Professional standing army (Marian legion)
Ejército profesional permanente (reforma mariana de la legión)
- Date
- 107 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Rome, Italy
- Credited to
- Gaius Marius
- People
- 👤 Cayo Mario157 BCE–86 BCE
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A legion of paid volunteer proletarians equipped by the state, organised into cohorts, with 16-20 years of service, uniform training and land grants on discharge. An organisational technology that turns war into a profession.
The reform was gradual and partly predates Marius; the standing Assyrian and Persian (Immortals) armies are precedents.
What it led to
- Armies loyal to their generals: civil wars and the end of the Republic
- Systematic military engineering (camps, bridges, roads, sieges)
- Romanisation of the provinces by veteran colonists
- The model of the standing army of modern states
Built on
Made possible
- Roman imperial postal system (cursus publicus)c. 20 BCE
- Standardised Roman camp
- Veteran colonies
- Fortified limes (frontier)