Originally Posted by oudysseos
It seems that Maskoolin's problems have been solved, but I still wanted to chip my two cents' worth in.
Just wanted to point out that most of the previous discussion in this thread seems to have centred on the positive dynamic conditions necessary for the various reform events- i.e. a certain number of provinces, population levels, various technical achievements (latifundia), etc. However I think that many of the "reforms" that we are speaking about were responses to negative conditions. The suspension of the property requirement for enlistment came about because of a lack of qualified men in general and a specific political need of Marius' in particular. But if Quintus Caecilius Metellus had quickly and decisively defeated the Numidians, Marius would have had no pretext for stealing the command from him. What price then the "Marian Reforms"?
The point that I want to make is that if the real Romans had been uninterruptedly successful and had easily defeated their enemies (as is usually the case when you play them as a faction) then there would have been little pressure on them to reform anything.
You don't fix what aint broke.
It is because of the great difficulties that the Romans faced during the early part of their expansion that they had to change, adapt, and reform. They never had a big navy before the first Punic war, for example, and if for some reason they had not expanded into North Africa they might never have developed one.