Quote Originally Posted by Aemilius Paulus View Post
They were also spoiled, weak city slickers when compared to most of the less civilized people even though the Romans were perhaps the most agriculturally focused nation in the antiquity before the latifundas came in. So important was agriculture that all other professions/social classes, such as craftsmen and merchants were left for the foreigners to fill. Senators were prohibited to engage in anything but agriculture in the early days. For roman soldiers it was the discipline and superior training as well as quality standarised weapons & armor that made them so much better than the others, not weapons skill, strength or bravery.
Uh, no. Roman soldiers pre-Marius were smallholding farmers in the main. There was a property requirement to be in the legions, unless your free city-dwelling citizen was rich enough to own land in the countryside as well as a home in Rome, they wouldn't be eligible to join the legions at all.