In the early days of the Roman Republic the army was made up of entirely land-owners. This led to trouble when the population of Rome became almost entirely poor homeless people. Then, in 107 BC, a general named Gaius Marius became general of the Roman Army. He allowed anyone to enlist, whether they owned land or not. He also established wages for anyone who joined the army,so a lot of the poor people began joining. Marius's troops earnd the nickname "Marius' Mules" because they wore so much heavy equipment. Marius' changes to the army turned from a small body of trainees, into a highly successful proffesional fighting force. The Roman Legionaire made up the main body of the Legion, groups of 6,000 troops that the army was divided into. They were Roman citizens who enlisted in the army and fought with small-swords and javelins. As the Empire grew, the number of Legionaires dropped as more and more non-citizens from newly-conquered areas joined the army to earn a citizenship. These soldiers were called Auxilliary's and became a sort of specialized troop from a certain part of the Empire, for example, archers from the Middle East and cavalry from Cenral Europe.