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from
Plutarch
of Chaeronea
The
Parallel Lives
CAIUS MARIUS
We are altogether ignorant of any third name
of Caius Marius; as also of Quintus Sertorius,
that possessed himself of Spain; or of Lucius
Mummius that destroyed Corinth, though this last
was surnamed Achaicus from his conquests, as
Scipio was called Africanus, and Metellus,
Macedonicus. Hence Posidonius draws his chief
argument to confute those that hold the third to
be the Roman proper name, as Camillus, Marcellus,
Cato; as in this case, those that had but two
names would have no proper name at all. He did
not, however, observe that by his own reasoning
he must rob the women absolutely of their names;
for none of them have the first, which Posidonius
imagines the proper name with the Romans. Of the
other two, one was common to the whole family,
Pompeii, Manlii, Cornelii, (as with us Greeks,
the Heraclidae, and Pelopidae,) the other
titular, and personal, taken either from their
natures, or actions, or bodily characteristics,
as Macrinus, Torquatus, Sylla; such as are
Mnemon, Grypus, or Callinicus among the Greeks.
On the subject of names, however, the
irregularity of custom, would we insist upon it,
might furnish us with discourse enough.
There is a likeness of Marius in stone at
Ravenna, in Gaul, which I myself saw, quite
corresponding with that roughness and harshness
of character that is ascribed to him. Being
naturally valiant and warlike, and more
acquainted also with the discipline of the camp
than of the city, he could not moderate his
passion when in authority. He is said never to
have either studied Greek, or to have made use of
that language in any matter of consequence;
thinking it ridiculous to bestow time in that
learning, the teachers of which were little
better than slaves. So after his second triumph,
when at the dedication of a temple he presented
some shows after the Greek fashion, coming into
the theater, he only sat down and immediately
departed. And, accordingly, as Plato often used
to say to Xenocrates the philosopher, who was
thought to show more than ordinary harshness of
disposition, "I pray you, good Xenocrates,
sacrifice to the Graces;" so if any could
have persuaded Marius to pay his devotions to the
Greek Muses and Graces, he had never brought his
incomparable actions, both in war and peace, to
so unworthy a conclusion, or wrecked himself, so
to say, upon an old age of cruelty and
vindictiveness, through passion, ill-timed
ambition, and insatiable cupidity. But this will
further appear by and by from the facts.
He was born of parents altogether obscure and
indigent, who supported themselves by their daily
labor; his father of the same name with himself,
his mother called Fulcinia. He had spent a
considerable part of his life before he saw and
tasted the pleasures of the city; having passed
previously in Cirrhaeaton, a village of the
territory of Arpinum, a life, compared with city
delicacies, rude and unrefined, yet temperate,
and conformable to the ancient Roman severity. He
first served as a soldier in the war against the
Celtiberians, when Scipio Africanus besieged
Numantia; where he signalized himself to his
general by courage far above his comrades, and,
particularly, by his cheerfully complying with
Scipio's reformation of his army, before almost
ruined by pleasures and luxury. It is stated,
too, that he encountered and vanquished an enemy
in single combat, in his general's sight. In
consequence of all this he had several honors
conferred upon him; and once when at an
entertainment a question arose about commanders,
and one of the company (whether really desirous
to know, or only in complaisance) asked Scipio
where the Romans, after him, should obtain such
another general, Scipio, gently clapping Marius
on the shoulder as he sat next him, replied,
"Here, perhaps." So promising was his
early youth of his future greatness, and so
discerning was Scipio to detect the distant
future in the present first beginnings. It was
this speech of Scipio, we are told, which, like a
divine admonition, chiefly emboldened Marius to
aspire to a political career. He sought, and by
the assistance of Caecilius Metellus, of whose
family he as well as his father were dependents,
obtained the office of tribune of the people. In
which place, when he brought forward a bill for
the regulation of voting, which seemed likely to
lessen the authority of the great men in the
courts of justice, the consul Cotta opposed him,
and persuaded the senate to declare against the
law, and call Marius to account for it. He,
however, when this decree was prepared, coming
into the senate, did not behave like a young man
newly and undeservedly advanced to authority,
but, assuming all the courage that his future
actions would have warranted, threatened Cotta
unless he recalled the decree, to throw him into
prison. And on his turning to Metellus, and
asking his vote, and Metellus rising up to concur
with the consul, Marius, calling for the officer
outside, commanded him to take Metellus into
custody. He appealed to the other tribunes, but
not one of them assisted him; so that the senate,
immediately complying, withdrew the decree.
Marius came forth with glory to the people and
confirmed his law, and was henceforth esteemed a
man of undaunted courage and assurance, as well
as a vigorous opposer of the senate in favor of
the commons. But he immediately lost their
opinion of him by a contrary action; for when a
law for the distribution of corn was proposed, he
vigorously and successfully resisted it, making
himself equally honored by both parties, in
gratifying neither, contrary to the public
interest.
After his tribuneship, he was candidate for
the office of chief aedile; there being two
orders of them, one the curules, from the stool
with crooked feet on which they sat when they
performed their duty; the other and inferior,
called aediles of the people. As soon as they
have chosen the former, they give their voices
again for the latter. Marius, finding he was
likely to be put by for the greater, immediately
changed and stood for the less; but because he
seemed too forward and hot, he was disappointed
of that also. And yet though he was in one day
twice frustrated of his desired preferment,
(which never happened to any before,) yet he was
not at all discouraged, but a little while after
sought for the praetorship, and was nearly
suffering a repulse, and then, too, though he was
returned last of all, was nevertheless accused of
bribery.
Cassius Sabaco's servant, who was observed
within the rails among those that voted, chiefly
occasioned the suspicion, as Sabaco was an
intimate friend of Marius; but on being called to
appear before the judges, he alleged, that being
thirsty by reason of the heat, he called for cold
water, and that his servant brought him a cup,
and as soon as he had drunk, departed; he was,
however, excluded from the senate by the
succeeding censors, and not undeservedly either,
as was thought, whether it might be for his false
evidence, or his want of temperance. Caius
Herennius was also cited to appear as evidence,
but pleaded that it was not customary for a
patron, (the Roman word for protector,) to
witness against his clients, and that the law
excused them from that harsh duty; and both
Marius and his parents had always been clients to
the family of the Herennii. And when the judges
would have accepted of this plea, Marius himself
opposed it, and told Herennius, that when he was
first created magistrate he ceased to be his
client; which was not altogether true. For it is
not every office that frees clients and their
posterity from the observance due to their
patrons, but only those to which the law has
assigned a curule chair. Notwithstanding, though
at the beginning of the suit it went somewhat
hard with Marius, and he found the judges no way
favorable to him; yet, at last, their voices
being equal, contrary to all expectation, he was
acquitted.
In his praetorship he did not get much honor,
yet after it he obtained the further Spain; which
province he is said to have cleared of robbers,
with which it was much infested, the old
barbarous habits still prevailing, and the
Spaniards, in those days, still regarding robbery
as a piece of valor. In the city he had neither
riches nor eloquence to trust to, with which the
leading men of the time obtained power with the
people, but his vehement disposition, his
indefatigable labors, and his plain way of
living, of themselves gained him esteem and
influence; so that he made an honorable match
with Julia, of the distinguished family of the
Caesars, to whom that Caesar was nephew who was
afterwards so great among the Romans, and, in
some degree, from his relationship, made Marius
his example, as in his life we have observed.
Marius is praised for both temperance and
endurance, of which latter he gave a decided
instance in an operation of surgery. For having,
as it seems, both his legs full of great tumors,
and disliking the deformity, he determined to put
himself into the hands of an operator; when,
without being tied, he stretched out one of his
legs, and silently, without changing countenance,
endured most excessive torments in the cutting,
never either flinching or complaining; but when
the surgeon went to the other, he declined to
have it done, saying, "I see the cure is not
worth the pain."
The consul Caecilius Metellus. being declared
general in the war against Jugurtha in Africa,
took with him Marius for lieutenant; where, eager
himself to do great deeds and services that would
get him distinction, he did not, like others,
consult Metellus's glory and the serving his
interest, and attributing his honor of
lieutenancy not to Metellus, but to fortune,
which had presented him with a proper opportunity
and theater of great actions, he exerted his
utmost courage. That war, too, affording several
difficulties, he neither declined the greatest,
nor disdained undertaking the least of them; but
surpassing his equals in counsel and conduct, and
matching the very common soldiers in labor and
abstemiousness, he gained great popularity with
them; as indeed any voluntary partaking with
people in their labor is felt as an easing of
that labor, as it seems to take away the
constraint and necessity of it. It is the most
obliging sight in the world to the Roman soldier
to see a commander eat the same bread as himself,
or lie upon an ordinary bed, or assist the work
in the drawing a trench and raising a bulwark.
For they do not so much admire those that confer
honors and riches upon them, as those that
partake of the same labor and danger with
themselves; but love them better that will
vouchsafe to join in their work, than those that
encourage their idleness.
