The Marian Reforms. Thursday, Sep 4 2008
Uncategorized 3:09 pm
Methods of Investigation: Tuesday, Aug 26 2008
Uncategorized 12:13 pm
My forms of research encompass a wide variety of methods through which one can access the information and analyse it for historical importance in relation to my Question. Predominantly, my sources are mostly in print form but in some cases the information can be accessed through past multimedia presentations and power-point presentations. The latter is very useful when looking at the tactical changes the Roman military experienced and how these changes affected the quality of Rome’s fighting force.
My method of reading and interpreting information encompasses selective reading. For example in the case of the Historical study within Michael Crawford’s The Roman Republic, it would be utterly useless to read the entire book as the only section required is the one specifically dealing with the military history of the Republic. Selective reading and the wholesale interpretation of that reading offer me with a plethora of historical information.
Outside influences for the aid of my research include libraries, academic journals and websites. The first being most useful for the attainment of reference materials, this coupled with my personal collection of Historical works offers a large range of reference material. Academic Journals within the library essentially offered me past trains of thought that researchers possessed when dealing with the Marian reforms. Unfortunately the journals were limited in number and thus did not include any research methods on my specific topic. Finally websites as cited before in my source list offers large chunks of information, which must be sifted through to have any relevance to my research task. It is, as a side note, unfortunate that most of this information does not correlate closely with my printed sources, ie books, articles, and thus one must be stringent in their assessment of information and the quality of work posted. The actual nature of Internet sources was one of the problems I faced with my source assessments. The quality, relevance and at times truth behind the internet sources had to be continually cross referenced with my printed material which made the research behind the project all the more difficult.
An Assessment of the sources at hand Tuesday, Aug 26 2008
Uncategorized 11:41 am
Primary: Plutarch’s Lives, Arthur Clough.
The main inherent problem faced with the overall topic of Marius is the lack of Primary sources. Other than Plutarch Marius’ name appears rarely in other classical works, even then in extremely small sub sections or in a passing reference. Plutarch gives a very broad overview of the revolutionary military leader with fine and specific details. Unfortunately even Plutarch deemed Marius’ life somewhat overshadowed by the other biographies within the book and therefore does not offer a parallel analysis of Marius to another leader. Despite the aforementioned problems the source itself offers a lot in terms of material and personal biographical data. Specifics of Marius’ military experience, for example take up a large chunk of the first half of Plutarch’s recount. Overall Plutarch offers much in terms of finer details, such as early years and the education Marius received, this will be helpful when detailing the influences Marius had to reform the armies of Rome.
Secondary: The Roman Republic, Michael Crawford.
Crawford offers a broad history of the Roman Republic and the early years of Rome’s conversion to an imperial state. The topic of Rome’s military is packed with an academic assessment of Marius’ reforms and what long term effects the latter had on the very nature of Rome itself. The problems faced with the source is the fact that it is not a specific study of the Roman army and therefore offers little in terms of historical assessment when compared to the rest of the book.
Secondary: The Roman Army, Peter Connolly
This rather large and specific work offers researchers with fine details about the Roman Army, from its founding roots to the end of the Empire. The Marian reforms takes up a hefty section of the book and offers much in terms of changes in military tactics and the effect the latter had on Rome’s enemies. The main shortcoming of the source is not in the quality of the information provided but on the method in which it is analysed. In essence the source offers a large index of information specifically on the Roman Army but fails to offer any historical evaluation of the information presented. Much like the Vegetius methodology of historical recount the book simply offers large chunks of information with little to no historical evaluation.
Gaius Marius-Background Wednesday, Aug 13 2008
Uncategorized 4:27 am
In order to fully comprehend the nature of the Marian reforms one must first delve into the finer details the Marian reforms dealt to the Roman armed forces. From a broad standing the Marian reforms were revolutionary in that it was able to form the basis for the establishment of permanent, standing army. In terms of personality Gaius Marius himself did not seem to possess the qualities of one who would radically transform the Roman Army. Again, for one to fully understand the nature of the Marian reforms they must also delve into the personality behind the reforms and the motivations of that personality to make the changes that would influence the basis of an Empire.
