The democratic party was able to reëlect Marius consul four times in succession (for 104-101) during the war with the Cimbri and Teutons. This was mainly due to the danger in the North, but may in part have been the result of aristocratic maladministration in the second war with the slaves in Sicily.
In 101 Marius had been elected consul five times and for four years in succession — a precedent without parallel in Roman history. As the conqueror of the Teutons and Cimbri he was compared with Camillus and Scipio Africanus the elder. He was, beyond comparison, the first and the most popular man in the state. To him the people looked for deliverance from the incompetence and corruption of the oligarchy. His opportunities were excellent.
Military Reforms of Marius. — Marius could rely on the political support of his numerous soldiers, because he was personally very popular and he had revolutionized the Roman military system. Down to his time the system had in its main principles rested on the Servian organization of the militia, and every legionary was obliged to have a census, or rating, of at least $33, and perhaps of $88 (pp. 154-155). But the highest classes were more and more disinclined to serve in the army, and the middle classes were decreasing in number, hence it was necessary to make use of the poorer citizens and the subjects. Marius, accordingly, in 107 disregarded the property qualification and allowed every citizen of free birth to enlist. As the poor volunteered more readily than the rich, enlistment began to supersede the levy, or draft He abolished the distinctions in equipment and in other respects, and placed all the legionaries on a level. He adopted a system of drill devised by Publius Rutilius Rufus, and introduced other improvements.
The equestrian centuries (equites equo publico) apparently served as an active arm of the service for the last time in