Marius thus employed, and thus winning the
affections of the soldiers, before long filled
both Africa and Rome with his fame, and some,
too, wrote home from the army that the war with
Africa would never be brought to a conclusion,
unless they chose Caius Marius consul. All which
was evidently unpleasing to Metellus; but what
more especially grieved him was the calamity of
Turpillius. This Turpillius had, from his
ancestors, been a friend of Metellus, and kept up
constant hospitality with him; and was now
serving in the war, in command of the smiths and
carpenters of the army. Having the charge of a
garrison in Vaga, a considerable city, and
trusting too much to the inhabitants, because he
treated them civilly and kindly, he unawares fell
into the enemy's hands. They received Jugurtha
into the city; yet, nevertheless, at their
request, Turpillius was dismissed safe and
without receiving any injury; whereupon he was
accused of betraying it to the enemy. Marius,
being one of the council of war, was not only
violent against him himself, but also incensed
most of the others, so that Metellus was forced,
much against his will, to put him to death. Not
long after the accusation proved false, and when
others were comforting Metellus, who took heavily
the loss of his friend, Marius, rather insulting
and arrogating it to himself, boasted in all
companies that he had involved Metellus in the
guilt of putting his friend to death.
Henceforward they were at open variance; and
it is reported that Metellus once, when Marius
was present, said, insultingly, "You, sir,
design to leave us to go home and stand for the
consulship, and will not be content to wait and
be consul with this boy of mine?" Metellus's
son being a mere boy at the time. Yet for all
this Marius being very importunate to be gone,
after several delays, he was dismissed about
twelve days before the election of consuls; and
performed that long journey from the camp to the
seaport of Utica, in two days and a night, and
there doing sacrifice before he went on
shipboard, it is said the augur told him, that
heaven promised him some incredible good fortune,
and such as was beyond all expectation. Marius,
not a little elated with this good omen, began
his voyage, and in four days, with a favorable
wind, passed the sea; he was welcomed with great
joy by the people, and being brought into the
assembly by one of the tribunes, sued for the
consulship, inveighing in all ways against
Metellus, and promising either to slay Jugurtha
or take him alive.
He was elected triumphantly, and at once
proceeded to levy soldiers, contrary both to law
and custom, enlisting slaves and poor people;
whereas former commanders never accepted of such,
but bestowed arms, like other favors, as a matter
of distinction, on persons who had the proper
qualification, a man's property being thus a sort
of security for his good behavior. These were not
the only occasions of ill-will against Marius;
some haughty speeches, uttered with great
arrogance and contempt, gave great offense to the
nobility; as, for example, his saying that he had
carried off the consulship as a spoil from the
effeminacy of the wealthy and high-born citizens,
and telling the people that he gloried in wounds
he had himself received for them, as much as
others did in the monuments of dead men and
images of their ancestors. Often speaking of the
commanders that had been unfortunate in Africa,
naming Bestia, for example, and Albinus, men of
very good families, but unfit for war, and who
had miscarried through want of experience, he
asked the people about him, if they did not think
that the ancestors of these nobles had much
rather have left a descendant like him, since
they themselves grew famous not by nobility, but
by their valor and great actions? This he did not
say merely out of vanity and arrogance, or that
he were willing, without any advantage, to offend
the nobility; but the people always delighting in
affronts and scurrilous contumelies against the
senate, making boldness of speech their measure
of greatness of spirit, continually encouraged
him in it, and strengthened his inclination not
to spare persons of repute, so he might gratify
the multitude.
As soon as he arrived again in Africa,
Metellus, no longer able to control his feelings
of jealousy, and his indignation that now when he
had really finished the war, and nothing was left
but to secure the person of Jugurtha, Marius,
grown great merely through his ingratitude to
him, should come to bereave him both of his
victory and triumph, could not bear to have any
interview with him; but retired himself, whilst
Rutilius, his lieutenant, surrendered up the army
to Marius, whose conduct, however, in the end of
the war, met with some sort of retribution, as
Sylla deprived him of the glory of the action, as
he had done Metellus. I shall state the
circumstances briefly here, as they are given at
large in the life of Sylla. Bocchus was king of
the more distant barbarians, and was
father-in-law to Jugurtha, yet sent him little or
no assistance in his war, professing fears of his
unfaithfulness, and really jealous of his growing
power; but after Jugurtha fled, and in his
distress came to him as his last hope, he
received him as a suppliant, rather because
ashamed to do otherwise, than out of real
kindness; and when he had him in his power, he
openly entreated Marius on his behalf, and
interceded for him with bold words, giving out
that he would by no means deliver him. Yet
privately designing to betray him, he sent for
Lucius Sylla, quaestor to Marius, and who had on
a previous occasion befriended Bocchus in the
war. When Sylla, relying on his word, came to
him, the African began to doubt and repent of his
purpose, and for several days was unresolved with
himself, whether he should deliver Jugurtha or
retain Sylla; at length he fixed upon his former
treachery, and put Jugurtha alive into Sylla's
possession. Thus was the first occasion given of
that fierce and implacable hostility which so
nearly ruined the whole Roman empire. For many
that envied Marius, attributed the success wholly
to Sylla; and Sylla himself got a seal made on
which was engraved Bocchus betraying Jugurtha to
him, and constantly used it, irritating the hot
and jealous temper of Marius, who was naturally
greedy of distinction, and quick to resent any
claim to share in his glory, and whose enemies
took care to promote the quarrel, ascribing the
beginning and chief business of the war to
Metellus, and its conclusion to Sylla; that so
the people might give over admiring and esteeming
Marius as the worthiest person.
But these envyings and calumnies were soon
dispersed and cleared away from Marius, by the
danger that threatened Italy from the west; when
the city, in great need of a good commander,
sought about whom she might set at the helm, to
meet the tempest of so great a war, no one would
have anything to say to any members of noble or
potent families who offered themselves for the
consulship, and Marius, though then absent, was
elected.
Jugurtha's apprehension was only just known,
when the news of the invasion of the Teutones and
Cimbri began. The accounts at first exceeded all
credit, as to the number and strength of the
approaching army; but in the end, report proved
much inferior to the truth, as they were three
hundred thousand effective fighting men, besides
a far greater number of women and children. They
professed to be seeking new countries to sustain
these great multitudes, and cities where they
might settle and inhabit, in the same way as they
had heard the Celti before them had driven out
the Tyrrhenians, and possessed themselves of the
best part of Italy. Having had no commerce with
the southern nations, and traveling over a wide
extent of country, no man knew what people they
were, or whence they came, that thus like a cloud
burst over Gaul and Italy; yet by their gray eyes
and the largeness of their stature, they were
conjectured to be some of the German races
dwelling by the northern sea; besides that, the
Germans call plunderers Cimbri.
There are some that say, that the country of
the Celti, in its vast size and extent, reaches
from the furthest sea and the arctic regions to
the lake Maeotis eastward, and to that part of
Scythia which is near Pontus, and that there the
nations mingle together; that they did not swarm
out of their country all at once, or on a sudden,
but advancing by force of arms, in the summer
season, every year, in the course of time they
crossed the whole continent. And thus, though
each party had several appellations, yet the
whole army was called by the common name of
Celto-Scythians. Others say that the Cimmerii,
anciently known to the Greeks, were only a small
part of the nation, who were driven out upon some
quarrel among the Scythians, and passed all along
from the lake Maeotis to Asia, under the conduct
of one Lygdamis; and that the greater and more
warlike part of them still inhabit the remotest
regions lying upon the outer ocean. These, they
say, live in a dark and woody country hardly
penetrable by the sunbeams, the trees are so
close and thick, extending into the interior as
far as the Hercynian forest; and their position
on the earth is under that part of heaven, where
the pole is so elevated, that by the declination
of the parallels, the zenith of the inhabitants
seems to be but little distant from it; and that
their days and nights being almost of an equal
length, they divide their year into one of each.
This was Homer's occasion for the story of
Ulysses calling up the dead, and from this region
the people, anciently called Cimmerii, and
afterwards, by an easy change, Cimbri, came into
Italy. All this, however, is rather conjecture
than an authentic history.
Their numbers, most writers agree, were not
less, but rather greater than was reported. They
were of invincible strength and fierceness in
their wars, and hurried into battle with the
violence of a devouring flame; none could
withstand them; all they assaulted became their
prey. Several of the greatest Roman commanders
with their whole armies, that advanced for the
defense of Transalpine Gaul, were ingloriously
overthrown, and, indeed, by their faint
resistance, chiefly gave them the impulse of
marching towards Rome. Having vanquished all they
had met, and found abundance of plunder, they
resolved to settle themselves nowhere till they
should have razed the city, and wasted all Italy.
The Romans, being from all parts alarmed with
this news, sent for Marius to undertake the war,
and nominated him the second time consul, though
the law did not permit any one that was absent,
or that had not waited a certain time after his
first consulship, to be again created. But the
people rejected all opposers; for they considered
this was not the first time that the law gave
place to the common interest; nor the present
occasion less urgent than that when, contrary to
law, they made Scipio consul, not in fear for the
destruction of their own city, but desiring the
ruin of that of the Carthaginians.
Thus it was decided; and Marius, bringing over
his legions out of Africa on the very first day
of January, which the Romans count the beginning
of the year, received the consulship, and then,
also, entered in triumph, showing Jugurtha a
prisoner to the people, a sight they had
despaired of ever beholding, nor could any, so
long as he lived, hope to reduce the enemy in
Africa; so fertile in expedients was he to adapt
himself to every turn of fortune, and so bold as
well as subtle. When, however, he was led in
triumph, it is said that he fell distracted, and
when he was afterwards thrown into prison, where
some tore off his clothes by force, and others,
whilst they struggled for his golden ear-ring,
with it pulled off the tip of his ear, and when
he was, after this, cast naked into the dungeon,
in his amazement and confusion, with a ghastly
laugh, he cried out, "O Hercules! how cold
your bath is!" Here for six days struggling
with hunger, and to the very last minute desirous
of life, he was overtaken by the just reward of
his villainies. In this triumph was brought, as
is stated, of gold three thousand and seven
pounds weight, of silver bullion five thousand
seven hundred and seventy-five, of money in gold
and silver coin two hundred and eighty-seven
thousand drachmas. After the solemnity, Marius
called together the senate in the capitol, and
entered, whether through inadvertency or
unbecoming exultation with his good fortune, in
his triumphal habit; but presently observing the
senate offended at it, went out, and returned in
his ordinary purple-bordered robe.
