why Roman republic was so successful

[King]

Personally speaking the Romans always had problems at the centre. During the middle to late Republic there problem was that their system of Government was that of a city state but they rulled an Empire, when you had a state like Carthage on your doorstep it kept everyone focussed on staying alive, but after they went the Rebulic needed to reform its army, but refused to do it. So you had armies that relied on it's General for land after their service was ended and so the men ended up being more loyal to the General than the state, people like Marius and Sulla exploited this and where they lead others followed.

During the Imperial era the problem was the minute the current guy at the top looked weak some guy commanding an army thought they had a good chance of getting the top job and civil war was the result. If the Romans had stayed united they could of pushed the frontier to the Elbe, and they would fo stood a better chance against the great invasions. Instead they wore themselves out.

 

[King]

Why did the republic need to reform the army after the victory over carthage? there were no major military threats until the germanic invasions, and Marius instituted the needed reforms in his first consulship. His reforms were the only way to overcome the manpower problem that plagued the republic. Citizens were more than willing to fight Hannibal, but were much more recalcitrant about fighting tribesmen in Gaul or Spain. By having the state pay for equipment and giving land to veterans, the poor of Rome were able to fight for the state, and they provided the bulk of the soldiery from then on. It was a wonderful idea. The major problem was how the generals were chosen, not how the men were selected.

had the army not been reformed, Rome would have had to withdraw from its empire and occupy only Italy for want of soldiers.

Ahh but you see Marius failed to get the state to gaurantee the veterans land after their service. To many in the Roman rulling class it sounded to much like the reforms of the Gracci. So each army had to get its land seperatly thus leaving the Army reliant on thier general being able to convince the Senate to give them the land. This in turn lead to the situation where the Army was more loyal to the generals than the state.