The influence of politics on the Roman Army and vica versa

[The Stranger]

The title may be deceiving but what i'm trying to discuss/ask is whether the politics and political changes or the roman nation (kingdom, republic and empire) on the Roman Army and particulary the reforms.

Did the change of the roman kingdom to republic change the makeup and style of the roman army, or did the change of the roman army trigger the event of the roman kingdom changing into republic. Did the marian reforms trigger the republic to change in to empire, or did the process of the republic changing into empire trigger the marian reforms.

Its kinda a mess because I dont really know how to put it... I have my own theory about it but im in a hurry so ill post it later...

Any vision on this matter is HIGHLY appreciated

[The Stranger]

The title may be deceiving but what i'm trying to discuss/ask is whether the politics and political changes or the roman nation (kingdom, republic and empire) on the Roman Army and particulary the reforms.

it must be

The title may be deceiving but what i'm trying to discuss/ask is whether the politics and political changes of the roman nation (kingdom, republic and empire) had any impact on the Roman Army, particulary the military reforms.

[Marshal Murat]

The Marian reforms definitely caused a shift in Roman politics.
The Marian reforms allowed everyone to join the army. Great idea, except the Generals who raised the legions paid for them, so the soldiers were very loyal to the general. This caused a loyal, armed group of men.
You have a large group of men who support you causes you to think more ambitiously.

[Tran]

I'm not sure about this but I think somewhere between late Republic and early Empire period the Roman begin to remove compulsory military service (conscription that is) and replace it with a more professional (and voluntary) military.

[Watchman]

Actually the shift was partly pure logistical necessity. Most of the farmland in Italy had been taken over by the huge latifundias of the rich, and the farmer-soldier "hoplite" class that had furnished the backbone of the Republican reservist armies was duly gone. The Romans simply no longer had a manpower base wealthy enough to provide their own war gear to call for war.

So they made an about-face, hired whoever met the requirements, gave him the war gear (paid off his wages over time AFAIK), and made a full-time professional army out of such men. As the army promised regular pay, a roof over your head and steady meals (plus the prospect of a pension and a small plot of land for a veteran to support himself and his family once the term was over), the attraction was doubtless considerable for the poor driven to the teeming suburbs of the cities from the manoralized countryside. For non-citizens (AFAIK only recruited into the auxilia formations) there was the added perk of gaining hereditary full Roman citizen rights.

[Marshal Murat]

So in addendum, you have a large and loyal support base to enhance your power. As in Lord of War, bullets change governments faster than votes. Here a gladius and a trained hand are that, and if you have that sort of military power at your call, you can loot, gain fame and glory, popularity, and power.