Speaker 1: Section eight of the Grachy Marius and Sulla by A. H. Beasley.
Speaker 1: This librovox recording is in the public domain. Read by Pamelinagami,
Speaker 1: Chapter six the Roman Army. While Rome was trembling for
Speaker 1: the issue of the war with the Kimbri, she was
Speaker 1: forced to send an army elsewhere. There was at this
Speaker 1: time another general stir among the slave population. There were
Speaker 1: risings at Neucaria, at Capua, in the silver mines of Attica,
Speaker 1: and in Turie, and the last was headed by a
Speaker 1: Roman equois named Minutius or Whetdius. He wanted to buy
Speaker 1: a female slave, and, failing to raise the money which
Speaker 1: was her price, armed his own slaves, was joined by others,
Speaker 1: assumed the state and title of king, and fortified a camp,
Speaker 1: being at the head of thirty five hundred men. Lucullus
Speaker 1: the pratur marched against him, worth four thousand, four hundred men,
Speaker 1: but though superior in numbers, he preferred Jugurthine tactics and
Speaker 1: bribed a Greek to betray Whttius, who anticipated Oer's fate
Speaker 1: by suicide. But as before, the fiercest outbreak was in Sicily.
Speaker 1: Marius had applied for men for his levies to Nicomedes,
Speaker 1: King of Bithynia, who replied that he had none to send,
Speaker 1: because the Roman Publiicani had carried off most of his
Speaker 1: subjects and sold them as slaves. Thereupon, the Senate issued
Speaker 1: orders that no free member of an allied state should
Speaker 1: be kept as a slave in a Roman province. Publius
Speaker 1: Licinius Nerva, governor of Sicily, in accordance with these orders,
Speaker 1: set free a number of sicily and slaves, But worked
Speaker 1: on by the indignation of the proprietors, he backed out
Speaker 1: of what he had begun to do, and, having raised
Speaker 1: the hopes of the slaves, caused an insurrection by disappointing them.
Speaker 1: He suppressed the first rebels by treachery, but he was
Speaker 1: a weak man and delayed so long in attacking another
Speaker 1: body near Heraclea, that when he sent the lieutenant to
Speaker 1: attack them with six hundred men, they were strong enough
Speaker 1: to beat him. By this success, they supplied themselves with
Speaker 1: arms and then elected Salvius as their king, who found
Speaker 1: himself at the head of twenty thousand infantry and two
Speaker 1: thousand horse. With these troops, he attacked Morgantia, and on
Speaker 1: the governor coming to relieve it, turned on him and
Speaker 1: routed him, and by proclaiming that anyone who threw down
Speaker 1: his arms should be spared, he got a fresh supply
Speaker 1: for his men. Then the slaves of the west rose
Speaker 1: near Liullis Baium, headed by Athenian, a Solici robber captain
Speaker 1: before he was a slave and a man of great
Speaker 1: courage and capacity, who pretended to be a magician and
Speaker 1: was elected king. Salvius took the name of Trifon, a
Speaker 1: usurper of the Syrian throne. In one forty nine, Athenion,
Speaker 1: deferring to his authority, became his general, and Triocala, supposed
Speaker 1: to be near the modern Calata Belota, was their headquarters.
Speaker 1: In some respects, this second slave revolt was a repetition
Speaker 1: of the first. As the Solici cleons submitted to the
Speaker 1: impostor Eunus, who called himself Antiochus, so now the Solici
Speaker 1: Athenian submitted to the impostor Salvius, who called himself Trifon.
Speaker 1: The outbreak had probably begun in one O five, but
Speaker 1: it was not until one O three that Lucullus, who
Speaker 1: put down Whetius, was sent to Sicily with sixteen hundred
Speaker 1: or seventeen hundred men. Trifon, distrusting Athenion, had put him
Speaker 1: in prison, but he released him now, and at Scirtaia
Speaker 1: a great battle was fought, in which twenty thousand slaves
Speaker 1: were slain, and Athenian left for dead. Lucullus, however, delayed
Speaker 1: to attack Triocala, and did nothing more unless he destroyed
Speaker 1: his own military stores in order to injure his successor,
Speaker 1: Gaius Servilius, to say that if he did so, such
Speaker 1: mean treason could only happen in a government where a
Speaker 1: place depends on a popular vote is a random criticism,
Speaker 1: for though nominally open to all, the consulship was virtually
Speaker 1: closed except to a few families, which retained now as
Speaker 1: they had always done, the high offices in their own hands.
