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How were Caesars' legions “private”? Are you sure you're not confusing with the fall of the Roman Empire, with autonomous military leadership in the provinces (
by littlestymaar 3y ago
How were Caesars' legions “private”? Are you sure you're not confusing with the fall of the Roman Empire, with autonomous military leadership in the provinces (but even then, calling them “private armies” would still sound anachronistic)
- flextheruler 3y agoThey’re loyalty was to Caesar or their general to give them a share of the loot they were conquering. This started with the Marian reforms.
- dllthomas 3y ago> This started with the Marian reforms. Per a post a couple weeks back by the same author as TFA, those weren't a thing actually: https://acoup.blog/2023/06/30/collections-the-marian-reforms-werent-a-thing/ https://acoup.blog/2023/06/30/collections-the-marian-reforms...
- dllthomas 3y agoThe most relevant quote I could easily find: "Rewarding soldiers with loot and using conquered lands to form colonies wasn’t new and Marius doesn’t standardize it, Augustus does."
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> How were Caesars' legions “private”? The Roman state authorised the raising of legions. But the (pro)consuls raising them were responsible for paying them. Think: Prighozhin.