I thought that playing a women Legion supporter would be comical and end in tears, but actually, Legion have a pretty good thing going on. I guess their slavery needs a bit of polishing and their leaders a bit of a [censored], but they definitely have a stronger more organised military then the NCR and their political structure seems more secure and less corrupt then the NCR. I originally thought they were just a bunch of untamed tribesmen who got lucky, but as soon as Caesar mentioned ancient Rome, it all started to make sense.

Perhaps if they toned down the death a little, give slaves and women rights, they could become a society not dissimilar to the grand Roman Empire!

In short:
Legion > NCR

They are organized, but that's it. There will be a lot of people pointing out flaws in Legion but my main gripe is that Caesar has no legacy. He has centered all power to himself and himself only. When Caesar dies, so does the Legion. There are no other candidates. Lanius is a soldier and doesn't care about politics. Lucius is probably as old as Caesar is. Vulpes is a small tactics leader, and an agent who most likely has no skill in governing. Everyone else - pure soldiers. Like many point out Legion does not follow Caesar's ideals, they are following Caesar himself. And Caesar is not going to live forever.

And note that there will not be a day when Legion "tones down death a little", "gives slaves and women rights" because that's what's the whole point of Legion, that's what makes it so united. In a Legion society it svcks to live unless you're in the top hierarchy.

The Legion is a good short term policeman, but is it really worth it? Is trading all freedom to security a good trade, assuming you're one of the few lucky ones not enslaved?
Furthermore, Caesar's Legion resembles Ancient Rome in name only. Think if you renamed Legion "Nasty Band", Caesar "Billy", and removed the Latin terms. Where did all the Rome go and who are all these slaver/raiders?

Are you saying that the Legion as it stands now: a society based on despotic rule, slavery, and misogyny, is better than the NCR? Or are you saying that a hypothetical Legion that dropped these elements would be better than the NCR?

The NCR certainly has its problems, part of the point of FONV is that there is no clear "good guys" and "bad guys." However I'd rather go with the democracy that has problems with corruption and effective rule than the military dictatorship. I'm also not sure if the Legion could survive if it tried to sanitize itself - the very foundation of their society is built upon slavery and totalitarian rule, those can't simply be swept away without toppling the entire system.

This is the reason why the Legion is going to have a civil war on their hands after a year or two because he was to focused on conquering and not rasising a heir to carrry on his will after he dies.
I doubt the Legion is just going to die if they do that. Caeser wants the Legion to change and if they are going to do that if they need Vegas or they will crumble into the tribes they once were.

In the Wasteland it's probably the smart thing to trade freedom for security.

Which is a bad thing. Civil wars cripple nations for decades, and in the dog-eat-dog world of Fallout it will inevitably mean Legion's fall. The higher it climbs the faster it falls.

When he said that? I've listened to what he has to say and all I've gathered is that all he wants is make the Legion bigger. He doesn't talk about social reforms. As long as the Legion exists it will have slaves, treat its women like animals, and will refuse to use advanced technology even when it would benefit them. Does the Legion even want to use Hoover Dam's power output? I understand they just want it as a trophy.

Not always. People in NCR core regions seem to have very good lives. The Mojave is struggling to live because it's a battlefield and NCR can't help everyone at the same time.
EDIT: Trading freedom to security sometimes pays off. Good security is what Colonel Autumn promised in Fallout 3 - breaches of rights to keep pure control. Bad security is what Legion does - put a collar on you and haul you possibly hundreds of miles from home to work yourself to death. Is that really better than living in Freeside?

The Legion has plenty of successors, kill Caesar and then talk to Boone yourself and he says that NCR intellgince pints to an effective chain-of-command - if Caesar is travelling with his war party then clearly someone else is running the civil and military show across his Empire.

If you speak to Caesar long enough, a core reason for his need to conquer the Hoover Dam is to bring change, not only to the NCR, but also the the Legion...but Caesar fails to go into too much detail about that. Caesar's already created a tight group in this nation of his, got 86 (maybe 87?) tribes to follow his command and his ridiculous dress code, they will do what he says...treat women with a little more respect, have only a single partner, get married, not kill as many people...don't hit your slaves so much. If he survives he'll probably start brainwashing somebody who already shares some of his ideals right away. Also notice, Caesar doesn't really tell you everything that's going on. You never know, he could have an ace up his sleeve. :shrug: