The course of the second century saw the auxilia still more firmly established as an essential part of the republican military system. Before its close the Roman and Italian cavalry had entirely disappeared; the changes in the condition of military service, in particular the tedious and unprofitable Spanish campaigns, made the members of the upper classes, among whom the cavalry had been recruited, increasingly reluctant to take their places in the ranks as private soldiers. After the reforms of Marius the legion had no cavalry attached to it, and if the Italian contingents still existed they must likewise have disappeared when, in consequence of the extension of the franchise in 90 and 89 B.C., the former _socii_ were all enrolled in the legions. From this moment the Roman generals depended for their cavalry upon the auxilia alone.[6] In the case of the light-armed troops the same process took place, although here military rather than political reasons probably predominated. The last recorded use of the _velites_, the old national light infantry, is during the war against Iugurtha, and they were probably abolished by Marius.[7] There is certainly no instance of any but auxiliaries being employed as light troops during the following century. From these considerations it necessarily follows that when, during the last fifty years of the Republic, a standing army came into existence, a number of auxiliary regiments formed part of it. When Caesar mentions that he had Cretan archers, Balearic slingers, and Numidian cavalry under his command so early as the beginning of his second campaign, we can hardly doubt that these regiments had formed part of the regular troops which he found in the province.[8] Thus before the end of the Republic we have the chief feature of the military system of the Empire, the division of the army into the legions of _cives Romani_ and the auxiliary light troops and cavalry supplied by the unenfranchised provincials, already in existence. Even the practice of conferring the _civitas_ upon troops of this class as a reward for military service was resorted to by the Republic, although probably only under exceptional conditions. We possess a document recording a grant of this nature to some Spanish auxiliaries, members of a _turma Salluitana_ which had distinguished itself at the siege of Asculum in 89 B.C.[9]