# What if Pompey had defeated Caesar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 14, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762 "2009-06-14T21:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/61 "2009-06-25T13:46:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The only government body that did have anything like equality to it was, like you said, the Tribal Assembly. But since, like you said, the tribes were of different sizes, and even more so, because the Tribal Assembly took place in Rome and was at least an all day affair, the only people who could participate were those people who could afford to go to Rome and spend a at least a day not working. Yes, that was **my** point. A farmer in Latium could attend a day-long assembly in Rome. But the bigger the Republic got in territorial extent, with Roman citizens in cities and towns all over Italy, the less effectively democratic it became (not that it was all that democratic to start with, but the existence and role of the assemblies – even under the kings – did make a difference). ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/62 "2009-06-25T13:56:20Z")
Rome was strongly influenced by the purest form of democracy yet: the mob. It was hardly unusual to whip up an angry crowd to push your opponents into doing something you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/63 "2009-06-25T16:33:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes, that was **my** point. A farmer in Latium could attend a day-long assembly in Rome. In theory. But that meant that said farmer would need to pack up, come into the city, and spend a day or two voting rather than working on his farm. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/64 "2009-06-25T22:48:41Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > In theory. But that meant that said farmer would need to pack up, come into the city, and spend a day or two voting rather than working on his farm. A pre-industrial freehold farmer can do that – he’s his own boss and the crops won’t rot from a day or two’s neglect. But a farmer in, say, Umbria would have a problem. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/65 "2009-06-25T22:50:02Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Rome was strongly influenced by the purest form of democracy yet: the mob. It was hardly unusual to whip up an angry crowd to push your opponents into doing something you wanted. Only because the mob knew perfectly well they probably couldn’t get what they wanted – even if it was what the **majority** wanted – through the heavily weighted voting in the assemblies. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/66 "2009-06-25T23:25:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > A pre-industrial freehold farmer can do that – he’s his own boss and the crops won’t rot from a day or two’s neglect. But a farmer in, say, Umbria would have a problem. For the most part, they didn’t, though. In the tribal assembly, the “rural tribes” were dominated by their members living in Rome. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762/67 "2009-06-26T01:29:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Only because the mob knew perfectly well they probably couldn’t get what they wanted – even if it was what the **majority** wanted – through the heavily weighted voting in the assemblies. Like petulant children who know Dad will probably give in sometime before their thousandth repetition of, “Can we?” The system gave the mob power because there was no other avenue to address the needs of the citizens. But you knew that. Now, can I get get back to my hijack? 😉 > [@](#): > > Cicero’s secretary Tiro (inventor of Tironian notes Following the links, I found Wikipedia’s description of [the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Unicode_Font_Initiative) After porn, I haven’t found a more likely outcome from the internet revolution than this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pompey-had-defeated-caesar/499762.md?page=3)