There's No Simple Man Named Gaius

Night hoped that Rome hadn't changed so much that it was completely unrecognizable.

If so, all the knowledge about Roman history in his mind would be useless.

At the very least, it would lose much of its value.

If he continued to view people and events through the lens of history, he might suffer greatly.

From now on, he could trust his knowledge of Roman history, but not entirely.

He quickly set this warning in his mind.

Night continued to ponder the current complex situation in Rome.

Let's start with the issue of Marius not becoming consul.

Who was Marius?

He was a man whose origins were lower than anyone else's, historically controversial, but who achieved significant success in reforms.

Gaius Marius.

Yes, another Gaius.

Men named Gaius always seemed destined to leave a mark in history.

Two men named Gaius, from eras so close yet so different.

But Night knew that coincidences like this happened.

Compared to Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Marius's family background was incomparable.

In 157 BC, Gaius Marius was born.

His name alone reveals nothing about his family lineage, highlighting his humble origins to the point where one wouldn't even know his family background.

Apart from living a long life, his circumstances provided him with no advantages over others.

Poor and uneducated, the only way for a commoner like Marius to rise was through military service.

Initially, Marius served under Scipio Aemilianus.

Who was Scipio Aemilianus?

Beyond his illustrious military achievements, as the Roman commander during the Third Punic War, he made a statement that left a significant mark on Western European history.

Considered the Roman equivalent of Fan Zhongyan's philosophy of "worrying before the world's worries and enjoying after the world's enjoyment," he was one of the first to contemplate and worry about the future during Rome's times of strength.

After decisively defeating Carthage, he lamented: "Carthage once enjoyed great wealth and prosperity, and now we witness its fall. My heart feels not the joy of a victor but sorrow. I wonder, will Rome face such a time too?"

Scipio Aemilianus' concerns were not baseless.

During his era, Rome was already showing signs of internal issues due to various policies. Problems included corruption among officials and nobles, the Senate's overwhelming control, and the strain of continuous military campaigns on multiple fronts.

If Rome could keep winning, the impacts might remain unseen for a while. But no one can win indefinitely, especially after Scipio Aemilianus retired. Who could take his place?

When asked, Scipio Aemilianus pointed to Marius, affirming, "This man can do it!"

Marius' military talent was recognized early on by Scipio Aemilianus, his lifelong mentor. Despite this endorsement, Marius' path to advancement was not smooth due to his plebeian birth.

He became a tribune of the people at 38, a praetor at 42, and then served a year as governor of Spain, but his career remained unremarkable. His true talents lay in warfare, destined to return to the battlefield to claim his true glory.

When Marius was nearly 50, the old king of Rome's allied kingdom made a foolish decision. He divided his land, Numidia, equally among his three sons. Historically, royal power struggles and feuds among vassals are common, with royal families fighting for thrones never ceasing.

These three sons began to battle each other. Among them, Jugurtha, an adopted son, lived up to his fierce reputation by aggressively attacking his brothers.

### Chapter 46: No Man Named Gaius is Simple

In hopes that Rome hasn't changed so drastically that it becomes unrecognizable, Night prays inwardly.

Otherwise, all his knowledge about Roman history would become worthless, with little to no utility.

If he continued viewing people and events through the lens of history, he might suffer greatly.

From now on, he could trust his knowledge of Roman history, but not entirely.

He quickly set this warning in his mind.

Night continued to ponder the current complex situation in Rome.

Let's start with the issue of Marius not becoming consul.

Who was Marius?

He was a man whose origins were lower than anyone else's, historically controversial, but who achieved significant success in reforms.

Gaius Marius.

Yes, another Gaius.

Men named Gaius always seemed destined to leave a mark in history.

Two men named Gaius, from eras so close yet so different.

But Night knew that coincidences like this happened.

Compared to Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Marius's family background was incomparable.

Born in 157 BC, Gaius Marius' name doesn't even reveal his family lineage, indicating his humble origins.

Apart from living a long life, his circumstances provided him with no advantages over others.

Poor and uneducated, the only way for a commoner like Marius to rise was through military service. Initially, Marius served under Scipio Aemilianus.

