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| | The Life of Gaius Marius, First Man in Rome |
 | | "Gaius Marius,
a man of rustic birth, rough and uncouth, and austere in his life, as excellent a general as he was an evil influence in time of peace, a man of unbounded ambition, insatiable, without self-control, and always an element of unrest. |
 | | Marius' new legions prefigured Caesar's troops crossing the Rubicon, the later Praetorian Guard who made and broke Emperors, and the eventual empowerment of the Roman legions to choose and control the autocrats of state. |
 | | Marius altered the way that the pilum (the throwing spear of the common soldier) was fixed to the shaft; this caused the point to break off upon impact, which meant Rome's enemies could not return the spear against her legions. |
| www.ancientworlds.net /aw/Post/63992 (3598 words) |
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