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I <3 Rome
A Roman General and seven-time [[consul]] who lived from 157 to 86 BC. He established a profesional army.
A Roman General and seven-time [[consul]] who lived from 157 to 86 BC. Full name Caius Marius, Marius was born as a plebian, making his rise to the consulship all the more remarkable: he was, in essence, the first [[novus homo]], or "new man," meaning plebian that rose the patrician ranks of his own skill.
He established a professional army, including instituting for the first time the use of the weapon known as the [[pilum]] - a thrown spear designed to shatter upon impact so that the enemy could not re-use it after thrown by a Roman legionnaire.
He also established the army as an institution more related to the individual general than the state, by for the first time personally rewarding his [[Roman veteran| veterans]]. In this sense, Marius is said to have "forged the sword that slew the state," in that he created the idea of a [[personal army]], which [[Pompey| Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]] and [[Julius Caesar]] would later use in the civil wars that led to the fall of the [[Roman Republic]].
After leading a successful military career, Marius, instead of retiring, attempted to become engaged in Roman political life by joining in the conflict between [[Sulla| Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] and the [[Roman Senate]]. The Greek historian [[Plutarch]] tells us that Marius was incredibly inept at politics, and uses his life in the book [[Parallel Lives]] as an example of what happens when a man stretches himself too far, and refuses to be content with his already-memorable legacy.
== References ==
Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives'', "Life of Caius Marius."