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==The career of Marius==

Gaius Marius was born about .157 BCE in Arpinium in central Italy. His family was of Equestrian status and they were very influential in the local district. They had important political connections in Rome, especially with the powerful Scipio family. Marius joined the Roman army at an early age and he was essentially a military man. He served under Scipio in Numantia and became a military tribune and later a quaestor. It appears that the Scipio family acted as the patrons of the young Marius and this greatly helped his career<ref>Holland, p. 113</ref>. Marius later married Julia the aunt of Julius Caesar. He later served as an officer in Rome’s war with the North African king Jurgutha. This war was to make the reputation of Marius as a soldier and a general. Marius was eventually given command of the army in the war against Jurgutha and he proved to be a charismatic leader with real military talent<ref>Plutarch. The fall of the Roman Republic (London, Penguin Books, 1987), p. 145</ref>. He developed a new strategy to deal with the king and soon captured him. During his time in North Africa, he began the first of his reforms of the military which were technically illegal. Marius was very concerned with the reluctance of citizens to enroll in the army and the declining number of recruits available to Rome <ref>Plutarch, p. 145</ref>. Marius was later elected one of Rome’s two consuls and he was elected to that office an unprecedented seven times. He was associated with the Populares and his policies were often informed by the need to help the urban and the rural poor. In 105 BCE, while he was consul he was sent to deal with a military threat from the far north. The Cimbri and Teuton tribes from modern Scandinavia were migrating towards the Mediterranean. They defeated a Roman army that was sent to repel them and they seemed to be on the verge of overrunning Italy and Rome. Marius was faced with a crisis there were simply not enough citizens to fill the ranks of the army<ref>Plutarch, p 145</ref>. It was at this time that he enacted radical reforms in the army and they became known as the Marian reforms. In 102 BC, the Germanic tribes, who had invaded Gaul, decided to launch a full-scale attack on Italy. Marius had thoroughly reformed the army, by this time. Fortunately, for Marius, the invaders split into two groups and this allowed the Roman general to annihilate them in separate battles. Marius had saved Rome and was the leading figure in Rome for some time. A Marius tried to introduce land reforms that would have benefitted the poor, but they were blocked by the Senate. He did not prove to be a capable politician, but he remained popular with the poor. Later he became involved in a series of civil wars with the Roman politician and soldier Sulla, leader of the aristocratic faction. Marius during the wars was able to seize Rome but was later expelled by Sulla. He later returned to Rome, while Sulla was in the east and took control of the city once again but died soon afterward in 86 BCE <ref>Plutarch, p 151</ref>.

==Marius Reforms==