In the year 300 BCE , Who could join the Roman army?:

Around 300 BCE the Roman military was not a professional standing army but rather a citizen militia. In the early Republic, military service was viewed as both a duty and an honor for Roman citizens. Here are the key points regarding who was eligible: 1. Free Roman male citizens were required to serve. Military duty was a civic obligation for citizens, and service in the army was generally expected from those who held full Roman citizenship. 2. There was typically a property requirement attached to service. Roman military organization at this time was based on a citizen levy sorted by wealth and social class—the wealthier citizens (often patricians and well-to-do plebeians) were expected to provide their own arms and sometimes serve as cavalry, while poorer citizens would serve as heavy infantry. In other words, owning a minimum amount of property was usually necessary to qualify for service in the citizen army. 3. Non-citizens and slaves were not permitted to serve as full members of the Roman army. Only after later reforms (and sometimes in auxiliary capacities or allied contingents) did non-citizen groups participate more directly in the military system. 4. Additionally, as Rome expanded its influence in Italy, allied communities (the “socii”) were obliged to provide troops for the Roman war effort. Although these allied soldiers were not full Roman citizens in the early period (and thus did not have the same rights as Roman citizens), they were nonetheless an important part of the military apparatus. They fought under their own arms in separate contingents but as part of the overall Roman military coalition. So, in summary: In 300 BCE, the core of the Roman army was made up of free, property-owning Roman citizens—adult males who met the social and property qualifications—while allied communities were required to contribute troops as auxiliaries.