![rome total war marian reforms rome total war marian reforms](https://gameplay.tips/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1603432705_total-war-rome-2-emperor-edition.jpg)
The use of census, property and armament requirements produced a division among Roman census classes (distinct from the usual plebeian/patrician divide) in which four standardized unit types (reflecting how much money the soldier could spend on his own arms and armour) comprised each legion (the velitas, hastati, principes and triarii). He had to own property worth 3,500 sesterces in value.Īt the time of the Second Punic War the only people with a net worth of 10,000 asses or more were liable to serve in the military.He had to be a member of the fifth census class or higher (the adsidui, or “tax-payers”).Until the last decade of the 2nd century BC, the eligibility requirements to become a Roman soldier in the service of the Republic were very strict: Such extremely long periods of service often meant ruin for small farmers who had left their home to fight. With the explosive expansion of Roman territory, campaigns became longer and longer, often taking up to several years. This system of citizen-soldiers who brought their own equipment in at least comparable quality, worked well as long as the wars were relatively short affairs fought relatively close to home. To be eligible to serve in this Roman army the citizens had to satisfy stringent property and census requirements, as well as providing their own weaponry, supplies and armour. The soldiers were mostly compensated by a share of the loot. Soldiers were paid very low, if any, wages and the delays of this money were notoriously common. The soldiers would leave his farm or business and serve for the duration of a campaign/war, and then be released back into the populace. Garrisons in provinces such as Hispania or Macedonia would be dismissed whenever the commander saw it fit. Meaning all experience in the Roman army was lost by the end of the fighting. Armies would then gain experiences during their campaigning, until they were disbanded with the end of the war or the campaigning season. The army would undergo extensive training before campaign. It was considered the duty of every physical able man to serve in the army when a campaign was called. The soldiers would be organised into four legions, each legion was raised annually. The soldiers were called through a lot drawing process called the Dilectus. The incumbent consuls would recruit an army when it was needed. The pre-Marius Roman army was organised as a conscript levy of all male citizens, similar to other Poleis especially in Greece. These changes remained principally intact until the downfall of the Roman Empire, but there were structural and administrative adjustments, notably by Augustus and later by Diocletian. As a consequence these reforms had a significant impact on the military supremacy of Rome, as well as unintentionally contributing to the social and political disruption of the Late Republic. Marius also granted citizenship and land to all Roman soldiers. The reforms also put the responsibility of supplying and managing an army in the hands of the general. The reforms revolutionised the Roman military machine, introducing the standardised legionary, the cohort unit and drastically altered the property and weaponry requirements for recruitment. Marius proposed radical alterations with the intention of creating a more professional, permanent and dynamic Roman army.
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Centuries of military campaigning throughout the Mediterranean and increasing invasions and uprisings across Roman territory had stretched the human and physical resources of the Roman army. The reforms originated as a reaction to the military and logistical stagnation of the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Marian reforms were reforms of the ancient Roman army implemented in 107 BC by the statesman Gaius Marius, for whom they were later named.