On the expedition he carefully disciplined and
trained his army whilst on their way, giving them
practice in long marches, and running of every
sort, and compelling every man to carry his own
baggage and prepare his own victuals; insomuch
that thenceforward laborious soldiers, who did
their work silently without grumbling, had the
name of "Marius's mules." Some,
however, think the proverb had a different
occasion; that when Scipio besieged Numantia, and
was careful to inspect not only their horses and
arms, but their mules and carriages too, and see
how well equipped and in what readiness each
one's was, Marius brought forth his horse which
he had fed extremely well, and a mule in better
case, stronger and gentler than those of others;
that the general was very well pleased, and often
afterwards mentioned Marius's beasts; and that
hence the soldiers, when speaking jestingly in
the praise of a drudging, laborious fellow,
called him Marius's mule.
But to proceed; very great good fortune seemed
to attend Marius, for by the enemy in a manner
changing their course, and falling first upon
Spain, he had time to exercise his soldiers, and
confirm their courage, and, which was most
important, to show them what he himself was. For
that fierce manner of his in command, and
inexorableness in punishing, when his men became
used not to do amiss or disobey, was felt to be
wholesome and advantageous, as well as just, and
his violent spirit, stern voice, and harsh
aspect, which in a little while grew familiar to
them, they esteemed terrible not to themselves,
but only to their enemies. But his uprightness in
judging, more especially pleased the soldiers,
one remarkable instance of which is as follows.
One Caius Lusius, his own nephew, had a command
under him in the army, a man not in other
respects of bad character, but shamefully
licentious with young men. He had one young man
under his command called Trebonius, with whom
notwithstanding many solicitations he could never
prevail. At length one night, he sent a messenger
for him, and Trebonius came, as it was not lawful
for him to refuse when he was sent for, and being
brought into his tent, when Lusius began to use
violence with him, he drew his sword and ran him
through. This was done whilst Marius was absent.
When he returned, he appointed Trebonius a time
for his trial, where, whilst many accused him,
and not any one appeared in his defense, he
himself boldly related the whole matter, and
brought witness of his previous conduct to
Lusius, who had frequently offered him
considerable presents. Marius, admiring his
conduct and much pleased, commanded the garland,
the usual Roman reward of valor, to be brought,
and himself crowned Trebonius with it, as having
performed an excellent action, at a time that
very much wanted such good examples.
This being told at Rome, proved no small help
to Marius towards his third consulship; to which
also conduced the expectation of the barbarians
at the summer season, the people being unwilling
to trust their fortunes with any other general
but him. However, their arrival was not so early
as was imagined, and the time of Marius's
consulship was again expired. The election coming
on, and his colleague being dead, he left the
command of the army to Manius Aquilius, and
hastened to Rome, where, several eminent persons
being candidates for the consulship, Lucius
Saturninus, who more than any of the other
tribunes swayed the populace, and of whom Marius
himself was very observant, exerted his eloquence
with the people, advising them to choose Marius
consul. He playing the modest part, and
professing to decline the office, Saturninus
called him traitor to his country, if, in such
apparent danger, he would avoid command. And
though it was not difficult to discover that he
was merely helping Marius in putting this
presence upon the people, yet, considering that
the present juncture much required his skill, and
his good fortune too, they voted him the fourth
time consul, and made Catulus Lutatius his
colleague, a man very much esteemed by the
nobility, and not unagreeable to the commons.
Marius, having notice of the enemy's approach,
with all expedition passed the Alps, and pitching
his camp by the river Rhone, took care first for
plentiful supplies of victuals; lest at any time
he should be forced to fight at a disadvantage
for want of necessaries. The carriage of
provision for the army from the sea, which was
formerly long and expensive, he made speedy and
easy. For the mouth of the Rhone, by the influx
of the sea, being barred and almost filled up
with sand and mud mixed with clay, the passage
there became narrow, difficult, and dangerous for
the ships that brought their provisions. Hither,
therefore, bringing his army, then at leisure, he
drew a great trench; and by turning the course of
great part of the river, brought it to a
convenient point on the shore where the water was
deep enough to receive ships of considerable
burden, and where there was a calm and easy
opening to the sea. And this still retains the
name it took from him.
The enemy dividing themselves into two parts,
the Cimbri arranged to go against Catulus higher
up through the country of the Norici, and to
force that passage; the Teutones and Ambrones to
march against Marius by the sea-side through
Liguria. The Cimbri were a considerable time in
doing their part. But the Teutones and Ambrones
with all expedition passing over the interjacent
country, soon came in sight, in numbers beyond
belief, of a terrible aspect, and uttering
strange cries and shouts. Taking up a great part
of the plain with their camp, they challenged
Marius to battle; he seemed to take no notice of
them, but kept his soldiers within their
fortifications, and sharply reprehended those
that were too forward and eager to show their
courage, and who, out of passion, would needs be
fighting, calling them traitors to their country,
and telling them they were not now to think of
the glory of triumphs and trophies, but rather
how they might repel such an impetuous tempest of
war, and save Italy.
Thus he discoursed privately with his officers
and equals, but placed the soldiers by turns upon
the bulwarks to survey the enemy, and so made
them familiar with their shape and voice, which
were indeed altogether extravagant and barbarous,
and he caused them to observe their arms, and way
of using them, so that in a little time what at
first appeared terrible to their apprehensions,
by often viewing, became familiar. For he very
rationally supposed, that the strangeness of
things often makes them seem formidable when they
are not so; and that by our better acquaintance,
even things which are really terrible, lose much
of their frightfulness. This daily converse not
only diminished some of the soldiers' fear, but
their indignation warmed and inflamed their
courage, when they heard the threats and
insupportable insolence of their enemies; who not
only plundered and depopulated all the country
round, but would even contemptuously and
confidently attack the ramparts.
Complaints of the soldiers now began to come
to Marius's ears. "What effeminacy does
Marius see in us, that he should thus like women
lock us up from encountering our enemies? Come
on, let us show ourselves men, and ask him if he
expects others to fight for Italy; and means
merely to employ us in servile offices, when he
would dig trenches, cleanse places of mud and
dirt, and turn the course of rivers? It was to do
such works as these, it seems, that he gave us
all our long training; he will return home, and
boast of these great performances of his
consulships to the people. Does the defeat of
Carbo and Caepio, who were vanquished by the
enemy, affright him? Surely they were much
inferior to Marius both in glory and valor, and
commanded a much weaker army; at the worst, it is
better to be in action, though we suffer for it
like them, than to sit idle spectators of the
destruction of our allies and companions."
Marius, not a little pleased to hear this, gently
appeased them, pretending that he did not
distrust their valor, but that he took his
measures as to the time and place of victory from
some certain oracles.
And, in fact, he used solemnly to carry about
in a litter, a Syrian woman, called Martha, a
supposed prophetess, and to do sacrifice by her
directions. She had formerly been driven away by
the senate, to whom she addressed herself,
offering to inform them about these affairs, and
to foretell future events; and after this betook
herself to the women, and gave them proofs of her
skill, especially Marius's wife, at whose feet
she sat when she was viewing a contest of
gladiators, and correctly foretold which of them
should overcome. She was for this and the like
predictings sent by her to Marius and the army,
where she was very much looked up to, and, for
the most part, carried about in a litter. When
she went to sacrifice, she wore a purple robe
lined and buckled up, and had in her hand a
little spear trimmed with ribbons and garlands.
This theatrical show made many question, whether
Marius really gave any credit to her himself, or
only played the counterfeit, when he showed her
publicly, to impose upon the soldiers.
What, however, Alexander the Myndian relates
about the vultures, does really deserve
admiration; that always before Marius's victories
there appeared two of them, and accompanied the
army, which were known by their brazen collars,
(the soldiers having caught them and put these
about their necks, and so let them go, from which
time they in a manner knew and saluted the
soldiers,) and whenever these appeared in their
marches, they used to rejoice at it, and thought
themselves sure of some success. Of the many
other prodigies that then were taken notice of,
the greater part were but of the ordinary stamp;
it was, however, reported that at Ameria and
Tuder, two cities in Italy, there were seen at
nights in the sky, flaming darts and shields, now
waved about, and then again clashing against one
another, all in accordance with the postures and
motions soldiers use in fighting; that at length
one party retreating, and the other pursuing,
they all disappeared westward. Much about the
same time came Bataces, one of Cybele's priests,
from Pesinus, and reported how the goddess had
declared to him out of her oracle, that the
Romans should obtain the victory. The senate
giving credit to him, and voting the goddess a
temple to be built in hopes of the victory, Aulus
Pompeius, a tribune, prevented Bataces, when he
would have gone and told the people this same
story, calling him impostor, and ignominiously
pulling him off the hustings; which action in the
end was the main thing that gained credit for the
man's story, for Aulus had scarce dissolved the
assembly, and returned home, when a violent fever
seized him, and it was matter of universal
remark, and in everybody's mouth, that he died
within a week after.