Marius throughout his life stated that his roots were established around laborers. Contrary to the most common held idea the Marius family was largely influential around the local area of Arpinum. From an early age Marius was exposed to the Roman Military, his particular province being located within proximity to a Roman garrison. Plutarch reiterates this in his writings about Marius in his biographical compilation titled “The Parallel lives”: “He was born of parents altogether obscure and indigent, who supported themselves by their daily labor; his father of the same name with himself, his mother called Fulcinia. He had spent a considerable part of his life before he saw and tasted the pleasures of the city; having passed previously in Cirrhaeaton, a village of the territory of Arpinum, a life, compared with city delicacies, rude and unrefined, yet temperate, and conformable to the ancient Roman severity.”
Marius finally realized his aspirations and joined the Roman Army as a junior officer. His first and longest assignment was as a garrison commander in Roman Hispania, specifically in the Iberian Peninsula. By age 34 (123 BC) Marius was offered the political position of Quaestor, officially beginning his political career. Marius was usually considered an alternative to the more powerful and thus corrupt Roman elite, who used their influences to intimidate voters. As a result Marius acquired little to no support from the Roman elite and his attempts to rise within Roman political circles were always met with failure. A turning point in Marius’s flailing political career was his betrothal to Julia Caesar, member of the prominent Julii Family. With this Marius gained access to exclusive military and political circles and have an influence on his former enemies within the elite.
By 109 BC Marius’s influence had gained him the position of Chief Subordinate to consul Quintus Numidicus during the Jugurthine War. The latter had already been waged for 4 years with no headway and as a result corruption, bribery and the overall lack of motivation to fight was rampant across the Roman units. In 108 BC Quintus Numidicus was summoned to Rome for his political promotion. Knowing Marius’s immense competency as a military leader, Numidicus appointed Marius as the head Legate for the Jugurthan Campaign.
Under his command the Roman Legions in Numidia made immense headway. At the Battle of Thala for example Marius was able to hinder the advantages of the Numidian war elephants and route the main of King Jugurtha’s army.
In 104 BC Marius returned from triumphantly with King Jugurtha at his knees. Marius had been promoted in absentia to the position of Consul and was given charge of Rome’s northern frontiers and small sections of south Roman-Gaul.
Outline and analyse the impact the Marian Reforms had for the Roman army and Republic. Thursday, Jul 24 2008
Uncategorized 11:12 am
Marian Reforms Thursday, Jul 24 2008
Uncategorized 11:11 am
The Marian reforms revolutionised the concept and creed of the Roman army. Prior to the 2ndCentury BC the army was made up of almost every walk of Roman life, class distinctions were at a low and most joined the army to escape from the strict boundaries of Social class. The Marian reforms, named so after the man behind the reforms Gaius Marius, set to improve the status of Rome’s standing army and further instigate a larger internal volunteer corp. The catalyst of these changes was the epic defeat the Romans suffered at the Battle of Noreia in 113 BC, the specific Battle was a route in which a Roman unit of 200,000 lost 20,000 to the battle. Furthermore an extended war in North Africa led to a stalemate situation against Numidia in which no headway was made. Marius served as a legate to Council Metellus, the Roman responsible for the conquest and defeat of Numidia. Marius observed that most frontline Roman units were almost completely made up of citizen militias. In essence Rome did not possess a strong permanent army and whenever the clouds of war threatened Roman general or council was required to raise a standing unit from the citizenry of the state. Most of these un-eager recruits were hastily trained and lacked any experience to confront an enemy armed force. One can safely say that the these units were the Ancient equivalent of cannon fodder, a simple unit of armed men in existence to simply be thrown in the direction of the enemy force.
Marius’s reforms forced the senate to raise an army of professional, full time soldiers, a defence force in times of both war and peace. After much debate at Senate level the grant was given to raise these suggested armies. Within three years Marius did away with the average frontier or Town watch and modified the role into a standing garrison. These units, each with approximately 5,000 to 6,000 men, were to be the precursors to the Roman Legions.
Primary Source:
Plutarch’s Life of Gaius Marius (Content within Plutarch’s Parallel Lives).
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_plutarch_cmarius.htm
Secondary Source:
http://www.unrv.com/empire/gaius-marius.php
http://janusquirinus.org/essays/Apollo/Background/MS1.html
Michael Crawford’s “THE ROMAN REPUBLIC”, Humanities press, 1978.
Peter Connolly’s “THE ROMAN ARMY”, Macdonald Educational press, 1975.
Plutarch’s Lives: The Dryden Edition by Aurthur Hugh Clough, Everyman’s Library, first published 1971.
http://www.germannotes.com/archive/article.php?products_id=677
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/it_rome.html
