Marian Reforms and their Military Effects DOCUMENTARY 

Sulla once said that he "saw many Mariuses in Caesar", so getting 1 Caesar t-shirt is like getting many Marius t-shirts: bit.ly/2RW5iMS Please, don't buy our merchandise, if you can't afford it and only buy, if you are using your own money.

But can Skillshare teach me how to bathe in the blood of my enemies and drive the barbaric horde from the gates of Rome?

Marian was also the uncle of Julius Caesar and fought in Africa against the Numidians.Historians often forget to mention that this helped Caesar defeat the Pompeian army in 47 B.E. in Africa because many cities still had strong feelings for Marian's family. Eventually, the army of Cato would be defeated and one year later, after a brief fight in Hispania against Gnaius Pompeius (the son of), the civil war was over...

I like how he used total war games for some visual aid. I'm a big fan of total war so I appreciate it.

Mods used in this video: -Divide et Impera -Celticus' Marian Romans HD (WIP) -Petellius' Particle enhanced -GEMFX Best wishes, Malay Archer

In italian we call them "I Muli di Mario"...the Mules of Mario, because his soldiers were not only fighters, but also engineers, sappers, builders and so on. The legionnaire myth starts from here.

Extra trivia: Marius was also responsible for the redesign of the Roman shield into the rectangular tower shields people associate with the Legion today. Prior to this, Roman shields were actually oval. Marius found that this was not conducive for being slung on the back on the march as the tips of the oval would bang the legionnaire on the back of the neck and the back of the ankles. Marius thus ordered the tips of the ovals to be removed for the next gen of shields resulting in the tower shields we associate with Roman infantry from then on until the empire's fall.

I was always furious when the Marian reforms took place in Rome Total War, and my beloved Triarii units became obsolete. =((( Thanks for helping me understand why this happened, 16 years later haha.

10:25 Cavalryman in the right bottom corner falls off his horse, then glitches back onto it.

Marius was an hugely important figure in Roman history as his complete overhaul of the army shows. Whenever Rome's very existence was threatened someone like Marius would invariably come along to right the ship so to speak. He wasn't related to Caesar by blood but by marriage, he was married to the sister of Caesar's father (Julia). When Julia died, Caesar's political career was in its infancy but he took the bold and potentially dangerous step of celebrating Marius's memory as well when he conducted her funeral. Sulla was right, there was indeed a lot of Marius in the young Caesar. Thanks for your wonderful efforts.

Gotta give it to Marius, he did a LOT in a very short amount of time. He's basically Rome's version of Phillip II. Can't wait to see more videos of his career :D

There are some notable mistakes here. 1: The Germans. This is arguably the most deeply entrenched myth of Marius. He did NOT reorganize the army as a result of the Germans. Marius' "reforms" actually took place in 107 BC when he was given command of the war against Jugurtha. Marius was not allowed to raise a new army for the war, but to seek replacements instead. To do this, he broke with the traditional recruitment pattern and sought men as volunteers from outside the normal manpower pool. When Marius took command of the war against the Germans, he disbanded his African army (Made from a mixture of his new volunteers and men raised in more traditional manners) and assumed command of the army of Publius Rutilius Rufus, as he considered them better trained and disciplined. Rufus had raised this army after news from the disaster at Arausio reached him, and brought in gladiatorial drill instructors to train his Legionaries. 2: A Standing Army. The Roman army of the Late Republic is best described as a semi-professional army. Legionaries did not have a fixed service time, and it was common for troops to be disbanded in short order after a campaign similar to previous times, though more and more men did also serve longer as professional soldiers and the army was certainly more permanent in nature now. The old Manipular system and the newer "Marian" army may have even existed side by side for some time, before the Legion organized around Cohorts became the norm. 3: Gaps In The Line. The Triplex Acies used by the Cohortal Legion still had wide intervals in it, and was arranged like a checkerboard. The first line had four Cohorts, while the next two had three. The Cohorts were not stacked directly behind one another, and as before gaps would remain even in battle with the formation. In the Triplex Acies, Roman units were meant to reinforce one another through the gaps in the battleline, not rotate between them. The Cohort was not a better tactical unit because it condensed the men more tightly together. 4: Smaller Things. The Romans did not suffer repeated defeats at the hands of the Gauls and Germans because the latter had better cavalry as is stated at one point, that simply never happened. The Pilum, while it could bend as recorded by Caesar, was not made from flimsy metal that just bent when it hit anything. It was entirely acceptable after all to use the Pilum as a close quarters weapon, as Caesar's Legions did at Pharsalus, 48 BC, and as Antony's Legions did against the Parthians in 36 BC, and in neither of these or future cases was this made harder by the Pilum bending. Legionaries at the time also did not wear greaves, or if so it wasn't as universal as depicted here. The Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus depicts Legionaries from this period, and none of them wear greaves. And these would be the most glaring errors at least. You might imagine I'm hating on the video if your reading this, but I'm not. Huge respects to Kings And Generals for their hard work on the page! However, mistakes are mistakes, and it is always good to correct them. I don't of course mean disrespect here or to discourage them from continuing what you do, just constructive criticism :) Roma Aeterna Est!

