Marius Mulus 💪

Explanation: In the Classical Period, it was common for soldiers to be middle-class - or higher - militiamen who were accustomed to a certain level of comfort.

Now, the Romans were a touch ‘rougher’ in their outlook to begin with. When still struggling for hegemony over Italy, they mocked another Italic city-state for having its garrison soldiers sleep on two pillows! What softies! (conversely, no pillows, like the Spartans slept, was animalistic and barbaric; ONE pillow was a sign of MODERATION and CIVILIZATION) However, this still applied to some degree to the militia-legions of the Mid-Republic - a few times Roman commanders are noted, exceptionally, as expelling extraneous servants and restricting the number of personal servants legionaries could have with them.

By the Late Republic, though, the increasing professionalism and regulation of the Roman Legions led to a situation where the Legions were increasingly recruited from the lower-middle class and working class, and, for that matter, were often signed up for long terms of service under harsh rules of discipline. Civilians in uniform no longer, they could be more strictly regimented without fear of disintegration of the unit. Gaius Marius is often associated with parts of this change, but the truth is probably that it was slow and organic over the course of the late 3rd and 2nd century BCE. One of these changes was in the duties of the legionaries.

While legionaries were always expected to do menial labor - as war is won by the entrenching tool more than the sword! - the professional Legions of the Late Republic took upon themselves nearly every task imaginable, including tasks of camp life, not just fortification, and transporting their own equipment. Troops with specialist skills (’immunes’) would be exempted from some ordinary labor, but for low-skill tasks, like cooking, legionaries would be on their own about splitting up the labor. Legionaries on the march would have to carry nearly all of their own equipment, everything from tents to cookware to wooden stakes to several days’ worth of rations on their backs. Thus came the name for themselves, Marius Mulus - “Mule of Marius” - as soldiers of any era love to bitch! :p

While this is exceptional for the ancient world, they didn’t have to do all of it on their own. Each ‘tent-group’ of eight men would also have two armed servants (whether those servants were free or slaves is debated by academics to this day) and a literal mule with the baggage train. And heavier equipment, like disassembled artillery and wine supplies, would be transported by carts. All the same, this gave the Roman Legions a relatively small logistical footprint and unmatched speed for an army of unmounted infantry, with soldiers able to cover 20+ miles per day, day after day, even disassembling and then re-assembling a fortified camp before-and-after each march.

The line in the meme is inspired by Julius Caesar’s famous quote, “I came, I saw, I conquered”, about his achievements in the Middle East.

Explanation: In the Classical Period, it was common for soldiers to be middle-class - or higher - militiamen who were accustomed to a certain level of comfort.

Now, the Romans were a touch ‘rougher’ in their outlook to begin with. When still struggling for hegemony over Italy, they mocked another Italic city-state for having its garrison soldiers sleep on two pillows! What softies! (conversely, no pillows, like the Spartans slept, was animalistic and barbaric; ONE pillow was a sign of MODERATION and CIVILIZATION) However, this still applied to some degree to the militia-legions of the Mid-Republic - a few times Roman commanders are noted, exceptionally, as expelling extraneous servants and restricting the number of personal servants legionaries could have with them.

By the Late Republic, though, the increasing professionalism and regulation of the Roman Legions led to a situation where the Legions were increasingly recruited from the lower-middle class and working class, and, for that matter, were often signed up for long terms of service under harsh rules of discipline. Civilians in uniform no longer, they could be more strictly regimented without fear of disintegration of the unit. Gaius Marius is often associated with parts of this change, but the truth is probably that it was slow and organic over the course of the late 3rd and 2nd century BCE. One of these changes was in the duties of the legionaries.

While legionaries were always expected to do menial labor - as war is won by the entrenching tool more than the sword! - the professional Legions of the Late Republic took upon themselves nearly every task imaginable, including tasks of camp life, not just fortification, and transporting their own equipment. Troops with specialist skills (’immunes’) would be exempted from some ordinary labor, but for low-skill tasks, like cooking, legionaries would be on their own about splitting up the labor. Legionaries on the march would have to carry nearly all of their own equipment, everything from tents to cookware to wooden stakes to several days’ worth of rations on their backs. Thus came the name for themselves, Marius Mulus - “Mule of Marius” - as soldiers of any era love to bitch! :p

While this is exceptional for the ancient world, they didn’t have to do all of it on their own. Each ‘tent-group’ of eight men would also have two armed servants (whether those servants were free or slaves is debated by academics to this day) and a literal mule with the baggage train. And heavier equipment, like disassembled artillery and wine supplies, would be transported by carts. All the same, this gave the Roman Legions a relatively small logistical footprint and unmatched speed for an army of unmounted infantry, with soldiers able to cover 20+ miles per day, day after day, even disassembling and then re-assembling a fortified camp before-and-after each march.

The line in the meme is inspired by Julius Caesar’s famous quote, “I came, I saw, I conquered”, about his achievements in the Middle East.