Who was Scipio Aemilianus?

Beyond his illustrious military achievements, as the Roman commander during the Third Punic War, he made a statement that left a significant mark on Western European history.

Considered the Roman equivalent of Fan Zhongyan's philosophy of "worrying before the world's worries and enjoying after the world's enjoyment," he was one of the first to contemplate and worry about the future during Rome's times of strength.

After decisively defeating Carthage, he lamented: "Carthage once enjoyed great wealth and prosperity, and now we witness its fall. My heart feels not the joy of a victor but sorrow. I wonder, will Rome face such a time too?"

Scipio Aemilianus' concerns were not baseless.

During his era, Rome was already showing signs of internal issues due to various policies.

Problems included corruption among officials and nobles, the Senate's overwhelming control, and the strain of continuous military campaigns on multiple fronts.

If Rome could keep winning, the impacts might remain unseen for a while.

But no one can win indefinitely, especially after Scipio Aemilianus retired.

Who could take his place?

When asked, Scipio Aemilianus pointed to Marius, and affirmed, "This man can do it!"

Marius' military talent was recognized early on by Scipio Aemilianus, his lifelong mentor.

Despite this endorsement, Marius' path to advancement was not smooth due to his plebeian birth.

He became a tribune of the people at 38, a praetor at 42, and then served a year as governor of Spain, but his career remained unremarkable.

His true talents lay in warfare, destined to return to the battlefield to claim his true glory.

When Marius was nearly 50, the old king of Rome's allied kingdom made a foolish decision.

He divided his land, Numidia, equally among his three sons.

Historically, royal power struggles and feuds among vassals are common, with royal families fighting for thrones never ceasing.

These three sons began to fight among themselves.

Among them, Jugurtha, the old king's adopted son, lived up to his name, attacking his brothers fiercely and mercilessly.

Jugurtha, who had served under Scipio Aemilianus just like Marius, had much stronger military prowess compared to the other two sons, making his brothers cry for their parents.

When the Roman Senate learned of this, they intervened to mediate the conflict.

However, Jugurtha paid lip service to their efforts, continuing his assaults and killings, thoroughly angering the Senate.

They sent the consul of that period, Metellus, to attack Jugurtha, with Marius following as his subordinate.

The war soon stabilized, and they managed to suppress Jugurtha.

However, Marius and Metellus had differing military opinions.

The latter looked down on Marius' low birth, and this blatant discrimination and humiliation eventually drove Marius to resign in anger.

Then he embarked on an incredibly illustrious career.

Resolute, he resigned and subsequently ran for consul, raising his own army to fight Jugurtha.

Sometimes people don't realize how exceptional they are until they push themselves.

Upon returning to Rome, Marius ran for consul with two core promises.

First, he could fight.

Second, he could win.

In essence, it was a single message: "Follow me, and I'll lead you to victory."

He promised the people that he would capture Jugurtha alive and bring him back to Rome.

At that time, due to policy issues, the wealth gap was growing, and the Roman army was suffering repeated defeats, leading to low morale.

Rome was simultaneously engaged in multiple wars: fighting the Thracians in the east and the Germanic tribes in the north.

Even worse, due to frequent defeats, mentioning war caused headaches from the Senate and nobles down to the common people.

Regardless of whether Marius was boasting, his bold and confident declaration to resolve the African conflict led to his unanimous election as consul.

Once elected, Marius' life and military career soared.

After several victories, he solidified his reputation and his consul position.

This laid the foundation for his subsequent reforms.

Among these was the issue Night was most concerned with: granting Roman citizenship to all allied states' citizens.

During that period, acquiring Roman citizenship was not as stringent as it would later become. Willingness to pay could still grant one a spot among Italy and other allied states.

But here's the issue:

For various reasons, Marius did not become consul at fifty in this timeline.

Whether he didn't run or he failed in the election, Night did not know.

Without Marius' military brilliance and rise to power, there would be no subsequent reforms.

The proposal to grant citizenship to allied states, which was to appease them during the Social War, became a pipe dream.

This minor deviation had a monumental impact on the course of history.

However, this situation might actually be advantageous for Night, as he could potentially ride the wave of the Social War.