" Service Guarantees Citizenship , Would like to know more" ~ Marian

6:22 "Contubernium" meant "squadron of soldiers living on the same tent", and after the fall of Rome it has been used for people reuniting (or plotting).

RIP Velites, we'll miss you poor furry bastards.

I'm so surprised that the wolf didn't become the emblem of the Roman army considering that same animal played a crucial role in the story of the founding of Rome where Romulus and Remus were raised by a wolf.

Just when I thought I learned everything there was to learn about the Marian reforms, I learned that the eagle was chosen over 4 other animals to represent the legions power. That's amazing.

The Marian Reforms AKA the Roman Skillshare..

I like how Marius equipped his soldiers with Kings and Generals t-shirts 9:12. The most underrated reform.

From Barbaric Warbands to Greek style Hoplites, from Greek style Hoplites to Camillius style Legions, from Camillius style Legions to Marian Style Legions. The Roman army are somewhat similar to the German armies since 18th century until 20th century, they take what ever is necessary from the neighbours in order to evolve to counter the threats. Necessities is the mother of all inventions. （窮則變、變則通）

Marius was a military genius.His reforms basically converted a citizen army into a frightening,fully professional killing machine. Was often referred to as "the third founder of Rome."

Marian reforms is a classic example of revolutionary military thinking. Great video.

I believe Marius also redesigned the shield to its perpendicular shape, versus oval previously as part of the "carry your own gear" improvements, so that the shield would not hit the soldier in the back of the legs when marching with it on his back. Great video!

When you talked about the logistics of the legion and why so many non-combatants were needed. It reminded me of a War College saying. “A mobile and offensive fighting force can only maintain its offensive status only if the the 3 B’s are maintained. The 3 B’s are Beans, bullets and Bandages.

Nooo....not my beloved TRIARII. Bring them back!

Hello! It’s a me Mariu!

Video is excellent, provides a very decent summary of the Marian reforms, and the animations are top notch as usual for your videos, but it is far from perfect. The little imperfections that exist are actually grating to me, like the graphic design you have for Marius' soldiers wearing anachronistic lorica segmentata armor that didn't exist until the 1st century AD, more than a hundred years after the Marian reforms. Soldiers in his day wore either lorica hamata, lorica squamata, or muscled cuirasses.

An absolutely priceless presentation which distils the transformative complexities of the time into a clear, well researched and superbly presented brief that was refreshingly digestible. Bravo and well done young sir! Historians world wide living and dead smile at the whisper of your name. Michael Weeks a fan in San Antonio Texas.

I literally retained 90% of this information. This is how courses should be formatted.

This is a particularly good balanced presentation of the profound changes the Marian reforms worked to the previous organizations. For anyone interested,the novels of Colleen McCullough are the first I have read that really make the lives of Marius, Sulla, Caesar and others come alive. Historical novels that use Caesar as a character are a dime a dozen. Usually wooden or 1 dimensional. Not hers. A good adjunct to this. Well done.I like the stuff you put out. Cheers.

