Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius was consul seven times, remade the Roman army, and helped destroy the republic he saved. Born around 157 BC at Arpinum to an equestrian family with no consular ancestors, he was a novus homo, a new man, and resented the nobility all his life. He served under Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia, entered politics through the patronage of the Metelli, and then undercut his patron by campaigning for the consulship of 107 BC on the claim that aristocratic incompetence was prolonging the war against Jugurtha in Numidia. He won, took the command, and finished the war — with the capture of Jugurtha managed by his quaestor Sulla, a slight Sulla exploited for the rest of his life. Facing invasion by the Cimbri and Teutones, he was elected consul in absentia and re-elected five consecutive times from 104 BC, which was flatly unconstitutional. He destroyed the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC and the Cimbri at Vercellae in 101 BC. His reforms were fundamental. He opened recruitment to the capite censi, the propertyless, who had nothing to return to and looked to their general for land on discharge — which converted armies into personal followings and made the civil wars of the next century possible. He issued standard equipment, made legionaries carry their own kit, and made the eagle the standard of every legion. His feud with Sulla over the Mithridatic command produced the first march on Rome in 88 BC. He returned in 87 BC with Cinna and massacred his enemies, took a seventh consulship, and died days later in 86 BC.

• Lived: 157 BCE – 86 BCE
• Nationality: Italian
• Roles: general, consul