Speaker 1: And when Marius forced this close circle, Metellus is said
Speaker 1: to have acted much as Lucullus did. Servilius was incapable. Athenian,
Speaker 1: who at Trifon's death became king, surprised his camp and
Speaker 1: nearly captured Messana, but in one o one Marcus Aquilius
Speaker 1: was sent out an defeated Athenian and slew him with
Speaker 1: his own hand, a batch of one thousand still remained
Speaker 1: under arms, but surrendered to Aquilius. He sent them to
Speaker 1: Rome to fight with wild beasts in the arena. They
Speaker 1: preferred to die by each other's swords. There Sityrus and
Speaker 1: one other was left blast, and Styrus, after killing his comrade,
Speaker 1: slew himself. The misery caused in Sicily by this long war,
Speaker 1: which ended in one hundred BC, may be estimated by
Speaker 1: the fact that whereas Sicily usually supplied Rome with corn,
Speaker 1: it was now desolated by famine, and its towns had
Speaker 1: to be supplied with grain from Rome. After this narration
Speaker 1: of the military events of the period to the beginning
Speaker 1: of the second century b C. It is natural to
Speaker 1: consider the changes which Marius had effected in the army
Speaker 1: the instrument of his late conquests. We cannot tell how
Speaker 1: many of thenations now introduced were initiated by him, but
Speaker 1: they were introduced about this date. Before his time. The Hastati, prinkipase,
Speaker 1: and triarii, ranked according to length of service, had superseded
Speaker 1: the servian classes. From his time. This second classification also ceased.
Speaker 1: Every legionary was armed alike with the heavy pelum, an
Speaker 1: iron headed javelin six feet nine inches long, the light pelum,
Speaker 1: a sword, and a coat of armor. Besides these, he
Speaker 1: had to carry food and other burdens which would vary
Speaker 1: according to the lengthen object of the march, such as
Speaker 1: stakes for encampment tools in et cetera. Marius invented what
Speaker 1: was called mariani muli to ease the soldier, forked sticks
Speaker 1: with a board at the end to bear the bundle
Speaker 1: carried over the shoulders. Before his time, the army had
Speaker 1: ceased to be recruited solely from Roman citizens. Not only
Speaker 1: had Italians been drafted into it, but foreign mercenaries were employed,
Speaker 1: such as Thracians, Africans, Ligurians, and Baalierians. After his time,
Speaker 1: the veltes are not mentioned, and all the light armed
Speaker 1: troops were auxiliaries. Before his time, the manipole had been
Speaker 1: the tactical unit. Now it was the cohort. A legion
Speaker 1: consisted of ten cohorts, each cohort containing three manipoles, and
Speaker 1: each manipole two centuries. The legion's standard was the eagle,
Speaker 1: borne by the oldest centurion of the first cohort. Each
Speaker 1: cohort had its signum or ensign. Each manipole had its vexillium,
Speaker 1: or standard. There were two centurions for each manipole, one
Speaker 1: commanding the first and the other the second century, and
Speaker 1: taking rank according to the cohort to which they belong,
Speaker 1: which might be from the first to the tenth. The
Speaker 1: youngest centurion officered the second century of the third maniple
Speaker 1: of the tenth cohort. The oldest officered the first century
Speaker 1: of the first maniple of the first cohort, and was
Speaker 1: called primus pilas, and the premi ordinas, or first class
Speaker 1: of centurions, consisted of the six centurions of the first cohort.
Speaker 1: These corresponded to our non commissioned officers, were taken from
Speaker 1: the lower classes of society and were seldom made tribunes.
