Please reply to the following discussionpost. Do you agree or disagree, why? Wha

Question

Please reply to the following discussionpost. Do you agree or disagree, why? What are your thoughts or comments ? Please give a well thought out/thorough response. Thank you!

Roman soldiers had to supply for their own weapons and in effect needed to have land in order to afford to serve in the army. Those men were divided into classes based on their wealth status. Mostly the rich Romans were able to afford the best weapons and armor, making them the more effective soldiers.

No on the other hand, the men without properties were not able to serve in the military even though they made up the majority. Romans did not have a problem with the rich having the most power because they knew that they were the first to lose from a Roman defeat.  

Marius dealt with the problem of landless pretty well. The so called capite censi, were men who had no property to be assessed in the count They were instead counted by the head meaning that they were among the ranks who could be recruited even though they owned no property/land. Since this was an issue for the poor with no land, Marius arranged for the state to supply them with weapons/armors. He then offered the disenfranchised masses permanent employment for pay as professional soldiers. With little hope Marius had, the masses joined Marius new army. The professional soldiers were recruited for a term of sixteen years, leading to rise to twenty years of full service and five years as advocates under the changes of Augustus.

Explanation / Answer

This is a scenario that depicts a mixed economy . The rich who have property and lands are the class of producers or more accurately private producers in the economy . They own means of production and hence do not need support of the State . They can produce better weapons and armour by investment of their own means of production . But full privatization , deprives a class from employment and thus makes the army or the count of professional soldiers fewer . So Marius had the idea of mixed economy , whereby the State also provides employment to the landless using its own resources .

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