Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/970

Rh 956 MARIUS. to the vast heap of broken arms which had been collected together, and which was intended as an offering to the gods, horsemen rode up to him, and greeted him with the news of his being elected consul for the fifth time. The Cimbri, in the mean time, had forced their ■way into Italy. The colleague of Marias, Q. Lu- tatius Catulus, despairing of defending the passes of the Tyrol, had taken up a strong position on the Athesis (Adige) ; but in consequence of the terror of his soldiers at the approach of the barbarians, he was obliged to retreat even beyond the Po, thus leaving the whole of the rich plain of Lombardy exposed to the ravages of the barbarians. Marius was thereupon recalled to Rome. The senate offered him a triumph for his victory over the Teutones, which he declined while the Cimbri were in Italy, and proceeded to join Catulus, who now commanded as proconsul, B.C. 101. The army of Marius had also marched into Italy, and with their united forces Marius and Catulus hastened in search of the enemy. They came up with them near Vercellae (Vercelli), westward of Milan, and the decisive battle was fought on the 30th of July, in a plain called the Raudii Campi, the exact posi- tion of which is imcertain, but which must have been in the neighbourhood of Vercellae. The Cimbri met with the same fate as the Teutones ; the slain are again spoken of as between one and two hundred thousand ; and the women, like those of the Teutones, put an end to their lives. The Tigurini, who had been stationed at the passes of the Tyrolese Alps, took to flight and dispersed, as soon as they heard of the destruction of their brethren in arms. The details of this battle are given elsewhere [Catulus, No. 3], where it is shown that there are strong reasons for doubting the account of Plutarch, which assigns the glory of this victory to Catulus. At Rome, at all events, the whole credit was given to Marius ; he was hailed as the saviour of the state ; his name was coupled with the gods in the libations and at ban- quets, and he received the title of third founder of Rome. He celebrated his victories by the most brilliant triumph, in which Catulus, however, was allowed to share. Hitherto the career of Marius had been a glorious one, and it would have been fortunate for him, as Niebulir has remarked, if he had died on the day of his triumph. The remainder of his life is full of horrors, and brings out into prominent relief the worst features of his character. As the time for the consular elections approached, Marius was eager to obtain this dignity for the sixth time, and was therefore obliged, contrary to his inclination and character, to play the part of a popular man, and to court the favour of the electors. He wished to be first in peace as well as in war, and to rule the state as well as the army. But he did not possess the qualities requisite for a popular leader at Home ; he had no power of oratory, and lost his presence of mind in the noise and shouts of the popular assemblies. In order to secure his election, he entered into close connection with two of the worst demagogues that ever appeared at Rome, Satur- ninus and Glaucia, the former of whom was a can- didate for the tribunate, and the latter for the prae- torship, and by their means, as well as by bribing the tribes, he secured his election to the consulship for the sixth time. Saturninus and Glaucia also carried their elections ; and the former, in order to MARIUS. gam the tribunate, did not hesitate to assassinate A. Nonius, because he was a rival candidate. Marius in his sixth consulship (b.c. 100) was guilty of an act of the deepest perfidy, in order to ruin his old enemy Metellus. Saturninus had pro- posed an agrarian law [Satukninus], and had added to it the clause, that if the people passed the law, the senate should swear obedience to it within five days, and whoever refused to do so should be expelled from the senate, and pay a fine of twenty talents. In order to entrap Metellus, Marius got up in his place in the senate, and de- clared that he would never take the oath, and Metellus made the same declaration ; but when the tribune summoned the senators to the rostra to comply with the demand of the law, Marius, to the astonishment of all, immediately took the oath, and advised the senate to follow his example. Metellus alone refused compliance, and was in consequence banished from the city. The next act of Marius was one of equal treachery. He had availed him- self of the services of Saturninus to gain the con- sulship and ruin Metellus, and had supported him in all his violent and unconstitutional proceedings ; but when he found that Saturninus had gone too far, and had excited a storm of universal indig- nation and hatred, Marius deserted his companion in guilt ; and being applied to by the senate to crush Saturninus and his crew, he complied with the request. Invested by the senate with absolute power, by the well-known decree, Fideret, nequid res puhlica detrimenti caperet, he collected an armed force, and laid siege to the capitol, where Satur- ninus, Glaucia, and their confederates, had taken refuge. Marius cut off the pipes which supplied the capitol with water, and obliged the conspirators to surrender at discretion ; and though he made some efforts to save their lives, they were put to death immediately they had descended into the forum. By the share which he had taken in this transaction, Marius lost the favour of a great part of the people, without gaining that of the senate ; and, accordingly, when the time for the election of the censors came, he did not venture to offer him- self as a candidate, but allowed persons of far in- ferior pretensions to gain this dignity, to which his rank and position in the state would seem to have entitled him. The sixth consulship of Marius ended in disgrace and shame. In the following year (b. c. 99) he left Rome, in order that he might not witness the return of Metellus from exile, a measure which he had been unable to prevent, and set sail for Cap- padocia and Galatia, under the pretence of offering sacrifices which he had vowed to the Great Mother. He had however a deeper purpose in visiting these countries. Finding that he was losing his influence and popularity while the republic was in a state of peace, he was anxious to recover his lost ground by gaining fresh victories in war, and accordingly re- paired to the court of Mithridates, in hopes of rousing him to make war upon the Romans. It was during his absence that he was elected augur. Marius on his return to Rome built a house near the forum, that the people might not have to come so far to pay their respects to him ; but all his efforts were vain to regain his lost popularity ; and the hopes he had entertained of obtaining the command of the war in Asia were also frustrated by the ability with which Sulla repressed all disturb- ances in the East in B. c. 92. The disappointment