5.1

They defeated the Romans in several engagements. In the battle of Arausio, 105 BCE, three Roman armies were cut to pieces. Then they turned their course towards Spain and gave the Romans a respite of two years. In 102 BCE they returned from Spain and prepared to invade Italy. Before their entrance they divided. The Cimbri and the Tigurini crossed the Rhone, intending to enter Italy by the eastern Alps. The Teutones and the Ambrones tried to come in by the Maritime Alps, intending to join their countrymen in the valley of the Po. Marius met them at Aquae Sextiae, modern Aix, 102 BCE, and the mighty host of the barbarians was annihilated. The next year the united armies of Marius and Catulus met the Cimbri near Vercellae in Cisalpine Gaul and utterly defeated them. Those who survived the battle were either killed or sold in the slave market at Rome (Hazzard).

By his valor and his energy he worked his way up in the army, winning distinction in the siege of Numantia in Spain. In 119 BCE he was elected tribune of the plebs. He now became a marked man. He acquired influence and importance by marrying into the family of the Caesars. In 109 BCE he went to Africa as lieutenant of Metellus. In 107 BCE he was elected consul and brought the war with Jugurtha to an end. After his return from Africa he was elected consul the second time in 104 BCE and took command of the war against the Cimbri and Teutones. Again in 103, 102, and 101 BCE he was elected to the consulship, and crushed the barbarians in the two famous battles of Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae, 102, 101 BCE. In 100 BCE he was elected consul for the sixth time. The Social War again called him into active service. He defeated the Marsi in two successive engagements. That he might gratify his ambition and be sent to the war with Mithridates, he procured the passage of a law removing Sulla from the command of the army and conferring it upon himself. Sulla refused to give up his command, marched upon Rome, and forced Marius to flee. After having arranged matters at Rome to his satisfaction Sulla left for the East. While he was away, Marius returned to Italy, besieged Rome, and entered the city as a conqueror. "The most frightful scenes followed. The guards of Marius stabbed everyone whom he did not salute, and the streets ran with the blood of the noblest of the Roman aristocracy." Without the formality of an election he became consul for the seventh time, 86 BCE. But de did not long enjoy his honor. On the eighteenth day of his consulship he died. (Hazzard).