How did recruiting work in the Roman army?

If recruitment was insufficient it was not uncommon for patricians to send their personal guards into the Subura to shanghai a bunch of guys to serve in the army. It took care of two problems at once -- providing troops and reducing the number of idle mouths for the state to feed. read more

The Social War of 91- 87 BCE (from the Latin socii allies) highlights that manpower was still a problem for the Roman army, as citizenship was granted to the allied Italians at the end of the war, granting a greater pool of men for the army. read more

The Roman army changed over time. The consuls had the power to recruit troops, but in the last years of the Republic, provincial governors were replacing troops without the approval of the consuls. This led to legionaries loyal to their generals rather than Rome. Before Marius, recruitment was limited to citizens enrolled in the top 5 Roman classes. read more