Did Diocletian overhaul the Roman army? (original) (raw)

Caesar's Legacy: Claudius and the Roman army

Ancient Warfare, 2020

When we think of the great military emperors of Rome, Augustus and Trajan are the first names that spring to mind. The ancients themselves also credited Hadrian with taking a particular interest in the army, but it is surprising to learn that Claudius, an apparently unmilitary emperor, may have been responsible for some far-reaching reforms: in military service, on the frontiers, and in the issuing of military diplomas. (Illustrated with a fine painting by Mateusz Przeklasa.)

“Warfare, Reform, and the Rise of the Warlord: The Changing Roman Republic and Its Fall.”

When one thinks of the fall of the Roman Republic, names such as Caesar, Pompey, Antony, and Octavian leap to mind. Yet the devastating civil wars between 49-31 BCE that brought the Republic to its knees had far deeper roots. In order to understand the political and military opportunities that ultimately led to the rise of Augustus and the beginning of the Roman Empire, we must go back almost two hundred years to the Second Punic War in the late third century BCE. It was during the Hannibalic War that Rome first became militarily involved in the Iberian Peninsula. This commitment would prove daunting and arduous, breaking down the traditional Roman military recruitment system. The traditional military system of a Roman army of landed citizen soldiers continually became less achievable as the pool of available candidates dwindled under the pressures of long foreign wars and loss of property. Faced with this lack of qualified soldiers, an ambitious statesman named Marius enacted radical military reforms that would make Roman soldiers beholden to the desires of their generals over the traditions of the state. A powerful “warlord culture” quickly developed in the first century BCE, which ushered in the climactic events of the final fall of the Roman Republic. Although we can attribute a combination of numerous intricacies found outside of the following major points to the failure of the Roman Republic, this paper argued that the consequences of Roman involvement in Spain, the ramifications of Marius’ reforms, and the rise of the warlord culture at Rome were the three main factors that transformed Roman republicanism and allowed for the founding of Augustus’ empire. Annual Mid-American Conference on History at Missouri State University, September 2012.

The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in their Social, Economical, and Political Context

Director of Thesis: Dr. Frank E. Romer Major Department: History The goal of this thesis is, as the title affirms, to understand the military reforms of Gaius Marius in their broader societal context. In this thesis, after a brief introduction (Chap. I), Chap. II analyzes the Roman manipular army, its formation, policies, and armament. Chapter III examines Roman society, politics, and economics during the second century B.C.E., with emphasis on the concentration of power and wealth, the legislative programs of Ti. And C. Gracchus, and the Italian allies’ growing demand for citizenship. Chap. IV discusses Roman military expansion from the Second Punic War down to 100 B.C.E., focusing on Roman military and foreign policy blunders, missteps, and mistakes in Celtiberian Spain, along with Rome’s servile wars and the problem of the Cimbri and Teutones. Chap. V then contextualizes the life of Gaius Marius and his sense of military strategy, while Chap VI assesses Marius’s military reforms in his lifetime and their immediate aftermath in the time of Sulla. There are four appendices on the ancient literary sources (App. I), Marian consequences in the Late Republic (App. II), the significance of the legionary eagle standard as shown during the early principate (App. III), and a listing of the consular Caecilii Metelli in the second and early first centuries B.C.E. (App. IV). The Marian military reforms changed the army from a semi-professional citizen militia into a more professionalized army made up of extensively trained recruits who served for longer consecutive terms and were personally bound to their commanders. In this way these reforms created an army which could be used against other Roman commanders or the city itself. Military eligibility was no longer exclusive to landowners, and the capite censi had new opportunities for spoils and social and political advancement. Marius’ reforms were not completely novel, but the practices that he introduced he also cause to be established as standard operating procedure. He implemented these reforms in a time of crisis, and subsequently the extraordinary military careers of both Marius and Sulla acted to preserve his measures and to move the army far down the road of professionalization. What I have shown in this thesis is the larger economic, social, and political context which formed the background and provided the incubator in which Marius’ reforms were generated and developed. Once Marius crystallized his ideas and put them in place, the stage was set for Sulla and the new kind of military action that would seal the fate of the Republic.

The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in their Social, Economic, and Political Context

2015

The goal of this thesis is, as the title affirms, to understand the military reforms of Gaius Marius in their broader societal context. In this thesis, after a brief introduction (Chap. I), Chap. II analyzes the Roman manipular army, its formation, policies, and armament. Chapter III examines Roman society, politics, and economics during the second century B.C.E., with emphasis on the concentration of power and wealth, the legislative programs of Ti. And C. Gracchus, and the Italian allies’ growing demand for citizenship. Chap. IV discusses Roman military expansion from the Second Punic War down to 100 B.C.E., focusing on Roman military and foreign policy blunders, missteps, and mistakes in Celtiberian Spain, along with Rome’s servile wars and the problem of the Cimbri and Teutones. Chap. V then contextualizes the life of Gaius Marius and his sense of military strategy, while Chap VI assesses Marius’s military reforms in his lifetime and their immediate aftermath in the time of Sull...

The Army of the Early Roman Republic: A fresh approach

This short article takes a fresh approach to untangle Livy's two 'snapshots' of the early Roman Republican army supposedly c.550 BC; and 340 BC and resolves interpretation of 'rorarii' and 'accensi' in the latter and points to anachronisms in the former as described by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus