Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
the foremost of those that fled, he led them forward, choosing rather
that the disgrace should fall upon himself than upon his country, and
that they should not seem to fly, but, following their captain, to
make a retreat. The barbarians assaulted and took the fortress on
the other side the Adige; where much admiring the few Romans there
left, who had shown extreme courage, and had fought worthily of their
country, they dismissed them upon terms, swearing them upon their
brazen bull, which was afterwards taken in the battle, and carried,
they say, to Catulus's house, as the chief trophy of victory.
Thus falling in upon the country destitute of defense, they wasted it
on all sides. Marius was presently sent for to the city; where, when
he arrived, every one supposing he would triumph, the senate, too,
unanimously voting it, he himself did not think it convenient;
whether that he were not willing to deprive his soldiers and officers
of their share of the glory, or that to encourage the people in this
juncture, he would leave the honor due to his past victory on trust,
as it were, in the hands of the city and its future fortune;
deferring it now, to receive it afterwards with the greater splendor.
Having left such orders as the occasion required, he hastened to
Catulus, whose drooping spirits he much raised, and sent for his own
army from Gaul: and as soon as it came, passing the river Po, he
endeavored to keep the barbarians out of that part of Italy which
lies south of it.
They professed they were in expectation of the Teutones, and, saying
they wondered they were so long in coming, deferred the battle;
either that they were really ignorant of their defeat, or were
willing to seem so. For they certainly much maltreated those that
brought them such news, and, sending to Marius, required some part of
the country for themselves and their brethren, and cities fit for
them to inhabit. When Marius inquired of the ambassadors who their
brethren were, upon their saying, the Teutones, all that were present
began to laugh; and Marius scoffingly answered them, "Do not trouble
yourselves for your brethren, for we have already provided lands for
them, which they shall possess forever." The ambassadors,
understanding the mockery, broke into insults, and threatened that
the Cimbri would make him pay for this, and the Teutones, too, when
they came. "They are not far off," replied Marius, "and it will be
unkindly done of you to go away before greeting your brethren."
Saying so, he commanded the kings of the Teutones to be brought out.
as they were, in chains; for they were taken by the Sequani among the
Alps, before they could make their escape. This was no sooner made
known to the Cimbri, but they with all expedition came against
Marius, who then lay still and guarded his camp.
It is said, that against this battle, Marius first altered the
construction of the Roman javelins. For before, at the place where
the wood was joined to the iron, it was made fast with two iron pins;
but now Marius let one of them alone as it was, and pulling out the
other, put a weak wooden peg in its place, thus contriving, that when
it was driven into the enemy's shield, it should not stand right out,
but the wooden peg breaking, the iron should bend, and so the javelin
should hold fast by its crooked point, and drag. Boeorix, king of
the Cimbri, came with a small party of horse to the Roman camp, and
challenged Marius to appoint the time and place, where they might
meet and fight for the country. Marius answered, that the Romans
never consulted their enemies when to fight; however, he would
gratify the Cimbri so far; and so they fixed upon the third day
after, and for the place, the plain near Vercellae, which was
convenient enough for the Roman horse, and afforded room for the
enemy to display their numbers.
They observed the time appointed, and drew out their forces against
each other. Catulus commanded twenty thousand three hundred, and
Marius thirty-two thousand, who were placed in the two wings, leaving
Catulus the center. Sylla, who was present at the fight, gives this
account; saying, also, that Marius drew up his army in this order,
because he expected that the armies would meet on the wings, since it
generally happens that in such extensive fronts the center falls
back, and thus he would have the whole victory to himself and his
soldiers, and Catulus would not be even engaged. They tell us, also,
that Catulus himself alleged this in vindication of his honor,
accusing, in various ways, the enviousness of Marius. The infantry
of the Cimbri marched quietly out of their fortifications, having
their flanks equal to their front; every side of the army taking up
thirty furlongs. Their horse, that were in number fifteen thousand,
made a very splendid appearance. They wore helmets, made to resemble
the heads and jaws of wild beasts, and other strange shapes, and
heightening these with plumes of feathers, they made themselves
appear taller than they were. They had breastplates of iron, and
white glittering shields; and for their offensive arms, every one had
two darts, and when they came hand to hand, they used large and heavy
swords.
The cavalry did not fall directly upon the front of the Romans, but,
turning to the right, they endeavored to draw them on in that
direction by little and little, so as to get them between themselves
and their infantry, who were placed in the left wing. The Roman
commanders soon perceived the design, but could not contain the
soldiers; for one happening to shout out that the enemy fled, they
all rushed to pursue them, while the whole barbarian foot came on,
moving like a great ocean. Here Marius, having washed his hands, and
lifting them up towards heaven, vowed an hecatomb to the gods; and
Catulus, too, in the same posture, solemnly promised to consecrate a
temple to the "Fortune of that day." They say, too, that Marius,
having the victim showed to him as he was sacrificing, cried out with
a loud voice, "the victory is mine."
