The political agitation of which the Gracchi had been the leaders seemed to subside without having produced any essential change in the situation. The knights had learned how much they could accomplish by an alliance with the mob, and were likely to resort to such an alliance with them whenever the senators ignored their interests. The rabble also had learned that their poverty could be alleviated by the state, but that it was hopeless to look for support of the senate; henceforth they were ready at all times to support an attack against the nobles by any leader who could put himself at their head.
The knights, having gained what they wanted at the moment, were ready leave the government in the hands of the nobles until some new cause of opposition arose. Although the senate regained its dominant position, it had been greatly weakened by the loss of its control of the courts, and it had been taught by bitter experience the danger of a coalition between the knights and the populace. Accordingly no immediate attack was made on the equestrian juries or the Corn Law. In later times, the senate formulated a decree that the magistrates should see that the Republic suffered no harm howsoever; this amounted to a proclamation of martial law, and the magistrates whom it directed were clothed with all the powers of the old dictators who had been exempt from the veto of the tribunes and had possessed the power of life and death of all citizens. Not only were the colonies of Drusus quietly dropped, but the colonies projected by Gaius were also abandoned. The agrarian commission was soon abolished, and in 111BC a law, which practically made such land the property of those who then held it, settled the question of the public land. In the year of Gracchus’ death, a further step was taken in the development of the empire; Rome had become involved in a war with two powerful Gallic tribes, and had defeated both. Consequently, a road across Southern Gaul to Spain was built, and a settlement of new Roman veterans was established at AquaeSextiae to protect it, which led to the formation of anew province.
In fact, the senate had regained power with the help of the knights, and it was not long before a fresh break occurred between the two orders in connection with a war in Africa. At first, the nobles cared little about Jugurtha and the Numidian problem. When Juhgurtha – a barbarian king, captured the city Cirta, plundered and butchered a large number of Italian merchants who were settled there to protect it. The knights were furious at the fate of their fellow tradesmen, and
the populace was more than ready to join them in attacking the nobles and the senate who were still reluctant to go to war for they did not desire the annexation of Numidia, yet it must somehow be kept quiet and governed. The senate’s reluctance to engage in war with Jugurtha was quite intelligible; in Thrace, the barbarians were menacing Macedonia, having defeated the Roman armies were moving west to into Gaul where they were threatening now Rome’s newly acquired province.
When the knights and the populace were alike furious at the events bringing so much disgrace to Rome, the senate was compelled to prepare for war, and appointed Metellus – one of the consuls for 109BC and a partisan of the senate. With the support of the senate, he recruited an army choosing for his staff competent soldiers such as Marius rather than senators or diplomats, and set sail for Africa. Although Metellus launched his operations in Africa, he was unable to achieve any decisive victory, and the war seemed likely to drag on indefinitely. His failure to end the war disappointed the public expectations and provoked ugly suspicions.
People began to suspect that he was either incompetent or that he was letting the war drag on in order to retain his command while Marius was gaining popularity among the soldiers and the Roman traders in Africa. Realizing that there was a chance for him to gain the consulship, he succeeded in getting a furlough from Metellus, and returned to Italy, canvassed for the office successfully and elected in spite of the efforts of the senate.
He even succeeded in securing the quaestorship and tribuneship. After a year of his office in Rome, he was sent as proprietor to Further Spain where he found for the first time with an independent military command. Marius had early abandoned agriculture for business, and had invested money with a profit in equestrian syndicates, which may have led the knights to regard him as more or less one of them in spite of his senatorial rank.
During the interval between his election and the time when he could take over the Jugurthian war, he set about the task of recruiting his army, and sailed for Africa in 107BC. When Marius’ term as consul expired, he had apparently accomplished very little, but the senate, perhaps glad to be freed from all responsibility of war, continued him in command as proconsul.
Had it not been for the quaestor Sulla, the war would have continued for many years. When Marius had pressed Jugurtha so closely that the king had taken refuge with Bocchus, king of Mauretania, Sulla staking his life on success, went on a diplomatic mission to Bocchus and persuaded him to betray his ally, and the war ended with the capture of Jugurtha, and at least for the time being Marius received credit from Rome.
The Military Reforms of Marius
Before Marius, the Roman army was based upon conscription, which was applied theoretically to all citizens who owned a certain amount of property, though in practice the burden fell chiefly on the landowners and especially on the poor members of this class. Thus the majority of the Roman citizens who were serving in the ranks were small farmers forced by the state to exchange the plough for the sword. Marius abandoned this system and called for volunteers, and from this time on the new mode of recruiting prevailed.
It essentially altered the character of the army. The reluctant farmer disappeared; his place was taken by men who saw it as their only prospect of escape from poverty. Also, there were some who enlisted in the hope of adventure rather than of gain, but the economic motives were the dominant factor, and with the adoption of the volunteer system began the development of a professional army.
As long as the soldiers were taken from the propertied class and were expected to furnish their own equipment, there were inevitably distinctions in the service based on wealth. With the new type of recruits all such distinctions were abolished and nothing was expected of the men except themselves. They were taught the use of their weapons after they had volunteered, and the new training borrowed from the gladiatorial schools produced more skillful soldiers though it required a long time.
Marius also carried out in completing the reorganization of the legion which had already begun, and by which old maniples became less important while the cohort became the principal unit. The legion whose nominal strength was 6000 men, was divided into six centuries each under a centurion, and these centuries were further grouped into 10 cohorts commanded by legates of the general. Since the staff officers supplied by the military tribunes were mostly young men of the wealthier classes, they became less and less trusted with important military duties. The distinction between the higher and the lower officers was increased, and the common soldier had less and less chance of promotion beyond the rank of centurion.
Undoubtedly, these changes enhanced the efficiency of the army, but their main significance lay in the substitution of the volunteer for the landowner. Whether for good or evil, this had the most far reaching results; it freed the small farmer from a heavy burden which was becoming unbearable, and opened up a new source from which an abundant supply of recruits could be obtained without causing serious difficulty on any class.
There were in the Roman world two distinct kinds of proletariat. In the first place there was the urban rabble in Rome and other cities of Italy, without jobs and relying on the government for help them to live. In the country districts there existed another kind of proletariat made up of agricultural laborers, who in spite of slavery were still numerous so burdened by debt an on the verge of ruin. The aspirations of the new armies made it clear that the urban rabble furnished few recruits, but the most of the volunteers came from the rural proletariat.
Both classes therefore saw in the army the best means of securing what they desired, but were not disposed to rely upon their pay and their share of the booty, and the general in search of recruits found it necessary to offer other inducements, the most effective being the promise that when the army was disbanded, the soldiers should be further rewarded by an allotment of land. The allotments for the soldiers would require legislation, and the senators could raise objections on matters of details to any bill proposed or defeat it in the assembly through the power of their machine.
The soldiers therefore stood by their general, and once he had been commissioned by the state to raise an army, it was not impossible to take it from him, nor would his army hesitate to support him against the government if he could find a reasonable pretext for attacking it. If the army fell more than ever under the control of its general, the general in turn became a servant of his army. It was quite impossible for him to retire from public life when he had won the victory, and disbanded his soldiers, for he had still to redeem the promises by which he had gathered his recruits. Marius could not therefore escape his obligations to his men, but was forced by his military success to play a leading role in politics.