4 – Gaius Marius (157 – 86 BC)
Gaius Marius was one of the greatest Roman generals and is responsible for organizing the Roman army into one of the world’s most efficient fighting machines. He was also a noted statesman and held the office of consul on seven separate occasions. Marius was born in Arpinum in 157 BC and was solely a military man for the first half of his life. He was an excellent soldier and fought bravely in Numantia in 134 BC, but Marius was a poor public speaker and showed no flair for politics.
He became Praetor in 115 BC after offering heavy bribes and was almost condemned in court for this action. Throughout his career, Marius was a breaker of tradition. When he was elected consul in 108 BC, he tried to use his standing to take command of the army in Africa. This was an unlawful action because, at that time, only the Senate had this power.
Marius once again broke tradition when it came to recruiting new forces for the fight in Africa, and by doing so, he helped created an excellent fighting unit. Typically, soldiers were enlisted from the landowning classes, but Marius chose to offer the job to Rome’s poorer residents. It was a brilliant decision as these hungry men jumped at the chance of employment and the promise of adventure, glory, and plunder. Incidentally, it was also Marius’ idea to reward veterans with plots of land.
Finally, he introduced new training methods and created an enormous professional army; Marius’ achievement was to lay the foundation for Roman dominance in the next few centuries. In 105 BC, the new look Roman army ended the war in Numidia, but Marius was needed to handle the marauding Germanic tribes. Although Roman manpower had increased, it was the improved discipline that helped them defeat the Teutones in 102 BC and the Cimbri in 101 BC.
In 100 BC, Marius brought the army into Rome to quell an outbreak of violence. It was a historic move as it showed that no one could rule Rome without the support of its army. Marius was then involved in a mess with the Tribune Saturninus who passed some agrarian laws to provide land for soldiers. These reforms had Marius’ support, but Saturninus’ proposals were opposed, so Marius jumped on the bandwagon and had the Tribune arrested. In 99 BC, Saturninus was murdered by a mob despite Marius assuring him that he would not be harmed.
Marius left Rome after this debacle but returned during the Social War of 91 BC. He was angry when Sulla was given command of the Roman force in Numidia and tried to have the army transferred to him. Sulla returned to Rome with an army and declared Marius a public enemy. Marius fled Rome but raised more troops while in Africa and returned to march on the city with the aid of Cinna. When Cinna took Rome in Sulla’s absence, Marius was re-elected as a consul in 86 BC but died just 17 days after taking office.