Damn how the hell he come up with this idea in a short time i guess he really learn a lot in experience from battles he fought the MARIUS MULE is a genius idea ta raise the quality of a soldier.. endurance and stamina is very important to a army till this DAY

The irony that you used post-Marian soldiers wearing Lorica Segmentata to portray pre-Marian soldiers.

Absolutely brilliant, very well done K&G, the most underrated channel on youtube!

Have never heard of this channel before. Really enjoyed the video and the historical knowledge I never learned at school. I subbed

This channel is pure gold. I just let the videos roll one after another. Fascinating stuff.

There's a great book by Colleen McCullough "The First Man in Rome" (first of the "Masters of Rome" cycle) I strongly recommend ...

Currently reading Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan, and it's cool that both of you give credit to other Roman officers who were also reorganizing the army alongside Marius.

This was a nice summary. I recommend Mike Duncan's'The Storm Before the Storm', which goes into more detail about Marius, Sulla, the Gracchi brothers and how the republic began to fall apart.

Absolutely love these videos. Short, sweet and to the point.

OMG OMG THANK YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH FOR FINALLY DOING THIS THE ART LOOKS ANAZING AHHHHHH

The Rome: Total War players coming in to see why the fuck they’re getting a notification about Marius changing their army for no reason

The reforms were a product of a declining recruitment pool because previous roman conquests had flooded the republic with slaves, therefore cheap labour and rich romans bought uncompetitive, bankrupt small farms and consolidated them in estates in order to make latifundia and land reform and land ownership was in steady decline. This resulted in masses of landless people and Marius was smart enough to realize that a standarized military unit with supplied equipment could be arranged using those people as manpower by quite an affordable amount since cheap slave labour and it was expected that soldiers would loot for themselves, with part going to the state, recouping some losses. A side note is since legionnaries were granted farmland plots in conquered territories, it helped to romanize conquests faster and garrisoned those lands with a caste of settler-soldiers, quite similar to the macedonian practice. On the less bright side, since the Senate never consolidated its power over the new standing army as an extension of the state in part due to the decentralized nature of the Roman Republic/Empire and they fought more for a sense of profit that of loyalty or defense of their own property, the decline and fall of Rome is indirectly a product of such reforms, in which frequent civil strife and wars were common.

You guys never cease to surprise me. These videos keep getting better and better

As always, a great summary of the salient and relevant factors underpinning the evolving Roman system from Republic to Imperial and how the army reforms played their critical role in the process. Excellent commentary without unnecessary fluff. Flaxen Saxon

I wish total war would implent a shield strength statistic to their games, it would be awesome seeing precursor ammo destroy an enemy's shields before combat, really cementing the fact why this was such a useful tool to the legions and other units giving them a distinct advantage.

I was going through your content just two days ago in hope of a vid on the marian reforms...thx a lot for this

Thank you. This is the first step in a series of events in Western History I enjoy very much. Marius, Sulla, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Licinius Crassus, Marc Anthony and finaly Augustus. I enjoy the high quality of the things you make.

This channel is such an inspiration for ours in terms of quality and consistency :)

*desire to purge gauls intensifies*

Hey Kings, you may want to look into the rank of Primus Prior, similar to that of the Primus Pilus (“First spear”) The rank of Primus Prior was that of the Centurion of the First century of each of cohorts, with the exception of the first. These men will have served as a centurion of their cohort before being considered for promotion to this position. These veterans would be responsible for the functionality of all men in the cohort, and would take orders, and distribute them to the centurions under his command. The Cohort also had the ability to be indivdual in battles and campaigns, or even postings to garrisons. Therefore the Primus Prior would be the senior officer present, and would therefore be responsible for all duties for the men under his command. Hope this helps

The goosebumps watching this video (waited for a long ago), would like to see a video about the lorica segmentata!!! NICE VIDEO like always!

Really enjoyable historical information. Clearly outlined. Well made. Thank you.

