Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
My vote goes for Gaius Marius. Marius was not really noted for conqeuring huge new territories as other Roman generals did. But Marius did save Rome from destruction when Italy was invaded by a massive horde of Germanic barbarians (nearly a million of them) at a time when Italy's and Romes manpower reserves were at a historic low due to the huge losses of life of soldiers lead by incompetant aristocratic Roman generals.
Marius mainly gets my votes for three reasons. He saved the Republic from Destruction. He reformed the legions into what became the professional legions of the late Republic and the Empire (Imperium). He got rid of the Maniple as a battle formation and implemented the cohort. He got rid of the triari system, he got rid of a large part of baggage trains and forced soldiers to carry heavier loads resulting in an army that could move faster because it was not slowed down by a baggage train. But his biggest reform was to allow the non-propertied poor to enlist in the legions as a career. All these reforms profesionalized the Roman legions and made them the most efficient and feared military machine of it's eral (and for nearly 500 years after).
Marius was also the mentor of both Sulla, who was his legate and Julius Ceasar who was his nephew. Much of what Ceaser learned about strategy he learned sitting on Marius's lap as a child and adolescent.
Marius mainly gets my votes for three reasons. He saved the Republic from Destruction. He reformed the legions into what became the professional legions of the late Republic and the Empire (Imperium). He got rid of the Maniple as a battle formation and implemented the cohort. He got rid of the triari system, he got rid of a large part of baggage trains and forced soldiers to carry heavier loads resulting in an army that could move faster because it was not slowed down by a baggage train. But his biggest reform was to allow the non-propertied poor to enlist in the legions as a career. All these reforms profesionalized the Roman legions and made them the most efficient and feared military machine of it's eral (and for nearly 500 years after).
Marius was also the mentor of both Sulla, who was his legate and Julius Ceasar who was his nephew. Much of what Ceaser learned about strategy he learned sitting on Marius's lap as a child and adolescent.
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