Now the Teutones, whilst Marius lay quiet,
ventured to attack his camp; from whence,
however, being encountered with showers of darts,
and losing several of their men, they determined
to march forward, hoping to reach the other side
of the Alps without opposition, and, packing up
their baggage, passed securely by the Roman camp,
where the greatness of their number was
especially made evident by the long time they
took in their march, for they were said to be six
days continually going on in passing Marius's
fortifications; they marched pretty near, and
revilingly asked the Romans if they would send
any commands by them to their wives, for they
would shortly be with them. As soon as they were
passed and had gone on a little distance ahead,
Marius began to move, and follow them at his
leisure, always encamping at some small distance
from them; choosing also strong positions, and
carefully fortifying them, that he might quarter
with safety. Thus they marched till they came to
the place called Sextilius's Waters, from whence
it was but a short way before being amidst the
Alps, and here Marius put himself in readiness
for the encounter.
He chose a place for his camp of considerable
strength, but where there was a scarcity of
water; designing, it is said, by this means,
also, to put an edge on his soldiers' courage;
and when several were not a little distressed,
and complained of thirst, pointing to a river
that ran near the enemy's camp:
"There," said he, "you may have
drink, if you will buy it with your blood."
"Why, then," replied they, "do you
not lead us to them, before our blood is dried up
in us?" He answered, in a softer tone,
"let us first fortify our camp," and
the soldiers, though not without repining,
proceeded to obey. Now a great company of their
boys and camp-followers, having neither drink for
themselves nor for their horses, went down to
that river; some taking axes and hatchets, and
some, too, swords and darts with their pitchers,
resolving to have water though they fought for
it. These were first encountered by a small party
of the enemies; for most of them had just
finished bathing, and were eating and drinking,
and several were still bathing, the country
thereabouts abounding in hot springs; so that the
Romans partly fell upon them whilst they were
enjoying themselves, and occupied with the novel
sights and pleasantness of the place. Upon
hearing the shouts, greater numbers still joining
in the fight, it was not a little difficult for
Marius to contain his soldiers, who were afraid
of losing the camp-servants; and the more warlike
part of the enemies, who had overthrown Manlius
and Caepio, (they were called Ambrones, and were
in number, one with another, above thirty
thousand,) taking the alarm, leaped up and
hurried to arms.
These, though they had just been gorging
themselves with food, and were excited and
disordered with drink, nevertheless did not
advance with an unruly step, or in mere senseless
fury, nor were their shouts mere inarticulate
cries; but clashing their arms in concert, and
keeping time as they leapt and bounded onward,
they continually repeated their own name,
"Ambrones!" either to encourage one
another, or to strike the greater terror into
their enemies. Of all the Italians in Marius's
army, the Ligurians were the first that charged;
and when they caught the word of the enemy's
confused shout, they, too, returned the same, as
it was an ancient name also in their country, the
Ligurians always using it when speaking of their
descent. This acclamation, bandied from one army
to the other before they joined, served to rouse
and heighten their fury, while the men on either
side strove, with all possible vehemence, the one
to overshout the other.
The river disordered the Ambrones; before they
could draw up all their army on the other side of
it, the Ligurians presently fell upon the van,
and began to charge them hand to hand. The
Romans, too, coming to their assistance, and from
the higher ground pouring upon the enemy,
forcibly repelled them, and the most of them (one
thrusting another into the river) were there
slain, and filled it with their blood and dead
bodies. Those that got safe over, not daring to
make head, were slain by the Romans, as they fled
to their camp and wagons; where the women meeting
them with swords and hatchets, and making a
hideous outcry, set upon those that fled as well
as those that pursued, the one as traitors, the
other as enemies; and, mixing themselves with the
combatants, with their bare arms pulling away the
Romans' shields, and laying hold on their swords,
endured the wounds and slashing of their bodies
to the very last, with undaunted resolution. Thus
the battle seems to have happened at that river
rather by accident than by the design of the
general.
After the Romans were retired from the great
slaughter of the Ambrones, night came on; but the
army was not indulged, as was the usual custom,
with songs of victory, drinking in their tents,
and mutual entertainments, and (what is most
welcome to soldiers after successful fighting)
quiet sleep, but they passed that night, above
all others, in fears and alarm. For their camp
was without either rampart or palisade, and there
remained thousands upon thousands of their
enemies yet unconquered; to whom were joined as
many of the Ambrones as escaped. There were heard
from these, all through the night, wild
bewailings, nothing like the sighs and groans of
men, but a sort of wild-beastlike howling and
roaring, joined with threats and lamentations
rising from the vast multitude, and echoed among
the neighboring hills and hollow banks of the
river. The whole plain was filled with hideous
noise, insomuch that the Romans were not a little
afraid, and Marius himself was apprehensive of a
confused tumultuous night engagement. But the
enemy did not stir either this night or the next
day, but were employed in disposing and drawing
themselves up to the greatest advantage.
Of this occasion Marius made good use; for
there were beyond the enemies some wooded ascents
and deep valleys thickly set with trees, whither
he sent Claudius Marcellus, secretly, with three
thousand regular soldiers, giving him orders to
post them in ambush there, and show themselves at
the rear of the enemies, when the fight was
begun. The others, refreshed with victuals and
sleep, as soon as it was day he drew up before
the camp, and commanded the horse to sally out
into the plain, at the sight of which the
Teutones could not contain themselves till the
Romans should come down and fight them on equal
terms, but hastily arming themselves, charged in
their fury up the hill-side. Marius, sending
officers to all parts, commanded his men to stand
still and keep their ground; when they came
within reach, to throw their javelins, then use
their swords, and, joining their shields, force
them back; pointing out to them that the
steepness of the ground would render the enemy's
blows inefficient, nor could their shields be
kept close together, the inequality of the ground
hindering the stability of their footing.
This counsel he gave them, and was the first
that followed it; for he was inferior to none in
the use of his body, and far excelled all in
resolution. The Romans accordingly stood for
their approach, and, checking them in their
advance upwards, forced them little by little to
give way and yield down the hill, and here, on
the level ground no sooner had the Ambrones begun
to restore their van into a posture of
resistance, but they found their rear disordered.
For Marcellus had not let slip the opportunity;
but as soon as the shout was raised among the
Romans on the hills, he, setting his men in
motion, fell in upon the enemy behind, at full
speed, and with loud cries, and routed those
nearest him, and they, breaking the ranks of
those that were before them, filled the whole
army with confusion. They made no long resistance
after they were thus broke in upon, but having
lost all order, fled.
The Romans, pursuing them, slew and took
prisoners above one hundred thousand, and
possessing themselves of their spoil, tents, and
carriages, voted all that was not purloined to
Marius's share, which, though so magnificent a
present, yet was generally thought less than his
conduct deserved in so great a danger. Other
authors give a different account, both about the
division of the plunder and the number of the
slain. They say, however, that the inhabitants of
Massilia made fences round their vineyards with
the bones, and that the ground, enriched by the
moisture of the putrefied bodies, (which soaked
in with the rain of the following winter,)
yielded at the season a prodigious crop, and
fully justified Archilochus, who said, that the
fallows thus are fattened. It is an observation,
also, that extraordinary rains pretty generally
fall after great battles; whether it be that some
divine power thus washes and cleanses the
polluted earth with showers from above, or that
moist and heavy evaporations, steaming forth from
the blood and corruption, thicken the air, which
naturally is subject to alteration from the
smallest causes.
After the battle, Marius chose out from
amongst the barbarians' spoils and arms, those
that were whole and handsome, and that would make
the greatest show in his triumph; the rest he
heaped upon a large pile, and offered a very
splendid sacrifice. Whilst the army stood round
about with their arms and garlands, himself
attired (as the fashion is on such occasions) in
the purple-bordered robe, taking a lighted torch,
and with both hands lifting it up towards heaven,
he was then going to put it to the pile, when
some friends were espied with all haste coming
towards him on horseback. Upon which every one
remained in silence and expectation. They, upon
their coming up, leapt off and saluted Marius,
bringing him the news of his fifth consulship,
and delivered him letters to that effect. This
gave the addition of no small joy to the
solemnity; and while the soldiers clashed their
arms and shouted, the officers again crowned
Marius with a laurel-wreath, and he thus set fire
to the pile, and finished his sacrifice.
But whatever it be, which interferes to
prevent the enjoyment of prosperity ever being
pure and sincere, and still diversifies human
affairs with the mixture of good and bad, whether
fortune or divine displeasure, or the necessity
of the nature of things, within a few days Marius
received an account of his colleague, Catulus,
which as a cloud in serenity and calm, terrified
Rome with the apprehension of another imminent
storm. Catulus, who marched against the Cimbri,
despairing of being able to defend the passes of
the Alps, lest, being compelled to divide his
forces into several parties, he should weaken
himself, descended again into Italy, and posted
his army behind the river Adige; where he
occupied the passages with strong fortifications
on both sides the river, and made a bridge, that
so he might cross to the assistance of his men on
the other side, if so be the enemy, having forced
their way through the mountain passes, should
storm the fortresses. The barbarians, however,
came on with such insolence and contempt of their
enemies, that to show their strength and courage,
rather than out of any necessity, they went naked
in the showers of snow, and through the ice and
deep snow climbed up to the tops of the hills,
and from thence, placing their broad shields
under their bodies, let themselves slide from the
precipices along their vast slippery descents.
