THE CIVIL WARS

GAIUS MARIUS (157-86 BC)

- Marius, although of plebian origin was renowned during the long war with the Numidian
king Jugurtha
- he also stopped the invasion of the Roman realm undertaken by the Germanic tribes of
Cimbri and Teutones, who already defeated two Roman armies
- Marius was elected a consul
- key to Marius's success was his reform of the army
- he introduced his reforms during the war with Jugurtha as a means to resolve the problem of
a too small army
- Marius started to recruit poor Roman citizens, without any property and all of them
were issued the same armament – a long shield and spear
- soldiers were trained with the aim of increasing their mobility
- the standing, professional army was created and soldiers served all year round from 16 up
to 20 years long terms and after discharge they were granted land lots to settle
- Marius defeated both the Cimbri and Teutones and his glory made him the leader of the
Populares party
- the consequences of the new, professional armies were threefold:
a) their training was improved and they became more efficient, which allowed for more
conquests
b) professional soldiers felt more loyal to their commanders than to the Republic
represented by the Senate
c) commanders started to use their legions in struggles for power and the cycle of civil wars
started

LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA (138-78 BC)

- a patrician, he climbed through the ranks as Marius's lieutenant
- Sulla was elected the consul and he was appointed the commander in the war against the
Pontic king Mithridates VI
- when the People's Assembly appointed Marius the commander, Sulla attacked Rome with
the army that was loyal to him and Marius fled
- Sulla was again appointed the leader and he went to the East in the war
- Marius gained power in Rome and killed many of Sulla's supporters, but when Sulla
returned he was appointed the dictator and instituted the rule of terror, which meant that all
of his enemies were proscribed or outlawed and their murderers would get all of their
possessions as the reward
- Sulla ruled in the interest of the Optimates and after he strengthened the role of the Senate,
he withdrew from political life in 79 BC

THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE

- after Sulla's death new strongmen emerged such as Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus or Pompey the Great
- Crassus became rich during the proscriptions and Pompey was a rich land-owner
- Crassus quelled Spartacus's uprising and Pompey successfully fought the pirates and finally
defeated king Mithridates VI who fought the Romans for a few decades, which got him
military glory
- Gaius Julius Caesar, a poor patrician, owned a large sum of money to Crassus and was
under his patronage
- another poor patrician Lucius Sergius Catilina known in English as Catiline, after failing in
the elections, tried to conquer the power by coup d'etat known as the Catiline conspiracy, but
he was denounced by the most famous Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who defeated
Catiline's forces
- Crassus, Pompey and Caesar formed the First triumvirate or the union of three men,
which was an unofficial alliance of the three men formed in 60 BC in order to secure their
grip on power; they agreed to divide the spheres of influence and Caesar's role was pivotal in
mediating between Crassus and Pompey
- Caesar got power over Gaul and Illyricum for five years, Pompey got Hispania and Crassus
got Syria, because he wanted to conquer Parthia and get glory

orator - govornik
proscribed - proskribiran