The Army of the Late Republic

Changes in the army during the Late Republic caused and reflect changes in the relationship between soldiers and civilians and in the role of the army in society and politics. Although the older literature used to blame Marius (156-86) - a successful general, but not so successful a statesman - for creating this situation, his role may be more adequately explained as a response to changing circumstances.

The Roman army experienced serious problems in the second half of the second century: many campaigns in Spain were unsuccessful and the war against the Numid-ian king lugurtha (112-105) at first showed little success, causing dissatisfaction among Roman voters. Disaster arose during the war against the Cimbri and Teutones - Germanic peoples who had left their northern homes and threatened Roman Gaul and Italy. In the battle at Arausio (105) in southern Gaul, tens of thousands of Roman soldiers are said to have lost their lives. One of the causes may have been the lack of great wars in previous decades, owing to which the expertise among soldiers and commanders declined. Military troubles in Numidia brought Marius - a military man who was not of noble birth - to power. During his bid for the consulship, Marius (156-86) contrasted his own professionalism with the amateurism ofhis aristocratic opponents. Consequently, the voters elected Marius consul six times during the years 107-100, which reflects their distrust in the leading families in a time of crisis.

In preparation for his campaign against Iugurtha, Marius called for volunteers among the veterans and among the poorest Roman citizens (capite censi) (Sall. lug. 86.2). In other words, he enlisted men from the proletariat in his army who did not qualify for infantry service, and he paid for their equipment from the public treasury. This was not as great an innovation as it might seem: the property qualifications had been reduced regularly during the past century. According to Livy, under the ‘‘Servian constitution’’ the property qualification for service in the legions had been

11.000  asses. Polybius mentions a figure of 400 drachmas (probably representing

4.000  asses), while Cicero informs us that the property qualification was only 1,500 asses. Scholars disagree on the interpretation of these figures. However, it seems clear that, even before Marius enlisted the proletariat in the army, the threshold was so low that the owners of even the smallest farms qualified. Nevertheless, Marius took an important step when in practical terms he abolished the property qualification.

The legions also became more homogeneous, but at the same time their link with the city of Rome became weaker. Marius is probably to be credited with reorganizing the legions, as a result of which all distinctions of property or age were abolished. The entire legion came to consist of heavy infantry equipped with sword and throwing spear (pilum). One of Marius’ innovations was that he introduced a single standard for the entire legion: the silver eagle became the symbol of the legion’s collective pride. In the coming decades, many armies developed a corporate identity that was missing in previous centuries. This is most clearly reflected in the names that some armies derived from their commanders: the Sullani or the Fimbriani. The legion was divided into ten uniform cohorts of approximately 500 men each. Under Caesar (100-44), the cohort operated quite independently, which improved the tactical flexibility of the Roman army in battle. The professionalization of the army is also shown by the fact that Caesar’s armies included men who were able to perform great engineering feats, such as building a bridge that spanned the Rhine.

Important changes stemmed from the Social War (91-88), during which many amongst Rome’s former allies fought either to destroy Rome or at least to improve their own position. Rome gained the upper hand but not without offering Roman citizenship at first to those allies that had remained loyal, and later also to those it defeated. This meant not only that the allied contingents from Italy ceased to exist but also that in future recruiting officers enlisted men into the legions throughout the peninsula. During his war in Gaul (58-50), Caesar even went a step further when he enlisted men from Gallia Transpadana (the region between the Po and the Alps) who did not have full Roman citizenship. Two components of the former legion had disappeared by the early first century: the lightly armed velites and the cavalry of Roman citizens. Their role was taken over by non-Italic peoples who fought alongside the legions. Rome had occasionally used Spanish or Numidian cavalry or Cretan archers at the time of the Second Punic War, but during the first century, non-Italic contingents of light troops and horsemen came to play a large and structural role in the Roman army.22