When they had pitched their camp at a little
distance from the river, and surveyed the
passage, they began to pile it up, giant-like,
tearing down the neighboring hills; and brought
trees pulled up by the roots, and heaps of earth
to the river, damming up its course; and with
great heavy materials which they rolled down the
stream and dashed against the bridge, they forced
away the beams which supported it; in consequence
of which the greatest part of the Roman soldiers,
much affrighted, left the large camp and fled.
Here Catulus showed himself a generous and noble
general, in preferring the glory of his people
before his own; for when he could not prevail
with his soldiers to stand to their colors, but
saw how they all deserted them, he commanded his
own standard to be taken up, and running to 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 feared Metellus, who
had been so ungratefully used by him, and whose
true virtue made him naturally an enemy to those
that sought influence with the people, not by the
honorable course, but by subservience and
complaisance. Marius, therefore, endeavored to
banish him from the city, and for this purpose he
contracted a close alliance with Glaucia and
Saturninus, a couple of daring fellows, who had
the great mass of the indigent and seditious
multitude at their control; and by their
assistance he enacted various laws, and bringing
the soldiers, also, to attend the assembly, he
was enabled to overpower Metellus. And as
Rutilius relates, (in all other respects a fair
and faithful authority, but, indeed, privately an
enemy to Marius,) he obtained his sixth
consulship by distributing vast sums of money
among the tribes, and by this bribery kept out
Metellus, and had Valerius Flaccus given him as
his instrument, rather than his colleague, in the
consulship. The people had never before bestowed
so many consulships on any one man, except on
Valerius Corvinus only, and he, too, they say,
was forty-five years between his first and last;
but Marius, from his first, ran through five
more, with one current of good fortune.
In the last, especially, he contracted a great
deal of hatred, by committing several gross
misdemeanors in compliance with the desires of
Saturninus; among which was the murder of Nonius,
whom Saturninus slew, because he stood in
competition with him for the tribuneship. And
when, afterwards, Saturninus, on becoming
tribune, brought forward his law for the division
of lands, with a clause enacting that the senate
should publicly swear to confirm whatever the
people should vote, and not to oppose them in
anything, Marius, in the senate, cunningly
feigned to be against this provision, and said
that he would not take any such oath, nor would
any man, he thought, who was wise; for if there
were no ill design in the law, still it would be
an affront to the senate, to be compelled to give
their approbation, and not to do it willingly and
upon persuasion. This he said, not that it was
agreeable to his own sentiments, but that he
might entrap Metellus beyond any possibility of
escape. For Marius, in whose ideas virtue and
capacity consisted largely in deceit, made very
little account of what he had openly professed to
the senate; and knowing that Metellus was one of
a fixed resolution, and, as Pindar has it,
esteemed Truth the first principle of heroic
virtue; he hoped to ensnare him into a
declaration before the senate, and on his
refusing, as he was sure to do, afterwards to
take the oath, he expected to bring him into such
odium with the people, as should never be wiped
off. The design succeeded to his wish. As soon as
Metellus had declared that he would not swear to
it, the senate adjourned. A few days after, on
Saturninus citing the senators to make their
appearance, and take the oath before the people,
Marius stepped forth, amidst a profound silence,
every one being intent to hear him, and bidding
farewell to those fine speeches he had before
made in the senate, said, that his back was not
so broad that he should think himself bound, once
for all, by any opinion once given on so
important a matter; he would willingly swear and
submit to the law, if so be it were one, a
proviso which he added as a mere cover for his
effrontery. The people, in great joy at his
taking the oath, loudly clapped and applauded
him, while the nobility stood by ashamed and
vexed at his inconstancy; but they submitted out
of fear of the people, and all in order took the
oath, till it came to Metellus's turn. But he,
though his friends begged and entreated him to
take it, and not to plunge himself irrecoverably
into the penalties which Saturninus had provided
for those that should refuse it, would not flinch
from his resolution, nor swear; but, according to
his fixed custom, being ready to suffer anything
rather than do a base, unworthy action, he left
the forum, telling those that were with him, that
to do a wrong thing is base, and to do well where
there is no danger, common; the good man's
characteristic is to do so, where there is
danger.
Hereupon Saturninus put it to the vote, that
the consuls should place Metellus under their
interdict, and forbid him fire, water, and
lodging. There were enough, too, of the basest of
people ready to kill him. Nevertheless, when many
of the better sort were extremely concerned, and
gathered about Metellus, he would not suffer them
to raise a sedition upon his account, but with
this calm reflection left the city, "Either
when the posture of affairs is mended and the
people repent, I shall be recalled, or if things
remain in their present condition, it will be
best to be absent." But what great favor and
honor Metellus received in his banishment, and in
what manner he spent his time at Rhodes, in
philosophy, will be more fitly our subject, when
we write his life.
Marius, in return for this piece of service,
was forced to connive at Saturninus, now
proceeding to the very height of insolence and
violence, and was, without knowing it, the
instrument of mischief beyond endurance, the only
course of which was through outrages and
massacres to tyranny and the subversion of the
government. Standing in some awe of the nobility,
and, at the same time, eager to court the
commonalty, he was guilty of a most mean and
dishonest action. When some of the great men came
to him at night to stir him up against
Saturninus, at the other door, unknown to them,
he let him in; then making the same presence of
some disorder of body to both, he ran from one
party to the other, and staying at one time with
them and another with him, he instigated and
exasperated them one against another. At length
when the senate and equestrian order concerted
measures together, and openly manifested their
resentment, he did bring his soldiers into the
forum, and driving the insurgents into the
capitol, and then cutting off the conduits,
forced them to surrender by want of water. They,
in this distress, addressing themselves to him,
surrendered, as it is termed, on the public
faith. He did his utmost to save their lives, but
so wholly in vain, that when they came down into
the forum, they were all basely murdered. Thus he
had made himself equally odious both to the
nobility and commons, and when the time was come
to create censors, though he was the most obvious
man, yet he did not petition for it; but fearing
the disgrace of being repulsed, permitted others,
his inferiors, to be elected, though he pleased
himself by giving out, that he was not willing to
disoblige too many by undertaking a severe
inspection into their lives and conduct.
There was now an edict preferred to recall
Metellus from banishment; this he vigorously, but
in vain, opposed both by word and deed, and was
at length obliged to desist. The people
unanimously voted for it; and he, not able to
endure the sight of Metellus's return, made a
voyage to Cappadocia and Galatia; giving out that
he had to perform the sacrifices, which he had
vowed to Cybele; but actuated really by other
less apparent reasons. For, in fact, being a man
altogether ignorant of civil life and ordinary
politics, he received all his advancement from
war; and supposing his power and glory would by
little and little decrease by his lying quietly
out of action, he was eager by every means to
excite some new commotions, and hoped that by
setting at variance some of the kings, and by
exasperating Mithridates, especially, who was
then apparently making preparations for war, he
himself should be chosen general against him, and
so furnish the city with new matter of triumph,
and his own house with the plunder of Pontus, and
the riches of its king. Therefore, though
Mithridates entertained him with all imaginable
attention and respect, yet he was not at all
wrought upon or softened by it, but said, "O
king, either endeavor to be stronger than the
Romans, or else quietly submit to their
commands." With which he left Mithridates
astonished, as he indeed had often heard the fame
of the bold speaking of the Romans, but now for
the first time experienced it.
When Marius returned again to Rome, he built a
house close by the forum, either, as he himself
gave out, that he was not willing his clients
should be tired with going far, or that he
imagined distance was the reason why more did not
come. This, however, was not so; the real reason
was, that being inferior to others in
agreeableness of conversation and the arts of
political life, like a mere tool and implement of
war, he was thrown aside in time of peace.
Amongst all those whose brightness eclipsed his
glory, he was most incensed against Sylla, who
had owed his rise to the hatred which the
nobility bore Marius; and had made his
disagreement with him the one principle of his
political life. When Bocchus, king of Numidia,
who was styled the associate of the Romans,
dedicated some figures of Victory in the capitol,
and with them a representation in gold, of
himself delivering Jugurtha to Sylla, Marius upon
this was almost distracted with rage and
ambition, as though Sylla had arrogated this
honor to himself, and endeavored forcibly to pull
down these presents; Sylla, on the other side, as
vigorously resisted him; but the Social War then
on a sudden threatening the city, put a stop to
this sedition, when just ready to break out. For
the most warlike and best-peopled countries of
all Italy formed a confederacy together against
Rome, and were within a little of subverting the
empire; as they were indeed strong, not only in
their weapons and the valor of their soldiers,
but stood nearly upon equal terms with the
Romans, as to the skill and daring of their
commanders.
As much glory and power as this war, so
various in its events and so uncertain as to its
success, conferred upon Sylla, so much it took
away from Marius, who was thought tardy,
unenterprising, and timid, whether it were that
his age was now quenching his former heat and
vigor, (for he was above sixty-five years old,)
or that having, as he himself said, some
distemper that affected his muscles, and his body
being unfit for action, he did service above his
strength. Yet, for all this, he came off victor
in a considerable battle, wherein he slew six
thousand of the enemies, and never once gave them
any advantage over him; and when he was
surrounded by the works of the enemy, he
contained himself, and though insulted over, and
challenged, did not yield to the provocation. The
story is told that when Publius Silo, a man of
the greatest repute and authority among the
enemies, said to him, "If you are indeed a
great general, Marius, leave your camp and fight
a battle," he replied, "If you are one,
make me do so." And another time, when the
enemy gave them a good opportunity of a battle,
and the Romans through fear durst not charge, so
that both parties retreated, he called an
assembly of his soldiers and said, "It is no
small question whether I should call the enemies,
or you, the greater cowards, for neither did they
dare to face your backs, nor you to confront
theirs." At length, professing to be worn
out with the infirmity of his body, he laid down
his command.
