General Gaius Marius introduced radical reforms which changed how the Roman army was recruited and structured, and therefore how it fought in battle. The Legion’s manipular organisation was scrapped with the 'cohort' becoming the basic unit. A Legion consisted of ten cohorts of 480 men each rather than 30 maniples; each cohort was divided into six centuries of 80 men. This was later raised to a nominal strength of 600, with each century having 100 men; casualties meant that this was rarely the case in practice. Marius also reformed the weaponry and fighting methods of the Roman army. Every man was equipped identically, with the spears of the triarii disposed of, to be replaced by shield, pilum-style javelins and the gladius.
