View Full Version : Gracchan Reforms
QuintusSertorius
05-10-2008, 15:10
Under the reforms of the Gracchii brothers in the late 130sBC, the property requirements to serve in the legions were lowered (from 11,000 to 3,000 for the fifth class).
I've seen some people mention that there was also some standardisation of equipment to reflect this, that essentially the hastati and triarii disappeared.
Is there anything to support this idea, and if so how would it affect a historically accurate post-Gracchan, but pre-Marian Roman army?
Timoleon
05-10-2008, 21:24
IIRC, the property requirements to serve to the legions where dropping during the whole second century BC. This was partly due to the demanding wars in Spain that where very unprofitable for the legionaries. Many Romans eligible for service tried to avoid conscription by declaring less property that their actual.
The Roma Surrectum team have included the "Very Early Legionaries" in their mod. They replace hastati and principes so that heavy roman infantry is consisted of them and triarii only. These VE legionaries are used in the period between the Second Punic Wars and the Marian Reforms.
Is this what you have in mind?
QuintusSertorius
05-10-2008, 22:21
That's kind of it; the Gracchan legislation was quite specific about how it changed the requirements - at other times for temporary periods they had been suspended or relaxed.
Sounds like basically to simulate you stop recruiting hastati, replacing them with principes instead.
The state was required to pay for the equipement of the soldiers as a result of Gracchian reforms. It makes sense to assume that chain became the standard for the Legions between this time until Marius. This could probably mean too that the Velites and Roman cavalry were also disbanding during that time, or more and more replaced by auxilia (but I have never read this one anywhere; usually Marius is credited for doing so).
QuintusSertorius
05-11-2008, 01:59
What was the situation with accensi? Isn't it still possible to recruit them in the post-Marian era too?
What skirmisher auxiliaries are available to a post-Marian army? I know all the regionals are still around, are they basically it?
satalexton
05-11-2008, 09:23
What was the situation with accensi? Isn't it still possible to recruit them in the post-Marian era too?
What skirmisher auxiliaries are available to a post-Marian army? I know all the regionals are still around, are they basically it?
no u cant recruit them in post marian D=
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