Afterwards, when the Italians were worsted,
there were several candidates suing, with the aid
of the popular leaders, for the chief command in
the war with Mithridates. Sulpicius, tribune of
the people, a bold and confident man, contrary to
everybody's expectation, brought forward Marius,
and proposed him as proconsul and general in that
war. The people were divided; some were on
Marius's side, others voted for Sylla, and
jeeringly bade Marius go to his baths at Baiae,
to cure his body, worn out, as himself confessed,
with age and catarrhs. Marius had, indeed, there,
about Misenum, a villa more effeminately and
luxuriously furnished than seemed to become one
that had seen service in so many and great wars
and expeditions. This same house Cornelia bought
for seventy-five thousand drachmas, and not long
after Lucius Lucullus, for two million five
hundred thousand; so rapid and so great was the
growth of Roman sumptuosity. Yet, in spite of all
this, out of a mere boyish passion for
distinction, affecting to shake off his age and
weakness, he went down daily to the Campus
Martius, and exercising himself with the youth,
showed himself still nimble in his armor, and
expert in riding; though he was undoubtedly grown
bulky in his old age, and inclining to excessive
fatness and corpulency.
Some people were pleased with this, and went
continually to see him competing and displaying
himself in these exercises; but the better sort
that saw him, pitied the cupidity and ambition
that made one who had risen from utter poverty to
extreme wealth, and out of nothing into
greatness, unwilling to admit any limit to his
high fortune, or to be content with being
admired, and quietly enjoying what he had already
got: why, as if he still were indigent, should he
at so great an age leave his glory and his
triumphs to go into Cappadocia and the Euxine
Sea, to fight Archelaus and Neoptolemus,
Mithridates's generals? Marius's pretenses for
this action of his seemed very ridiculous; for he
said he wanted to go and teach his son to be a
general.
The condition of the city, which had long been
unsound and diseased, became hopeless now that
Marius found so opportune an instrument for the
public destruction as Sulpicius's insolence. This
man professed, in all other respects, to admire
and imitate Saturninus; only he found fault with
him for backwardness and want of spirit in his
designs. He, therefore, to avoid this fault, got
six hundred of the equestrian order about him as
his guard, whom he named anti-senators; and with
these confederates he set upon the consuls,
whilst they were at the assembly, and took the
son of one of them, who fled from the forum, and
slew him. Sylla, being hotly pursued, took refuge
in Marius's house, which none could suspect, by
that means escaping those that sought him, who
hastily passed by there, and, it is said, was
safely conveyed by Marius himself out at the
other door, and came to the camp. Yet Sylla, in
his memoirs, positively denies that he fled to
Marius, saying he was carried thither to consult
upon the matters to which Sulpicius would have
forced him, against his will, to consent; that
he, surrounding him with drawn swords, hurried
him to Marius, and constrained him thus, till he
went thence to the forum and removed, as they
required him to do, the interdict on business.
Sulpicius, having thus obtained the mastery,
decreed the command of the army to Marius, who
proceeded to make preparations for his march, and
sent two tribunes to receive the charge of the
army from Sylla. Sylla hereupon exasperating his
soldiers, who were about thirty-five thousand
full-armed men, led them towards Rome. First
falling upon the tribunes Marius had sent, they
slew them; Marius having done as much for several
of Sylla's friends in Rome, and now offering
their freedom to the slaves on condition of their
assistance in the war; of whom, however, they
say, there were but three who accepted his
proposal. For some small time he made head
against Sylla's assault, but was soon overpowered
and fled; those that were with him, as soon as he
had escaped out of the city, were dispersed, and
night coming on, he hastened to a country-house
of his, called Solonium. Hence he sent his son to
some neighboring farms of his father-in-law,
Mucius, to provide necessaries; he went himself
to Ostia, where his friend Numerius had prepared
him a ship, and hence, not staying for his son,
he took with him his son-in-law Granius, and
weighed anchor.
Young Marius, coming to Mucius's farms, made
his preparations; and the day breaking, was
almost discovered by the enemy. For there came
thither a party of horse that suspected some such
matter; but the farm steward, foreseeing their
approach, hid Marius in a cart full of beans,
then yoking in his team and driving toward the
city, met those that were in search of him.
Marius, thus conveyed home to his wife, took with
him some necessaries, and came at night to the
sea-side; where, going on board a ship that was
bound for Africa, he went away thither. Marius,
the father, when he had put to sea, with a strong
gale passing along the coast of Italy, was in no
small apprehension of one Geminius, a great man
at Terracina, and his enemy; and therefore bade
the seamen hold off from that place. They were,
indeed, willing to gratify him, but the wind now
blowing in from the sea, and making the waves
swell to a great height, they were afraid the
ship would not be able to weather out the storm,
and Marius, too, being indisposed and seasick,
they made for land, and not without some
difficulty reached the shore near Circeium.
The storm now increasing and their victuals
failing, they left their ship and wandered up and
down without any certain purpose, simply as in
great distresses people shun the present as the
greatest evil, and rely upon the hopes of
uncertainties. For the land and sea were both
equally unsafe for them; it was dangerous to meet
with people, and it was no less so to meet with
none, on account of their want of necessaries. At
length, though late, they lighted upon a few poor
shepherds, that had not anything to relieve them;
but knowing Marius, advised him to depart as soon
as might be, for they had seen a little beyond
that place a party of horse that were gone in
search of him. Finding himself in a great
straight, especially because those that attended
him were not able to go further, being spent with
their long fasting, for the present he turned
aside out of the road, and hid himself in a thick
wood, where he passed the night in great
wretchedness. The next day, pinched with hunger,
and willing to make use of the little strength he
had, before it were all exhausted, he traveled by
the seaside, encouraging his companions not to
fall away from him before the fulfillment of his
final hopes, for which, in reliance on some old
predictions, he professed to be sustaining
himself. For when he was yet but very young, and
lived in the country, he caught in the skirt of
his garment an eagle's nest, as it was falling,
in which were seven young ones, which his parents
seeing and much admiring, consulted the augurs
about it, who told them that he should become the
greatest man in the world, and that the fates had
decreed he should seven times be possessed of the
supreme power and authority. Some are of opinion
that this really happened to Marius, as we have
related it; others say, that those who then and
through the rest of his exile heard him tell
these stories, and believed him, have merely
repeated a story that is altogether fabulous; for
an eagle never hatches more than two; and even
Musaeus was deceived, who, speaking of the eagle,
says that,
"She lays three eggs,
hatches two, and rears one."
However this be, it is certain Marius, in his
exile and greatest extremities, would often say,
that he should attain a seventh consulship.
When Marius and his company were now about
twenty furlongs distant from Minturnae, a city in
Italy, they espied a troop, of horse making up
toward them with all speed, and by chance, also,
at the same time, two ships under sail.
Accordingly, they ran every one with what speed
and strength they could to the sea, and plunging
into it, swam to the ships. Those that were with
Granius, reaching one of them, passed over to an
island opposite, called Aenaria; Marius himself
whose body was heavy and unwieldy, was with great
pains and difficulty kept above the water by two
servants, and put into the other ship. The
soldiers were by this time come to the seaside,
and from thence called out to the seamen to put
to shore, or else to throw out Marius, and then
they might go whither they would. Marius besought
them with tears to the contrary, and the masters
of the ship, after frequent changes, in a short
space of time, of their purpose, inclining, first
to one, then to the other side, resolved at
length to answer the soldiers, that they would
not give up Marius. As soon as they had ridden
off in a rage, the seamen, again changing their
resolution, came to land, and casting anchor at
the mouth of the river Liris, where it overflows
and makes a great marsh, they advised him to
land, refresh himself on shore, and take some
care of his discomposed body, till the wind came
fairer; which, said they, will happen at such an
hour, when the wind from the sea will calm, and
that from the marshes rise. Marius, following
their advice, did so, and when the sea-men had
set him on shore, he laid him down in an adjacent
field, suspecting nothing less than what was to
befall him. They, as soon as they had got into
the ship, weighed anchor and departed, as
thinking it neither honorable to deliver Marius
into the hands of those that sought him, nor safe
to protect him.
He thus, deserted by all, lay a good while
silently on the shore; at length collecting
himself, he advanced with pain and difficulty,
without any path, till, wading through deep bogs
and ditches full of water and mud, he came upon
the hut of an old man that worked in the fens,
and falling at his feet besought him to assist
and preserve one who, if he escaped the present
danger, would make him returns beyond his
expectation. The poor man, whether he had
formerly known him, or were then moved with his
superior aspect, told him that if he wanted only
rest, his cottage would be convenient; but if he
were flying from anybody's search, he would hide
him in a more retired place. Marius desiring him
to do so, he carried him into the fens and bade
him hide himself in an hollow place by the river
side, where he laid upon him a great many reeds,
and other things that were light, and would
cover, but not oppress him. But within a very
short time he was disturbed with a noise and
tumult from the cottage, for Geminius had sent
several from Terracina in pursuit of him; some of
whom, happening to come that way, frightened and
threatened the old man for having entertained and
hid an enemy of the Romans. Wherefore Marius,
arising and stripping himself, plunged into a
puddle full of thick muddy water; and even there
he could not escape their search, but was pulled
out covered with mire, and carried away naked to
Minturnae, and delivered to the magistrates. For
there had been orders sent through all the towns,
to make public search for Marius, and if they
found him to kill him; however, the magistrates
thought convenient to consider a little better of
it first, and sent him prisoner to the house of
one Fannia.
