Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/968

Rh Qoi MARIUS. tlie officiating priest told him that the vicliiiis pie- dicted some great and wonderful events, and there- fore bade him, with full reliance upon the aid of the gods, to execute whatever purpose he had in his mind. Marius regarded this as a voice from heaven ; he was then, as ever, thinking of the consulship, and he therefore resolved at once to apply to Metellus for leave of absence, that he might proceed to Rome and oifer himself as a can- didate. This, however, Metellus, who belonged to a family of the highest nobility, would not grant. He at first tried to dissuade hiui from his presump- tuous attempt, by pointing out the certainty of failure ; and when he could not prevail upon him to abandon his design, he civilly evaded his request by pleading the exigencies of the public service, which required the presence and assistance of his legate. But, as Marius still continued to press him for leave of absence, Metellus had the im- prudence to say to him on one occasion, " You need not be in such a hurry to go to Rome ; it will be quite time enough for you to apply for the consulship along with ray son." The latter, who was then serving with the army, was only a youth of twenty years of age, and could not, therefore, become a candidate for the consulship for upwards of twenty years more. Such an insult was not likely to be forgotten by a man like Marius. He forthwith began to intrigue against his general, and to represent that the war was purposely prolonged by Metellus to gratify his own vanity and love of military power. He openly declared, that with one half of the army he would soon have Jugurtha in chains ; and as all his remarks were carefully reported at Rome, the people began to regard him as the only person competent to finish the war. Metellus, wearied out with his importunity, and perceiving that he was exciting intrigues against liim in the army, at last allowed him to go, but, according to Plutarch, only twelve days before the election. Meeting with a favourable wind, he arrived at Rome in time, and was elected consul with an enthusiasm which bore down all opposition before it. Marius entered upon his first consulship in B. c. 107, at the age of fifty, and received from the people the province of Numidia, although the senate had previously decreed that Metellus should continue in his command. The exultation of Marius knew no bounds. Instead of deserting the popular party, as has been constantly done by popular leaders when they have once been enrolled in the ranks of the aristocracy, Marius gloried in his humble origin, and took every opportunity of in- sulting and trampling upon the party which had for so many years been trying to put him down. He told them that he regarded his election as a victory over their effeminacy and licentiousness, and that he looked upon the consulship as a trophy of his conquest ; and he proudly compared his own wounds and military experience with their indolent habits and ignorance of war. It was a great triumph for the people, and a great humiliation for the aristocracy, and Marius made the latter drink to the dregs the bitter cup which they had to swallow. His was no forgiving temper, but a stern, a fierce, and almost savage one ; and he well earned the reputation of being a " good hater." While engaged in these attacks upon the nobility, he at the same time carried on a levy of troops with great iictivity, and enrolled any persons who MARIUS. chose to offer for the service, however poor and mean, instead of taking them from the five classes according to ancient custom. Having thus col- lected a larger number of troops than had been decreed, he crossed over into Africa. Metellus, not bearing to see the man who had robbed him of the glory of bringing the war to a conclusion, pri- vately sailed from Africa, and left P. Rutilius, one of his legates, to deliver up the army to Marius. As soon as he had received the army, Marius con- tinued the war with great vigour ; but the history of his operations are related elsewhere. [Jugur- tha.] It is sufficient to state here that he was unable to bring the war to a conclusion in the first campaign, and it was not till the beginning of the next year (b. c. lOG) that Jugurtha was betraj^ed by Boochus, king of Mauritania, into the hands of Marius, who sent his quaestor L. Sulla to receive him from the Mauritanian king. Thus it hap- pened that Marius gave to his future enemy and the destroyer of his family and party, the first opportunity of distinguishing himself; and this very circumstance sowed the seeds of the personal hatred which afterwards existed between them, and which was still further increased by political causes. The enemies of Marius claimed for Sulla the glory of the betrayal of Jugurtha, and the young pa- trician nobleman appropriated the credit of it to himself, by always wearing a signet-ring on which he had had engraved the surrender of Jugurtha by Bocchus. " By constantly wearing this ring," says Plutarch, ** Sulla irritated Marius, who was an ambitious and quarrelsome man, and could endure no partner in his glory." Though the war agninst Jugurtha was thus brought to a close, Marius did not immediately return to Italy, but remained nearly two years longer in Numidia, during which time he was pro- bably engaged in completely subjugating the country, and establishing the Roman power on a firmer basis. Meantime, a far greater danger than Rome had experienced since the time of Hannibal Was now threatening the state. Vast numbers of barbarians, such as spread over the south of Europe in the later times of the Roman empire, had col- lected together on the northern side of the Alps, and were ready to pour down upon Italy. The two leading nations of which they consisted are called Cimbri and Teutones, the former of whom are supposed to have been Celts, of the same race as the Cymri (comp. Arnold, Hist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 519, &c. ; Niebuhr, Lectures on Roman History^ vol. i. p. 365), and the latter Gauls ; but the exact parts of Europe from which they came is quite un- certain. To these two great races were added the Ambrones, who are conjectured, though on some- what slight grounds, to have been Ligurians (comp. Plut. Mar. 1 9) and some of the Swiss tribes, such as the Tigurini. The whole host is said to have c6ntained 300,000 fighting men, besides a much larger number of women and children ; and though the exact calculations of the numbers of such bar- barians is little worthy of credit, yet it is certain that there was an immense and almost incredible multitude hanging on the frontiers of Italy. The general alarm at Rome was still further increased by the ill success which had hitherto attended the arms of the republic against these barbarians. Army after army had fallen before them. They were first heard of in B. c. 113, in Noricum, whence they descended into lUyricura, but probably did not