Roman Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Roman Civilization - Essay Example In addition, military leaders won considerable popularity among the people by their impressive victories and opposition to traditional senatorial government. The most telling examples of how an influential leader could ascend to the pinnacle of power, pushing into the background the other political institutions, are Marius with his 7 consulates, Sulla, eventually becoming a dictator, unlimited by time or by law; Crassus and Pompey, repeatedly achieving their consulate, and, finally, Caesar. The reform of the army, which became a fundamentally important aspect of Roman history started at about 107 BC during the war between Rome and the Numidian king Jugurtha. This war got a particularly scandalous publicity, since the enemy was so shamelessly bribing the senators that the decline of their authority led to the fact that the Roman army came under the command of Gaius Marius. To combat a powerful enemy for the first time in the history of Rome access to the army of volunteers was opened regardless of social class (the landless, impoverished city dwellers, etc.). Service in the army turned from an honorable duty into a profitable profession; soldiers received salary and were promised land. Organization of the army was improved (Marius introduced division of the legions to cohorts, each consisting of 3 maniples of 200 people), as well as command in general, technical equipment, etc. As a result, the Roman Republic got a well-organized professional army. On the other hand the army has turned into an independent social force with its own interests, needs and requirements. Military reform has laid the conditions for the extreme increase in power of individual military chiefs, as opposed to the weakening of central authorities, which lost the competence in military sphere, and along with it power functions: The acceptance into the army of persons who had few and eventually no roots in the State would have demoralizing consequences, and enable the generals of the first ce ntury to use their armies as though they were their own (Smith 63). Due to the elevation of individual political figures the inevitable structural changes took place in the state apparatus. In particular, a number of extraordinary and ordinary magistrates appeared which have received incomparable power. The role of a military leader increased manifold; and such leader was able to use the army as a weapon in the struggle for power in the state. As the first example of this we can consider the consulates of Gaius Marius, which were received in absentia, contrary to the republican tradition, almost continuously: in 107 and since 104 to 100 BC. Other examples include series of extraordinary powers given to Pompey since 78 to 52 BC, when he got an institutionalized by the Senate sole authority over the state. The anti-Senate forces, led by Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, known as the first triumvirate depended greatly on the army. Probably, the strongest influence of the army displayed itsel f in the civil war. The war that began in 49 BC was caused exclusively by the ambitions of the colonial emperor and his troops; though â€Å"Caesar stressed throughout the willingness of his troops to support his cause† (Keppie 103) it was not justified by any social or political programs. This was the conflict between the pretenders, each of whom found