Marian Reforms - Marian Reforms

Marian Reforms

The foremost of the Marian reforms was the inclusion of the Roman landless masses, the capite censi, men who had no property to be assessed in the census. Instead they were "counted by the head". These men were now among the ranks of those who could be recruited even though they owned no significant property. Because these poor citizens could not afford to purchase their own weapons and armour, Marius arranged for the state to supply them with arms. He thus offered the disenfranchised masses permanent employment for pay as professional soldiers, and the opportunity to gain spoils on campaign. With little hope of gaining status in other ways, the masses flocked to join Marius in his new army. These professional soldiers were recruited for an enlistment term of 16 years, later to rise to 20 years full service and 5 years as evocati under the reforms of Augustus.

The second important reform implemented by Marius was the formation of a standing army. Marius was able to standardize training and equipment throughout the Roman legions. Drilling and training took place all year round, even in times of peace, not just when war threatened.

Marius organized the legions as follows. The total number of men in a full strength legion was about 6,000, of whom 4,800 were actual soldiers. The rest were classified as non-combatants. The internal organization of a legion consisted of 10 cohorts of 6 centuries each. The century consisted of 100 men, 80 legionaries and 20 non-combatants. However the first cohort was irregular and consisted of 5 double strength centuries (containing 160 men). Each century was divided again into 10 contubernium led by a decanus. The contubernium contained 8 legionaries and 2 non-combatant servants who tented and messed together. The century fought as a unit, marched as a unit and camped as a unit. The century carried with it all the arms and accoutrements required to feed and maintain it as a fighting unit. Each man was responsible for carrying his own supplies, weapons, and several days worth of rations. The sight of these soldiers with heavy packs on their backs earned them the nickname, "Marius' Mules". This change drastically reduced the size of the baggage train required as support and made the army much more mobile. Between 2 and 6 legions clubbed together constituted an army. The legions were kept in peak physical condition and discipline by constant training, unmatched in the ancient world.

The third reform that Marius was able to introduce was legislation that offered retirement benefits in the form of land grants. Members of the head count who had completed their term of service would be given a pension by their general and a plot of land in the conquered region on which to retire. Officers and commanders were given monetary rewards that were 10–25 times greater than that of a common foot soldier.

Finally, Marius granted citizens of the Italian allies (Etruria, Picenum etc.) full Roman citizenship if they fought for Rome and completed a period of service in the Roman army.