Why short Roman commands could still build experience

Were Rome's roughly two-year military appointments an inherently bad system that rewarded aggression?

They encouraged visible achievement, but they also gave elites meaningful field experience while professional soldiers supplied continuity.

Short commands encouraged officeholders to seek visible success, but two years represented a substantial part of an ancient adult career. An appointee remained in the province rather than commuting back to Rome and normally arrived after other civil and military posts. Permanent soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and specialist ranks supplied continuity beneath the rotating elite commander. The system therefore spread military experience through the senatorial class while retaining a professional core capable of moderating poor decisions. It could encourage expansion, but it was not simply a sequence of inexperienced amateurs taking independent armies abroad.