This woman was supposed not very well affected
towards him upon an old account. One Tinnius had
formerly married this Fannia; from whom she
afterwards being divorced, demanded her portion,
which was considerable, but her husband accused
her of adultery; so the controversy was brought
before Marius in his sixth consulship. When the
cause was examined thoroughly, it appeared both
that Fannia had been incontinent, and that her
husband knowing her to be so, had married and
lived a considerable time with her. So that
Marius was severe enough with both, commanding
him to restore her portion, and laying a fine of
four copper coins upon her by way of disgrace.
But Fannia did not then behave like a woman that
had been injured, but as soon as she saw Marius,
remembered nothing less than old affronts; took
care of him according to her ability, and
comforted him. He made her his returns and told
her he did not despair, for he had met with a
lucky omen, which was thus. When he was brought
to Fannia's house, as soon as the gate was
opened, an ass came running out to drink at a
spring hard by, and giving a bold and encouraging
look, first stood still before him, then brayed
aloud and pranced by him. From which Marius drew
his conclusion, and said, that the fates designed
him safety, rather by sea than land, because the
ass neglected his dry fodder, and turned from it
to the water. Having told Fannia this story, he
bade the chamber door to be shut and went to
rest.
Meanwhile the magistrates and councilors of
Minturnae consulted together, and determined not
to delay any longer, but immediately to kill
Marius; and when none of their citizens durst
undertake the business, a certain soldier, a
Gaulish or Cimbrian horseman, (the story is told
both ways,) went in with his sword drawn to him.
The room itself was not very light, that part of
it especially where he then lay was dark, from
whence Marius's eyes, they say, seemed to the
fellow to dart out flames at him, and a loud
voice to say, out of the dark, "Fellow,
darest thou kill Caius Marius?" The
barbarian hereupon immediately fled, and leaving
his sword in the place rushed out of doors,
crying only this, "I cannot kill Caius
Marius." At which they were all at first
astonished, and presently began to feel pity, and
remorse, and anger at themselves for making so
unjust and ungrateful a decree against one who
had preserved Italy, and whom it was bad enough
not to assist. "Let him go," said they,
"where he please to banishment, and find his
fate somewhere else; we only entreat pardon of
the gods for thrusting Marius distressed and
deserted out of our city."
Impelled by thoughts of this kind, they went
in a body into the room, and taking him amongst
them, conducted him towards the sea-side; on his
way to which, though everyone was very officious
to him, and all made what haste they could, yet a
considerable time was likely to be lost. For the
grove of Marica, (as she is called,) which the
people hold sacred, and make it a point of
religion not to let anything that is once carried
into it be taken out, lay just in their road to
the sea, and if they should go round about, they
must needs come very late thither. At length one
of the old men cried out and said, there was no
place so sacred, but they might pass through it
for Marius's preservation; and thereupon, first
of all, he himself, taking up some of the baggage
that was carried for his accommodation to the
ship, passed through the grove, all the rest
immediately, with the same readiness,
accompanying him. And one Belaeus, (who
afterwards had a picture of these things drawn,
and put it in a temple at the place of
embarkation,) having by this time provided him a
ship, Marius went on board, and, hoisting sail,
was by fortune thrown upon the island Aenaria,
where meeting with Granius, and his other
friends, he sailed with them for Africa. But
their water failing them in the way, they were
forced to put in near Eryx, in Sicily, where was
a Roman quaestor on the watch, who all but
captured Marius himself on his landing, and did
kill sixteen of his retinue that went to fetch
water. Marius, with all expedition loosing
thence, crossed the sea to the isle of Meninx,
where he first heard the news of his son's escape
with Cethegus, and of his going to implore the
assistance of Hiempsal, king of Numidia.
With this news, being somewhat comforted, he
ventured to pass from that isle towards Carthage.
Sextilius, a Roman, was then governor in Africa;
one that had never received either any injury or
any kindness from Marius; but who from
compassion, it was hoped, might lend him some
help. But he was scarce got ashore with a small
retinue, when an officer met him, and said,
"Sextilius, the governor, forbids you,
Marius, to set foot in Africa; if you do, he
says, he will put the decree of the senate in
execution, and treat you as an enemy to the
Romans." When Marius heard this, he wanted
words to express his grief and resentment, and
for a good while held his peace, looking sternly
upon the messenger, who asked him what he should
say, or what answer he should return to the
governor? Marius answered him with a deep sigh:
"Go tell him that you have seen Caius Marius
sitting in exile among the ruins of
Carthage;" appositely applying the example
of the fortune of that city to the change of his
own condition.
In the interim, Hiempsal, king of Numidia,
dubious of what he should determine to do,
treated young Marius and those that were with him
very honorably; but when they had a mind to
depart, he still had some presence or other to
detain them, and it was manifest he made these
delays upon no good design. However, there
happened an accident that made well for their
preservation. The hard fortune which attended
young Marius, who was of a comely aspect, touched
one of the king's concubines, and this pity of
hers, was the beginning and occasion of love for
him. At first he declined the woman's
solicitations, but when he perceived that there
was no other way of escaping, and that her offers
were more serious than for the gratification of
intemperate passion, he accepted her kindness,
and she finding means to convey them away, he
escaped with his friends and fled to his father.
As soon as they had saluted each other, and were
going by the sea-side, they saw some scorpions
fighting, which Marius took for an ill omen,
whereupon they immediately went on board a little
fisher-boat, and made toward Cercina, an island
not far distant from the continent. They had
scarce put off from shore when they espied some
horse, sent after them by the king, with all
speed making toward that very place from which
they were just retired. And Marius thus escaped a
danger, it might be said, as great as any he ever
incurred.
At Rome news came that Sylla was engaged with
Mithridates's generals in Boeotia; the consuls,
from factious opposition, were fallen to
downright fighting, wherein Octavius prevailing,
drove Cinna out of the city for attempting
despotic government, and made Cornelius Merula
consul in his stead; while Cinna, raising forces
in other parts of Italy, carried the war against
them. As soon as Marius heard of this, he
resolved, with all expedition, to put to sea
again, and taking with him from Africa some
Mauritanian horse, and a few of the refugees out
of Italy, all together not above one thousand,
he, with this handful, began his voyage. Arriving
at Telamon, in Etruria, and coming ashore, he
proclaimed freedom for the slaves; and many of
the countrymen, also, and shepherds thereabouts,
who were already freemen, at the hearing his name
flocked to him to the sea-side. He persuaded the
youngest and strongest to join him, and in a
small time got together a competent force with
which he filled forty ships. Knowing Octavius to
be a good man and willing to execute his office
with the greatest justice imaginable, and Cinna
to be suspected by Sylla, and in actual warfare
against the established government, he determined
to join himself and his forces with the latter.
He, therefore, sent a message to him, to let him
know that he was ready to obey him as consul.
When Cinna had joyfully received his offer,
naming him proconsul, and sending him the fasces
and other ensigns of authority, he said, that
grandeur did not become his present fortune; but
wearing an ordinary habit, and still letting his
hair grow as it had done, from that very day he
first went into banishment, and being now above
threescore and ten years old, he came slowly on
foot, designing to move people's compassion;
which did not prevent, however, his natural
fierceness of expression from still
predominating, and his humiliation still let it
appear that he was not so much dejected as
exasperated, by the change of his condition.
Having saluted Cinna and the soldiers, he
immediately prepared for action, and soon made a
considerable alteration in the posture of
affairs. He first cut off the provision ships,
and plundering all the merchants, made himself
master of the supplies of corn; then bringing his
navy to the seaport towns, he took them, and at
last, becoming master of Ostia by treachery, he
pillaged that town, and slew a multitude of the
inhabitants, and, blocking up the river, took
from the enemy all hopes of supply by the sea;
then marched with his army toward the city, and
posted himself upon the hill called Janiculum.
The public interest did not receive so great
damage from Octavius's unskillfulness in his
management of affairs, as from his omitting
needful measures, through too strict observance
of the law. As when several advised him to make
the slaves free, he said that he would not give
slaves the privilege of the country from which he
then, in defense of the laws, was driving away
Marius. When Metellus, son to that Metellus who
was general in the war in Africa, and afterwards
banished through Marius's means, came to Rome,
being thought a much better commander than
Octavius, the soldiers, deserting the consul,
came to him and desired him to take the command
of them and preserve the city; that they, when
they had got an experienced valiant commander,
should fight courageously, and come off
conquerors. But when Metellus, offended at it,
commanded them angrily to return to the consul,
they revolted to the enemy. Metellus, too, seeing
the city in a desperate condition, left it; but a
company of Chaldaeans, sacrificers, and
interpreters of the Sibyl's books, persuaded
Octavius that things would turn out happily, and
kept him at Rome. He was, indeed, of all the
Romans the most upright and just, and maintained
the honor of the consulate, without cringing or
compliance, as strictly in accordance with
ancient laws and usages, as though they had been
immutable mathematical truths; and yet fell, I
know not how, into some weaknesses, giving more
observance to fortune-tellers and diviners, than
to men skilled in civil and military affairs. He
therefore, before Marius entered the city, was
pulled down from the rostra, and murdered by
those that were sent before by Marius; and it is
reported there was a Chaldaean writing found in
his gown, when he was slain. And it seemed a
thing very unaccountable, that of two famous
generals, Marius should be often successful by
the observing divinations, and Octavius ruined by
the same means.
