In the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey, Caesar made the choice to go to Spain to secure his western flank before moving on Pompey in Greece. Why after having a chance to assemble many legions did Pompey not move on Rome while Caesar was in Spain? Caesar determined that Pompey's army would be more easily defeated as it was an army without a leader, why did Pompey not make the same calculation? Particularly considering that he had the majority of the senate with him to help legitimize his action. #history #Rome #Caesar #Pompey #ancienthistory
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!