When the Jurguthine War broke out in 110 B.C. the Senate’s appointed commanders were repeatedly defeated to the embarrassment of the Roman people. Finally the people, through the assembly, picked their own commander, Marius, to win the war. Marius solved Rome’s recruitment problem in an eyelash by removing the property qualification for military service and at the same time shifted the soldier’s loyalty from Senate to commander. From that point on the supreme commander was the “emperor maker” of Rome.
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