Speaker 1: The tribunes were six to each legion, were taken from
Speaker 1: the upper class, and, after being attached to the general suite,
Speaker 1: received the rank of tribune if they were supposed to
Speaker 1: be qualified for it. The tribunes were originally appointed by
Speaker 1: the consuls. Afterwards they had been elected partly by the
Speaker 1: people and partly by the consuls. Caesar superseded the tribunes
Speaker 1: by legati of his own to one of whom he
Speaker 1: would entrust a legion, and appointed some, but probably not all,
Speaker 1: of the tribunes and Marius, it seems likely did the same.
Speaker 1: The normal number of the legion had been forty two
Speaker 1: hundred men and three hundred horse, but was often larger.
Speaker 1: The pay of a legionary was in the time of
Speaker 1: Polybius two opals a day for the private, four for
Speaker 1: the centurion, and six for a horse soldier, besides an
Speaker 1: allowance of corn, but deductions were made for clothing, arms,
Speaker 1: and food, hence the law of Caius Gracus. But from
Speaker 1: the first book of the Annals of Tascitus we find
Speaker 1: that such deductions long continued to be the soldier's grievance.
Speaker 1: Auxiliary troops received an allowance of corn but no pay
Speaker 1: from Rome. The engineers of the army were called fabri
Speaker 1: under a prefectus, the filignari e having the woodwork, and
Speaker 1: the fabri ferrari e the iron work of the engineery
Speaker 1: under their special charge, and all were attached to the
Speaker 1: staff of the army, which consisted of the general and
Speaker 1: certain officers, such as the legati or generals of division,
Speaker 1: and the christ doors or managers of the Commissariat. One
Speaker 1: of the most significant changes that had sprung up of
Speaker 1: late years was one which was introduced by Scipio Eimilianus
Speaker 1: at Numantia, the institution of a bodyguard or cohors prietoria.
Speaker 1: It consisted of young men of rank who went with
Speaker 1: the generals to learn their profession, or as volunteers of
Speaker 1: troops specially enlisted for the post, who would often be
Speaker 1: veterans from his former armies. The term evocati was applied
Speaker 1: to such veterans strictly, but also to any men specially
Speaker 1: enlisted for the purpose. It is probable that the ecoquitase
Speaker 1: no longer formed the cavalry of a legion, but only
Speaker 1: served in the general's bodyguard, as tribunes and prefects, or
Speaker 1: on extraordinary commissions. The cavalry in Caesar's time appears to
Speaker 1: have consisted entirely of auxiliaries. There had been, for a
Speaker 1: long time among the wealthier classes a growing disinclination for service,
Speaker 1: and as the middle class was rapidly disappearing, there had
Speaker 1: been great difficulty in filling the ranks. The speeches of
Speaker 1: the Gracchi alluded to this, and it had been experienced
Speaker 1: in the wars with Viriathus, with Jugurtha, with trifon, and
Speaker 1: with the kimbri one device for avoiding it. We have
Speaker 1: seen by the orders issued to the captains of ships
Speaker 1: in Italian ports. Among Roman citizens, if not among the allies,
Speaker 1: some property qualification had been required in a soldier. Marius
Speaker 1: tapped a lower stratum and allowed the copytake Kensi to volunteer.
Speaker 1: To such men, the prospect of plunder would be an object,
Speaker 1: and they would be far more at the bidding of
Speaker 1: individual generals than soldiers of the old stamp. Thus, though
Speaker 1: obligation to service was not abolished, volunteering was allowed and
Speaker 1: became the practice, and the army, with a new drill,
Speaker 1: and no longer consisting of Romans or even Italians, but
Speaker 1: of men of all nations, became as effective as of old,
Speaker 1: if not more so. And at the same time a
Speaker 1: body detached from the state, the citizen was lost in
Speaker 1: the professional and patriotism was superseded by the personal attachment
Speaker 1: of the soldiers of fortune, who knew no will but
Speaker 1: that of their favorite commander or their own selfishness. Their
Speaker 1: general could reward them with money and extort land for
Speaker 1: them from the state. And when Marius after Vercelli gave
Speaker 1: the franchise to two Italian cohorts, saying that he could
Speaker 1: not hear the laws in the din of Arms. He
Speaker 1: was giving to what was becoming a standing army privileges
Speaker 1: which could not be conferred by a consul, but only
Speaker 1: by a king, and of section eight