Yeah another Romans videos again 🤓

I had a surgery today,just came back home...watching this video made my day better.keep up with the good work

It's always a delight to see a new video from you.... Have a good week....

Thank you Your videos are really well researched and fun to watch

This is making me want to reinstall Rome - Total War.

Fun fact, Marius is still a popular name in Romania.

When used correctly, Roman military tactics were BOSS. I still never ceased to be amazed at the incredible feat Julius Caesar pulled off in the battle of Alesia.

Loved the artwork, great job as always

The person reading the script also reads the scripts for air crash investigations, I’ve heard his voice many times before

I saw that dad gum merch placement, you clever dog 9:12

This video presents these changes so clearly and simply that it is very easy to understand. Thank you for creating this video, I have learned some very valuable information.

Excellent video. I had always heard of the Marion reforms but this s the first time I’ve ever seen what they were. Really good job. I will check out more of this site.

Proletarians of the world unite! Marius-105BC

" The soldiers became conditioned by their heavy loads" - Kings and Generals, 2018

I have marathoned a lot of your content. Brilliant stuff!

You have the absolute perfect voice for this .

"I'll probably be out this toilet within thirty minutes or so." *Kings & Generals uploaded a video.* "...make that an hour."

Caesar is not only a *tactical genius* but also a *political master.* The entire time he was wining battle after battle in Gaul, *which btw he would hold the world record of pitched battles fought until Napoleon,* he was also out maneuvering his political enemies such as Cato the younger who are also brilliant. Caesar is a good candidate for the title of *genius* because in both aspects of life, *combat and political* he dominated his enemies. *Very few people have ever done this.* Not even Alexander can claim this.

I love the animation in this presentation! Subbed!

Your channel is indubitably the greatest

5:01 The Minotaur did the whip before us.

Elitist Attitudes have been the bane of many societies throughout History. Imagine if in 1775 the Colonies only allowed men of means to fight the British. The British were composed of impressed and poor in Rank and file and the men of means bought their commissions. If a poor man can dream of upward mobility you have a motivated soldier.

Ive been waiting for the marian reform video for ages

I have watched this video many times and never noticed the bloody ear and missing earring on Jugurtha, nice touch lol

6:18 the most personal unit wasn’t the contubernium. The contubernium was subdivided into 5 groups of two who did almost everything together!

Yes! Proper Latin pronunciation! I subscribed as soon as I heard it! Great video anyway!

Amo seus videos !! Grande Trabalho sempre !!

Great work, thanks for sharing...

12:35 What would be a more responsible payment/administration structure be for the new Legions?

> Martian reforms and their military effects I was dead certain this was an Expanse lore video

Amazing documentary! I had a presentation about this topic 2 days ago. Nice coincidence :) I am happy with that.

Was waiting for this video since the video about the Cimbrian war.

You get the strongest army to conquer the world, but at the cost of a Republic dying

Well, now I know I have to disband all Vellites from my armies in Rome II - Total War campaign after Marius reforms.

very awesome video. Keep up the good work!

i''m impressed with your knowledge and information...subbed..

What happened to the Velites who were disbanded? I mean the men themselves and their weapons and armor if their expertise was in skirmishing then how were they integrated in the new army? If not integrated what about the weapons and armor they bought to fight with?

Anyone else here play Rome total war? And thoroughly enjoying the Roman videos?😂

Really love these informative videos!

Love ❤️ this channel 👍🏾

Gotta say, Marius was a pretty cool... *GAIUS* I'm leaving now

İt's interesting that roman empire had semi-modern infrastructure before mediaval ages.

@Kings and Generals May I suggest you longer pauses between the sections of your videos? For example, between the summary at the beginning and main narration, or just before the sponsor. It really helps with the flow, in my opinion.

This is a very cool video, well done and well explained.

With well developed military organization and standardization, crossbowmen would have really fitted into roman legions. Imagine legions with crossbowmen, tightly packed, it would be a terrible enemy to deal with. Almost no weaknesses and nice counter to the later faced parthian horse-archers.

Thanks to Gaius Marius, the die is cast...

Great video like always

Hooray! I love this topic! Can't wait.