SIMON CARABETTA
IN CYBERSECURITY, IT’S BELLUM ROMANUM, OR NOTHING by Simon Carabetta, Business Operations Lead at ES2
Picture this. It is the second century BCE. You have
because they simply formalised practices already
been conscripted via a lottery to fight in a land war for
in place, the reforms transformed the army from a
the Republic of Rome. Instead of being issued with
force comprised of casual conscripts into one of
standard weaponry and equipment, you must provide
professional soldiers.
your own. You will have to undergo extensive training along with a number of other inexperienced young
I do not really need to tell you the rest of the story.
men to fight an army from a place you have likely
We all know how powerful the Roman military
never heard of nor would ever travel to. If you are
became and how it was partially responsible for
lucky, you survive and return home victorious, only to
the Roman Republic becoming the Roman Empire.
be told to return to your daily life after receiving your
However, you do need to take two key concepts from
(quite insubstantial) pay.
this article:
This was the way the early Republic raised an army
1.
was little professionalism, and the concept of a
The Marian reforms formalised professional standards
each time a battle or war needed to be fought. There 2.
Bellum Romanum
standing army was unknown. It emerged only when a general by the name of Gaius Marius made a number
What is Bellum Romanum? Translated from the
of sweeping changes to the practices and procedures
Latin, it simply means, Roman War. Why am I
of the army, known as the Marian Reforms.
giving a history lesson on the way the Romans conducted warfare? The answer is relevant to
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While some historians (don’t worry, this isn’t a history
Australia in the context of cyber warfare and
paper, I will get to my point) dispute that Gaius
our own security industry. We need to wage
Marius deserves all the credit for these reforms,
Bellum Romanum.
W O M E N I N S E C U R I T Y M A G A Z I N E
J A N U A RY • F E B R U A RY 2023
