What was most significant contribution that Gaius Marius made for ancient Rome?

Answer 1

Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and Teutones who invaded Gaul and threatened to invade Italy and had routed the Roman armies several times. He introduced reforms to the Roman army. He made joining the army voluntary. Previously only propertied farmers qualified for the draft. This was because the soldiers had to provide and pay for their military equipment themselves. Marius recruited volunteers form the landless poor in the city of Rome and equipped them himself. He introduced the award of a grant of a plot of land for discharged soldiers to farm as an incentive to volunteers to join. He also set the length of military service at 16 years. However, this did not materialise. The Romans did not establish a system of state-directed recruitment for volunteers. Military commander recruited their soldiers and then discharged them after a war. It was Augustus who established the professional standing army. He also increased the length of service to 20 years.

Marius also reformed the strucutre ofthe legions. He abolished the distinction between light and heavy infantry and gave all the soldiers the same equipment and weapons. He subdivided the legions into 10 cohorts, which made them more flexible. He got the soldiers to carry their food rations and camping equipment to reduce the baggage train, which had become overly long. Because of this the soldiers were nicknamed the Marian mules

Answer 2

Gaius Marius made many contributions to ancient Rome. Perhaps the most important of these was to create a professional army.