Quote Originally Posted by Horatius View Post
I never said that but I did reference the Tuetones (sp) and Cimbri, and the Numidians, and the way the levy systems weaknesses being exposed.
Except that Marius was already recruiting and equipping proletarians before that (for the Jugurtine war), and he may not have been the first to do so. Property requirements for legion service had been suspended several times before, and it's speculated that Marius represents the last phase in a gradual, unplanned reform, rather than a revolution. The best you could say is that the battle of Arausio marked the end of the militia system, by giving Marius and his new system free reign. But it looks like that would have happened anyway, just more slowly.