A Republic with the explicit rule that no single person will have complete authority, started growing into an Empire when a statesman reformed its military creating a generation ready for war.
Story in the evening ...
Story in the evening ...
https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1322361489961881601
Caius Marius was not from Rome. He was born in Arpinum in 157 BC. It was only in 188 that people of Arpinum was given citizenship of Roman Republic. As a new Roman, he had set his sights for political office, but it was not an easy task. Jugurtha would give him that entry. 1/10 
Numidia had been a Roman client state for nearly a century. But a civil war leading to the death of Roman traders forced the hand of the Republic. As the Roman effort did not yield a fast result, Marius campaigned to become Consul and lead the war, succeeding in both. 2/10
When the Romans overthrew King Tarquin in 495 BC to create a Republic, they had decided that no single person will have complete authority. Rome will be ruled by two Consuls, elected annually. Marius had got himself elected as one of the two Consuls of 107. 3/10
Marius would finally capture Jugurtha, the King of the Numidians, and end the war. The war effort would see the first Marian military reform - Inclusion of citizens without significant property in the army. Till then it was limited to those who had something to lose in Rome. 4/10
This marked the beginning of the professional Roman soldier. Marius would also optimize baggage train to what is in need. These reforms would pay rich dividend for Marius as a new threat from north approached - The barbarians had risen; defeating Rome in Arausio (Orange). 5/10
Though the war with the Germanic tribes led by the Cimbri & Teutones would last till 101, Marius stayed Consul from 104-100 to lead the battle. In a republic with no one with absolute power, two Consulships were rare, but 5 and that too consecutive foreshadowed Roman future. 6/10
Now in his late 50s, Marius stepped back from active political life. But he would be back in the Social War, an uprising of the Roman allies in the Italian peninsula demanding citizenship. A new Roman general would come into prominence in the war - Lucius Cornelius Sulla. 7/10
A former quaestor of Marius in the war against Numidia, Sulla had been gaining on reputation since it was he who physically captured Jugurtha. With Sulla becoming more prominent, Marius would try to gain the upper hand. 8/10
After a civil war which Sulla won, Marius would seize power in Sulla's absence in 87. Sulla would return triumphant though in 81, though Marius was long dead by then, of natural causes, and his supporters, including his son, would be defeated. 9/10
The reforms of Marius was a natural progression for the evolving Roman state, but his continuous rule would set precedent for similar reigns in future by Sulla & others like him. Eventually, it was his wife's great great nephew that would convert Rome into an Empire. 10/10
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