However, in the engagement, according to the accounts of Sylla and
his friends, Marius met with what might be called a mark of divine
displeasure. For a great dust being raised, which (as it might very
probably happen) almost covered both the armies, he, leading on his
forces to the pursuit, missed the enemy, and having passed by their
array, moved, for a good space, up and down the field; meanwhile the
enemy, by chance, engaged with Catulus, and the heat of the battle
was chiefly with him and his men, among whom Sylla says he was;
adding, that the Romans had great advantage of the heat and sun that
shone in the faces of the Cimbri. For they, well able to endure cold,
and having been bred up, (as we observed before,) in cold and shady
countries, were overcome with the excessive heat; they sweated
extremely, and were much out of breath, being forced to hold their
shields before their faces; for the battle was fought not long after
the summer solstice, or, as the Romans reckon, upon the third day
before the new moon of the month now called August, and then
Sextilis. The dust, too, gave the Romans no small addition to their
courage, inasmuch as it hid the enemy. For afar off they could not
discover their number; but every one advancing to encounter those
that were nearest to them, they came to fight hand to hand, before
the sight of so vast a multitude had struck terror into them. They
were so much used to labor, and so well exercised, that in all the
heat and toil of the encounter, not one of them was observed either
to sweat, or to be out of breath; so much so, that Catulus himself,
they say, recorded it in commendation of his soldiers.
Here the greatest part and most valiant of the enemies were cut in
pieces; for those that fought in the front, that they might not break
their ranks, were fast tied to one another, with long chains put
through their belts. But as they pursued those that fled to their
camp, they witnessed a most fearful tragedy; the women, standing in
black clothes on their wagons, slew all that fled, some their
husbands, some their brethren, others their fathers; and strangling
their little children with their own hands, threw them under the
wheels, and the feet of the cattle, and then killed themselves. They
tell of one who hung herself from the end of the pole of a wagon,
with her children tied dangling at her heels. The men, for want of
trees, tied themselves, some to the horns of the oxen, others by the
neck to their legs, that so pricking them on, by the starting and
springing of the beasts, they might be torn and trodden to pieces.
Yet for all they thus massacred themselves, above sixty thousand were
taken prisoners, and those that were slain were said to be twice as
many.
The ordinary plunder was taken by Marius's soldiers, but the other
spoils, as ensigns, trumpets, and the like, they say, were brought to
Catulus's camp; which he used for the best argument that the victory
was obtained by himself and his army. Some dissensions arising, as
was natural, among the soldiers, the deputies from Parma being then
present, were made judges of the controversy; whom Catulus's men
carried about among their slain enemies, and manifestly showed them
that they were slain by their javelins, which were known by the
inscriptions, having Catulus's name cut in the wood. Nevertheless,
the whole glory of the action was ascribed to Marius, on account of
his former victory, and under color of his present authority; the
populace more especially styling him the third founder of their city,
as having diverted a danger no less threatening than was that when
the Gauls sacked Rome; and every one, in their feasts and rejoicings
at home with their wives and children, made offerings and libations
in honor of "The Gods and Marius;" and would have had him solely have
the honor of both the triumphs. However, he did not do so, but
triumphed together with Catulus, being desirous to show his
moderation even in such great circumstances of good fortune, besides,
he was not a little afraid of the soldiers in Catulus's army, lest,
if he should wholly bereave their general of the honor, they should
endeavor to hinder him of his triumph.
Marius was now in his fifth consulship, and he sued for his sixth in
such a manner as never any man before him, had done, even for his
first; he courted the people's favor and ingratiated himself with the
multitude by every sort of complaisance; not only derogating from the
state and dignity of his office, but also belying his own character,
by attempting to seem popular and obliging, for which nature had
never designed him. His passion for distinction did, indeed, they
say, make him exceedingly timorous in any political matters, or in
confronting public assemblies; and that undaunted presence of mind he
always showed in battle against the enemy, forsook him when he was to
address the people; he was easily upset by the most ordinary
commendation or dispraise. It is told of him, that having at one
time given the freedom of the city to one thousand men of Camerinum
who had behaved valiantly in this war, and this seeming to be
illegally done, upon some one or other calling him to an account for
it, he answered, that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a
noise of war; yet he himself appeared to be more disconcerted and
overcome by the clamor made in the assemblies. The need they had of
him in time of war procured him power and dignity; but in civil
affairs, when he despaired of getting the first place, he was forced
to betake himself to the favor of the people, never caring to be a
good man, so that he were but a great one.
He thus became very odious to all the nobility; and, above all, he