Marian Reforms and the nature of legions in the late Roman Republic

by SushiMage

I've recently discovered that it's apparently commonly accepted among historians and outside of pop history that the Marian Reforms didn't actually happen or at the very least it's existence is incredibly dubious as there's apparently no direct source for other than a historian from the 1800s(?) that attributed it to Marius.

If this is the case, how were the legions recruited in the late republic and what were their incentives to have more loyalty towards their generals rather than the state? Is the latter even true? Did some variation of the Marian reforms still happen? Or did the republic still utilize traditional conscription during that time period.

And on another note, which Marius accomplishments were actually real and was he as influential of a figure in the republic as he's commonly portrayed in pop history.

ParallelPain

You might have already read some of these threads, and not to discourage further contribution, but please see, all courtesy of /u/XenophonTheAthenian:

  1. There was no such thing as the Marian reforms[1][2][3]
  2. The expansion of Roman armies were by Sulla, and not through changes in the citizen group that can be conscripted, but in the magistrates who were allowed to raise armies.
  3. Roman citizens and soldiers did not become blindly obedient fanatics to their senator patrons and army generals [1][2]

Also, despite not having actually reformed the Roman army, Marius was still an accomplished general and elected consul during a turbulent time in Roman history.