Rome - its own worst enemy, or everyone else\'s nightmare?

[Tarbicus]

Normally each Consul commanded his own army of two legions with allies. When the occasion warranted it they could combine their armies and only on those occasions did they exercise a joint command.

Bear with me on this one, and correct me if necessary. Caesar would never have been able to gain the military and therefore political power and loyalty he had, as Pompey would have been there to thwart him, especially if they had shared overall command every other day.

[Virgil]

Normally each Consul commanded his own army of two legions with allies. When the occasion warranted it they could combine their armies and only on those occasions did they exercise a joint command.

Bear with me on this one, and correct me if necessary. Caesar would never have been able to gain the military and therefore political power and loyalty he had, as Pompey would have been there to thwart him, especially if they had shared overall command every other day.

The Marian reforms went far beyond just the elimination of the two-consular system. Caesar was operating as governor of Gaul, not consul, when he organized and led his armies. And of course, you have to factor in the political upheavals that would've negated a two consul army of political opponents by this time.

[drsrob]

Normally each Consul commanded his own army of two legions with allies. When the occasion warranted it they could combine their armies and only on those occasions did they exercise a joint command.

Bear with me on this one, and correct me if necessary. Caesar would never have been able to gain the military and therefore political power and loyalty he had, as Pompey would have been there to thwart him, especially if they had shared overall command every other day.

The Marian reforms went far beyond just the elimination of the two-consular system. Caesar was operating as governor of Gaul, not consul, when he organized and led his armies. And of course, you have to factor in the political upheavals that would've negated a two consul army of political opponents by this time.

There never was an elimination of the two-consul system. The fact that Pompey was sole consul when Caesar crossed the Rubicon was an abberation, not repeated afterwards.
Sulla's (not Marius') reforms forbade the consul to leave Italy. From that moment onwards all campaigns were fought by proconsuls, whose authority ceased when they entered Italy. Even before this proconsular command had always been exercised in the absence of consuls. Also Proconsul never had a colleague.
The mechanism to raise the four consular legions remained in existence, but was no longer implemented until the Civil War broke out again. The Numbers I to IV were however reserved for the consular legions.