When affairs were in this posture, the senate
assembled, and sent a deputation to Cinna and
Marius, desiring them to come into the city
peaceably and spare the citizens. Cinna, as
consul, received the embassy, sitting in the
curule chair, and returned a kind answer to the
messengers; Marius stood by him and said nothing,
but gave sufficient testimony by the gloominess
of his countenance, and the sternness of his
looks, that he would in a short time fill the
city with blood. As soon as the council arose,
they went toward the city, where Cinna entered
with his guards, but Marius stayed at the gates,
and, dissembling his rage, professed that he was
then an exile and banished his country by course
of law; that if his presence were necessary, they
must, by a new decree, repeal the former act by
which he was banished; as though he were, indeed,
a religious observer of the laws, and as if he
were returning to a city free from fear or
oppression. Hereupon the people were assembled,
but before three or four tribes had given their
votes, throwing up his pretenses and his legal
scruples about his banishment, he came into the
city with a select guard of the slaves who had
joined him, whom he called Bardyaei. These
proceeded to murder a number of citizens, as he
gave command, partly by word of mouth, partly by
the signal of his nod. At length Ancharius, a
senator, and one that had been praetor, coming to
Marius, and not being resaluted by him, they with
their drawn swords slew him before Marius's face;
and henceforth this was their token, immediately
to kill all those who met Marius and saluting him
were taken no notice of, nor answered with the
like courtesy; so that his very friends were not
without dreadful apprehensions and horror,
whensoever they came to speak with him.
When they had now butchered a great number,
Cinna grew more remiss and cloyed with murders;
but Marius's rage continued still fresh and
unsatisfied, and he daily sought for all that
were any way suspected by him. Now was every road
and every town filled with those that pursued and
hunted them that fled and hid themselves; and it
was remarkable that there was no more confidence
to be placed, as things stood, either in
hospitality or friendship; for there were found
but a very few that did not betray those that
fled to them for shelter. And thus the servants
of Cornutus deserve the greater praise and
admiration, who, having concealed their master in
the house, took the body of one of the slain, cut
off the head, put a gold ring on the finger, and
showed it to Marius's guards, and buried it with
the same solemnity as if it had been their own
master. This trick was perceived by nobody, and
so Cornutus escaped, and was conveyed by his
domestics into Gaul.
Marcus Antonius, the orator, though he, too,
found a true friend, had ill-fortune. The man was
but poor and a plebeian, and as he was
entertaining a man of the greatest rank in Rome,
trying to provide for him with the best he could,
he sent his servant to get some wine of
neighboring vintner. The servant carefully
tasting it and bidding him draw better, the
fellow asked him what was the matter, that he did
not buy new and ordinary wine as he used to do,
but richer and of a greater price; he, without
any design, told him as his old friend and
acquaintance, that his master entertained Marcus
Antonius, who was concealed with him. The
villainous vintner, as soon as the servant was
gone, went himself to Marius, then at supper, and
being brought into his presence, told him, he
would deliver Antonius into his hands. As soon as
he heard it, it is said he gave a great shout,
and clapped his hands for joy, and had very
nearly risen up and gone to the place himself;
but being detained by his friends, he sent
Annius, and some soldiers with him, and commanded
him to bring Antonius's head to him with all
speed. When they came to the house, Annius stayed
at the door, and the soldiers went up stairs into
the chamber; where, seeing Antonius, they
endeavored to shuffle off the murder from one to
another; for so great it seems were the graces
and charms of his oratory, that as soon as he
began to speak and beg his life, none of them
durst touch or so much as look upon him; but
hanging down their heads, every one fell a
weeping. When their stay seemed something
tedious, Annius came up himself and found
Antonius discoursing, and the soldiers astonished
and quite softened by it, and calling them
cowards, went himself and cut off his head.
Catulus Lutatius, who was colleague with
Marius, and his partner in the triumph over the
Cimbri, when Marius replied to those that
interceded for him and begged his life, merely
with the words, "he must die," shut
himself up in a room, and making a great fire,
smothered himself. When maimed and headless
carcasses were now frequently thrown about and
trampled upon in the streets, people were not so
much moved with compassion at the sight, as
struck into a kind of horror and consternation.
The outrages of those that were called Bardyaei,
was the greatest grievance. These murdered the
masters of families in their own houses, abused
their children, and ravished their wives, and
were uncontrollable in their rapine and murders,
till those of Cinna's and Sertorius's party,
taking counsel together, fell upon them in the
camp and killed them every man.
In the interim, as if a change of wind was
coming on, there came news from all parts that
Sylla, having put an end to the war with
Mithridates, and taken possession of the
provinces, was returning into Italy with a great
army. This gave some small respite and
intermission to these unspeakable calamities.
Marius and his friends believing war to be close
at hand, Marius was chosen consul the seventh
time, and appearing on the very calends of
January, the beginning of the year, threw one
Sextus Lucinus, from the Tarpeian precipice; an
omen, as it seemed, portending the renewed
misfortunes both of their party and of the city.
Marius, himself now worn out with labor and
sinking under the burden of anxieties, could not
sustain his spirits, which shook within him with
the apprehension of a new war and fresh
encounters and dangers, the formidable character
of which he knew by his own experience. He was
not now to hazard the war with Octavius or
Merula, commanding an inexperienced multitude or
seditious rabble; but Sylla himself was
approaching, the same who had formerly banished
him, and since that, had driven Mithridates as
far as the Euxine Sea.
Perplexed with such thoughts as these, and
calling to mind his banishment, and the tedious
wanderings and dangers he underwent, both by sea
and land, he fell into despondency, nocturnal
frights, and unquiet sleep, still fancying that
he heard some one telling him, that
"the lion's lair is
dangerous, though the lion be not there."
Above all things fearing to lie awake, he gave
himself up to drinking deep and besotting himself
at night in a way most unsuitable to his age; by
all means provoking sleep, as a diversion to his
thoughts. At length, on the arrival of a
messenger from the sea, he was seized with new
alarms, and so what with his fear for the future,
and what with the burden and satiety of the
present, on some slight predisposing cause, he
fell into a pleurisy, as Posidonius the
philosopher relates, who says he visited and
conversed with him when he was sick, about some
business relating to his embassy. Caius Piso, an
historian, tells us, that Marius, walking after
supper with his friends, fell into a conversation
with them about his past life, and after
reckoning up the several changes of his
condition, that from the beginning had happened
to him, said, that it did not become a prudent
man to trust himself any longer with fortune;
and, thereupon, taking leave of those that were
with him, he kept his bed seven days, and then
died.
Some say his ambition betrayed itself openly
in his sickness. and that he ran into an
extravagant frenzy, fancying himself to be
general in the war against Mithridates, throwing
himself into such postures and motions of his
body as he had formerly used when he was in
battle, with frequent shouts and loud cries. With
so strong and invincible a desire of being
employed in that business had he been possessed
through his pride and emulation. Though he had
now lived seventy years, and was the first man
that ever was chosen seven times consul, and had
an establishment and riches sufficient for many
kings, he yet complained of his ill fortune, that
he must now die before he had attained what he
desired. Plato, when he saw his death
approaching, thanked the guiding providence and
fortune of his life, first, that he was born a
man and a Grecian, not a barbarian or a brute,
and next, that he happened to live in Socrates's
age. And so, indeed, they say Antipater of
Tarsus, in like manner, at his death, calling to
mind the happiness that he had enjoyed, did not
so much as omit his prosperous voyage to Athens;
thus recognizing every favor of his indulgent
fortune with the greatest acknowledgments, and
carefully saving all to the last in that safest
of human treasure chambers, the memory. Unmindful
and thoughtless persons, on the contrary, let all
that occurs to them slip away from them as time
passes on. Retaining and preserving nothing, they
lose the enjoyment of their present prosperity by
fancying something better to come; whereas by
fortune we may be prevented of this, but that
cannot be taken from us. Yet they reject their
present success, as though it did not concern
them, and do nothing but dream of future
uncertainties; not indeed unnaturally; as till
men have by reason and education laid good
foundation for external superstructures, in the
seeking after and gathering them they can never
satisfy the unlimited desires of their mind.
Thus died Marius on the seventeenth day of his
seventh consulship, to the great joy and content
of Rome, which thereby was in good hopes to be
delivered from the calamity of a cruel tyranny;
but in a small time they found, that they had
only changed their old and worn-out master for
another young and vigorous; so much cruelty and
savageness did his son Marius show in murdering
the noblest and most approved citizens. At first,
being esteemed resolute and daring against his
enemies, he was named the son of Mars, but
afterwards, his actions betraying his contrary
disposition, he was called the son of Venus. At
last, besieged by Sylla in Praeneste, where he
endeavored in many ways, but in vain, to save his
life, when on the capture of the city there was
no hope of escape, he killed himself with his own
hand.
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