Die Getreideversorgung im römischen Heer und die lex militaris des Gaius Gracchus

Abstract

The article deals with the history of reforms regarding food supply of the Roman armies, which constituted a crucial element of the Late Roman Republic military structure. The author analyzes a number of sources concerning the second half of the second century B. C. and concludes that during this period a system of reduced-price grain distributions was in force in the Roman army. This particular practice was abolished in 109 B. C. at the initiative of Marcus Iunius Silanus. Further the author demostrates that these reductions were introduced by the military law of Gaius Gracchus in 123 B. C.