Gaius Marius'un Hayatı ve Askerî Reformları

Abstract

In the process from the emergence of Rome as a city-state to its being the Mediterranean Empire, Roman military forces were shaped in line with changing conditions and new requirements. The army, which was initially composed of irregular warrior groups and farmer citizen forces, began to weaken and became inadequate as Rome started to expand and struggled with other forces of the period and the conflicts turned into long-lasting wars. In this period, the serious threats of the 'barbarians' to Rome, the catastrophic defeats of the Roman Army in the field, the chronic issue of Numidia in Africa, and the unstable policy pursued against King Jugurtha caused the political, social and military crises in Rome to deepen. In addition, the divisions between political factions and economic problems led to the beginning of a new era that witnessed the rise of military-based leaders who received the support of the people. Undoubtedly, Gaius Marius was one of the leading names in this new period with his military skills. Marius advanced in his career in the Roman political arena with his success in the military field and eventually secured himself an extraordinary position. General Marius, who was one of the most reformist commanders of the Roman army, introduced a series of reforms related to issues such as recruitment, equipment, deployment and training of Roman legions between 107-101 B.C. Although these reforms had a profound effect on the Roman army, the detailed examination of the reforms has often been neglected and the reforms have not been investigated in a detailed manner. Thus, this study aims to explore the place and effect of Marius reforms in Roman history from a broader perspective based on both primary and secondary/modern sources.