How did Gaius Marius change the military?

Answer 1

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Answer 2

The military reform introduced by Marius in 107 BC, the Marian reforms radically transfomed the Roman army

Marius 1) abolished the property threshold for the draft, 2) made joining the army voluntary, 3) made the state pay for the military equipment, 4) standardised the military equipment which did away with the previous heavy infantry/light infantry division as all soldiers used the same weapons and armour, 5) established a career of 16 years (this was later extended to 20 years by Augustus), 6) introduced the cohort organisation of the legions, 7) introduced the issuing of a honesta missio to soldiers on discharge (a certificate which sanctioned the legal end of the service) and granted either an agraria missio, a pot of land to farm or a numnaria missio, a sizable lump sum of money (3,000 denarii under Augustus and increased by Caracalla to 5,000 denarii). This was also given to soldiers who were discharged early due to injury or illness (causaria missio) and soldiers who were discharged by their commanders (gratiosa missio). Soldiers who were discharged dishonourably (ignominiosa missio) did not receive anything.

Prior to the Marian reforms, the Roman army was a part time force of peasant farmers who were drafted during the military campaigning season and then went back to their farm. There was a property threshold to be eligible to the draft. Abolishing the property threshold made the army accessible to the landless poor and making the state pay for the military equipment made it affordable for them to join the army. The Marian reforms were a response to a serious shortage of eligible recruits. Now many of the landless poor joined the army wwould look after them, provide a career, a pay and the equivalent of a pension. Pay for soldiers had already been introduced in 405 BC. With joining the army being made voluntary, the military commanders often recruited soldiers for their campaigns themselves. They even paid the soldiers themselves privately. This made the soldiers loyal to their military commanders. It led to instances of commanders using the threat of military violence to obtain what they wanted from the state thanks to the loyalty of their soldiers. During the civil wars which ended up bringing down the Roman Republic, there were commanders in the opposing factions who recruited entire legions so that they could fight each other.

Marius also did away with the heavy and light infantry and standardised the equipment of the soldiers. He did away with the maniple military formation and created the cohort as the new basic tactical unit. The legion was made up of ten cohorts (cohort one to ten, with the first one as the most senior). A cohort consisted of six centuriae of 80 men each, making a total of 480 men with the same military equipment. This was relative because the size of the legions versed according to current military requirements and was at times undermanned. The centurieae were composed of Contubernia (singular contubernium) which had 8 legionaries and 2 auxiliaries (servants) share a tent and ate together. The previous basic tactical unit, the maniples had 120 men and were aligned in a chessboard formation with three lines of different with different types of equipment.

To increase the mobility of the legions and reduce reliance on baggage trains rains of mules, Marius made the soldiers carry their own equipment and several days' worth of supplies in a heavy rucksack and a shovel. Because of this the soldiers were nicknamed "Marius' mules."

Answer 3

Marius' changes to the military strengthened the Roman fighting forces. He eliminated the maniple and replaced it with the more efficient cohort which was divided into centuries. He invented the "break away" javelin. But most important he opened up the army to all men, instead of just to the wealthy, as it was previously. Poor men were willing to join because of the pay and other military benefits, thus supplying Rome with a force of men who wantedto be in the army instead of men who felt they had to be in the army.

Answer 4

Marius made several changes to the Roman army. For starters he got rid of the maniple system of fighting and replaced it with the more mobile cohort. He opened up the army to all citizens, not just those who could afford to arm themselves and he gave the poorer men steady pay and the promise of land at retirement. But the most important change Marius made was to give Rome a well trained, standing army. Because of the 15 year enlistment, the men remained in the army and did not disband at the end of each campaigning season as most ancient armies did (Rome included before Marius). This gave Rome a distinct advantage when the new campaigning season began as they had a well trained army ready to go.

Answer 5

Paid volonteers enlisted for terms up to 20 years.

Answer 6

Gaius Marius changed the military by enrolling volunteers in the army, most of the volunteers were unemployed, poor men.