mess, and I don’t know that there was any salvaging it without rebuilding it from the ground up - or scrapping it, as Augustus effectively did.
As much as I love Caesar, I doubt he would have changed the fundamental structural problems with the Republic. He was a lifelong populare, and his belief in land reform was probably genuine, but the Roman Republic needed a total constitutional overhaul. It just was not a well-functioning entity by that time, and I don’t think Caesar ever expressed interest in that kind of radicalism.
And, I mean, let’s face it, he got stabbed by the conservatives for doing exactly what the ultraconservative Sulla did a generation before (taking dictatorial power without express term limit), only with Caesar forgiving instead of murdering his enemies, and being more poor-friendly - the chance of him getting through something more radical even if that was on his mind was effectively nil.
I don’t doubt for a second that he would have tried to reform and change the system. I just doubt whether he could have succeeded or not.
Reform, quite possibly, but in what way? To what degree? The Republic’s constitution was a mess, and I don’t know that there was any salvaging it without rebuilding it from the ground up - or scrapping it, as Augustus effectively did.