Battle of Vercellae: Marius Destroys the Cimbri
Marius and Catulus destroyed the Cimbri at Vercellae in July 101 BC and ended a threat that had lasted twelve years. The Cimbri had crossed the Alps into Italy while Marius was destroying the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae in Gaul the previous year. Catulus had failed to hold the Adige and had withdrawn behind the Po, and northern Italy was open. Marius brought his veterans back and the two armies combined, with Marius in overall command and Sulla serving under Catulus. The battle was fought on a plain in high summer. Marius chose the ground and the time — attacking at midday with the sun and a dry wind behind his own troops and in the faces of men who had come from a northern climate and were fighting in dust. The Cimbric infantry were reportedly chained together in their front ranks to prevent the line breaking, which made retreat impossible when it did. Something over 100,000 are said to have died and 60,000 to have been taken; the women in the wagon laager are described as killing their children and themselves rather than be enslaved. The figures come from Plutarch and are not reliable. The political consequence was the argument afterwards. Catulus and Sulla claimed the greater share and Marius claimed all of it, and the quarrel fed the enmity between Marius and Sulla that produced civil war a decade later. Marius's reformed army had won, and it belonged to its general rather than to Rome. The Roman calendar's month names, the eagle standard as the sole legionary emblem, and the professional soldier all date from this war.
- Year: 101 BCE
- Category: Military
