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<blockquote data-quote="Ysgarran" data-source="post: 156633" data-attributes="member: 709">The republican army was a militia army or an army of citizens.&nbsp; It wasn't until the time of Gaius Marius that Rome truly embarked on the fielding of a truly 'professional' army (and by professional I mean people who's first job was as a dedicated military man as opposed to a land owner). To me, this signaled the eventual downfall of the Roman empire since the other side effect of this was that the soldier now owed more allegiance to the general he served than to the state itself.&nbsp;&nbsp; Violence became the method of political change rather than the rule of law.&nbsp; Marius used many his soldiers from his Numidian command as enforcers and political toughs in Rome.&nbsp; I don't think Rome really had a choice in this since the size of the Roman republic meant that the citizen was now away from his lands for too long of a time. I was asking myself the other day if there was a way that Rome could have started fielding a professional soldier (as opposed to the citizen soldier) who owed more allegiance to state rather than the general he served.&nbsp;&nbsp; I am not sure how that could be done as long as the soldier was always payed through loot and the promise of land (the land when his enlistment was up).A very fun game, particularly if you are partial to either Roman history or a political game is:Republic of RomeA link on Marius.<a href="http://vassun.vassar.edu/~jolott/republic1998/marius/life.htm" target="_blank">http://vassun.vassar.edu/~jolott/republic1998/marius/life.htm</a></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ysgarran, post: 156633, member: 709"] The republican army was a militia army or an army of citizens. It wasn't until the time of Gaius Marius that Rome truly embarked on the fielding of a truly 'professional' army (and by professional I mean people who's first job was as a dedicated military man as opposed to a land owner). To me, this signaled the eventual downfall of the Roman empire since the other side effect of this was that the soldier now owed more allegiance to the general he served than to the state itself. Violence became the method of political change rather than the rule of law. Marius used many his soldiers from his Numidian command as enforcers and political toughs in Rome. I don't think Rome really had a choice in this since the size of the Roman republic meant that the citizen was now away from his lands for too long of a time. I was asking myself the other day if there was a way that Rome could have started fielding a professional soldier (as opposed to the citizen soldier) who owed more allegiance to state rather than the general he served. I am not sure how that could be done as long as the soldier was always payed through loot and the promise of land (the land when his enlistment was up). A very fun game, particularly if you are partial to either Roman history or a political game is: Republic of Rome A link on Marius. [url]http://vassun.vassar.edu/~jolott/republic1998/marius/life.htm[/url] [/QUOTE]

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