The Julian Paradox Movie

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Essay written by Kurt Otto Peterson.

Essay

Gaius Marius

He was born in 155BCE at a place called Arpinnum about twenty miles from Rome, the same place that Cicero came from. His family were country gentry but none of his relatives had so far shown any interest politics so when eventually he tried his luck with the Cursus Honorium he was considered a ‘New Man’ and this meant the odds were firmly against him having any real success. Against all the odds he became the most famous and successful soldier/politician until the time of Caesar.

He joined the army at perhaps 17 years of age and served under Scipio Africanus where he distinguished himself by winning many decorations for bravery, and it was at this time that his leadership and strategic qualities came to the fore.

His first political victory was in 119BCE when he was elected Tribune of the people, a post only available to the Plebeians and not the Patrician Romans. He was, because of his origins, considered a political lightweight, a country bumpkin. It took him many years but he was to prove them all wrong, not so much political acumen but his military brilliance..

In 115BCE he was elected Praetor, the second highest magistracy (the top job being the Consulate) but at the time it seemed that the top job would pass him by despite all his wealth.

All that changed however when he married a Julia of the Caesars. (The famous Caesar’s aunt). By all accounts the marriage was a successful one despite his being thirty or so years older than his 19 year old bride.

This marriage brought him into the centre of Roman politics and being connected through marriage to the Julian clan meant that he could no longer be ignored. However his real strength lay in his ability as a soldier. He served as senior Legate under several aristocratic commanders who all proved to be incompetents.

In Africa he became frustrated by the inefficiency of his commander in his conduct of the war against Jugurtha so when he eventually got his discharge he went back to Rome and was subsequently successful in gaining the command of the African war which he brought to a successful conclusion by having his second in command (Sulla) capture Jugurtha. With his capture the war in Numidia was brought to a swift and successful conclusion; so successful in fact that it was barely necessary to leave a Garrison there.

The real threat at this time was the Germans. They had annihilated every Roman army sent against them , mainly because the senate put only nobles and aristocrats in command of its armies rather than appoint men of real talent no matter what their background.

If the Germans were not stopped they would make their way to the Italian peninsula and to a Roman that was inconceivable. Fortunately the Senate realized that the writing was on the wall and, albeit reluctantly, allowed Marius to stand for the Consulship to which he was elected as Junior Consul. This gave him command of the war against the Germans whom he thrashed at Aqua Sextiae in 102BCE despite being outnumbered more than 3 to 1. This victory did not come overnight so as a result Marius was elected Consul five times consecutively, a feat unprecedented in Roman political history as under the law a man had to wait 10years after being Consul before he could again try for that office.

Marius revolutionized the Roman army at this time by allowing anyone to join. Previously only men with property were allowed to join the army. But Italy was so denuded of soldiers due to the incompetence of the previous Generals and their massive losses to the Germans that he had no choice but to open the army to the ‘Head Count’ and lower class landless citizens. He is also credited with many military innovations such as altering the Javelin so that when it was thrown it would bend on impact making it useless to the enemy. He may have also changed the design of the Legionary shield making it oblong rather than the traditional oval shape. He also turned his army from a slow moving cumbersome force to a ‘rapid reaction force’ by doing away with the huge baggage trains that slowed armies down so terribly. His legionaries carried everything they needed on their shoulders causing them to be known as Marius’ Mules, a nick name his men were justifiably proud of.

With the victory over the Cimbric Germans he was declared Father of His Country, Savior of Rome and Third Founder of Rome. In 100BCE he was Consul for the sixth time however he did not thrive in the political world of the senate and he made many mistakes. Perhaps he was too direct a man for the shadowy world of Roman politics with all its plotting and scheming or perhaps he was too accustomed to the authoritarianism of the army, whatever the reason , he was a far better soldier than he was politician.

He had command of an army during the ‘Social War’ against the Italian nations who at that time rebelled against Roman domination and he and Sulla were comrades in arms once again. It was at this time that he may have had his first stroke leaving Sulla in command.

In 88BCE he went to war against his former colleague Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the first in a series of civil wars the Romans were to endure for the next 50 or so years.

This war came about as a result of Rome taking up arms against Mithridates of Pontus who at the time was in an expansionist mood. Marius wanted this command for himself probably believing he was the only one who could beat him but he was getting old…too old for a command of this importance. Never the less he bypassed the senate and went directly to the people who still loved him dearly and as a consequence gave him the command he so desperately wanted. This caused Sulla to conclude a hasty peace with Mithridates so that he could return to Rome to salvage his position. It must be remembered that at this time the Consuls were always given command in wars whether they were competent or not. But Sulla was an extremely able General of troops so there was no justification for his removal from command and so he came to Rome to settle with Marius, his former commander and brother in law.

Marius was an old man by the standards of the time and he may have had a stroke so he would not have been the man he once was. He was bitter and resentful .He was defeated by Sulla’s veteran army and declared enemy of the people and outlaw with a price on his head. It is doubtful though that Sulla really wanted him dead, as his old commander was still much loved by the ordinary people because of the many laws he had introduced to their benefit and he likely didn’t much care about the old man as long as he stayed away from Rome and Italy.

But Marius came back and had himself elected Consul for the 7th time with Lucius Cornelius Cinna as his colleague. The bloodbath that he instigated against his countrymen was unprecedented; however he died a few weeks after being elected.

Marius had unwittingly changed forever the loyalty of the army. The army was the servant of the state and that was where its loyalty had always lain, but because he took in the poor men who could not even afford their own gear he became responsible for them at the campaigns end. He introduced a pension like scheme by giving the soldiers a plot of land after their service was complete since unemployed soldiers hanging around Rome could cause much trouble. It seemed like a good and reasonable gesture at the time, however before too long the troops gave their loyalty to their General. They looked to him for their rewards rather than the State and this gave Sulla the chance to march on Rome and instigate a blood bath of his own. Caesar too got extraordinary loyalty from his troops so that when he crossed the Rubicon his men cared not at all about the state or the illegality of Caesar’s move. Their loyalty they gave to Caesar alone.

Some years later when Octavian and Antonius bumped heads their troops were not so much fighting for Rome as for their Generals and their honour. Both men had to promise rich rewards to their troops in return for loyalty. This situation continued all through Imperial times with most Emperors having to almost bribe the troops for their loyalty; and if a situation arose where the army was dissatisfied with him then he was killed and quite often the army itself put their own man on the Imperial throne.

The army, and later the Praetorian Guards had become the real ‘King Makers’.

Without realizing it Marius had sown the seeds of Rome’s own destruction as is shown at the time just before Vespasian was declared Emperor by his army. At the time there were four or five Emperors and all commanders of Rome’s armies.

Of the 90 or so Emperors of Rome only eight or nine died of natural causes, most of the rest were murdered; some by rival claimants to the throne but most by either the army or the Praetorians as was the case for Caligula, Nero, Tiberius, Elagabalus and Commodus to name but a few.

So although well intentioned, Marius changed forever the balance of power in Rome without even realizing it and although his name is not mentioned much these days, he was a monumental figure in Roman history that brought about much reform both in politics and the army.
Gaius Marius died, possibly of a stroke in 86BCE.

The country bumpkin from Arpinnum outshone all his rivals… noble and Aristocrat alike. It is also worth mentioning that although as stated earlier, he was not really a political animal, never the less politics in Rome was never the same after him.