Gaius Marius Research Paper

The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius. Bradley Berry

When we think of the great empires of the past, the one that probably influenced western culture the most, would have to be the Roman Empire. It was so large that at the height of it’s power, the Roman Empire encompassed all of the Mediterranean sea going as far north as Britain, and as far east as ancient Babylon. Many different people groups and cultures were affected by the Roman Empire. They built many great wonders, many roads to connect the empire, and achieved many great feats through the might of their Empire. All of these things were possible because of one reason, the Roman military was the most dominant, cohesive, brilliant fighting force the world had ever seen. The Roman army made every great accomplishment of the empire possible. But there was a time when the Roman Republic was not powerful at all. It’s military reflected that, it was a mere collection of land holders that would fight only when needed. There was no professional force to speak of. But as time progresses and the Roman Republic evolved, so too did her military. And this transformation was due to one man, Gaius Marius. Gaius took the Roman Army and radically changed every aspect of them. He created a full time, professional army of disciplined men. And organized them into the famous legions. Without the reforms of Gaius Marius, the great Roman Empire that we all know and have studied, never would have existed.

According to legend, the City of Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus. Who was one of the brothers that was raised by a she-wolf. The city was founded on the banks of the Tiber river in a place surrounded by seven hilltops. The city of Rome was quite weak in the beginning and they were soon co...

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...ms, you saw an important shift of loyalty. Whereas previously the troops had been more loyal to the City, now they were more loyal to their individual Generals. These troops would typically serve around 20 years under their generals and then retire to their lands. With these reforms, came the end of the Roman Republic, and the beginning of the Roman Empire.

So thanks to Gaius Marius’ reforms, the entire face of the world changed. It was because of him that we had the Roman Empire. And it was due to his brilliance that the Roman Legions were created. He single handedly changed warfare forever. People realised that the true power of Rome was with it’s Legions, and using those Legions is how Julius abolished a Republic, and how Augustus created an empire. All of this was due to Gaius, his military reforms are the reason that he is the true father of the Roman Empire.