Caius Marius : born in Arpinum in 157 BC, died in 86 BC in Rome

A Roman general of obscure birth and harsh and unprincipled character; who was seven times consuls, and remarkable for his military enterprises in Africa, and against the Teutones and Cimbri.
He died in the year 667 of Rome, and 67 years before the Christian era.

Few of the Roman generals have been more celebrated for military talent, and for all the harsher qualifications of a soldier; few have been more imperious, untractable, and vindictive, than Caius Marius.

Gaius Gracchus
Silvestre David Mirys (1742-1810)

His parents resided at Arpinum, a town of the Volsci, and were in such indigent circumstances, that Marius himself, when a youth, laboured for hire as a ploughman. An agricultural life, however, wes ill suited to his disposition: he consequently entered the army, as a common soldier; and, in one instance, underwent a disgraceful punishment, for working lazily with his axe, in fortifying the camp.

He served under Scipio Africanus the younger, at Numantia; and, before the termination of his first campaign, he exhibited so much ardour, courage, and attention to military discipline, that he was not only promoted from the ranks, but was admitted into the esteem and confidence of his general. The high opinion which Scipio entertained of him, may be understood from the following anecdote. One day, at table, the conversation happening to turn on the subject of great commanders, an officer in company, intending probably to compliment Scipio, asked where the Romans would find such another general when he was gone Scipio put his hand on the shoulder of Marius, who sate next him, and replied: Here, perhaps

This reply roused the hopes of Marius to the attainment of the highest honours. He, shortly afterwards, went to Rome, and, aided by the influence of the consul, Caecilius Metellus, on whose house he had an hereditary dependance, he was elected a tribune of the people. In this office one of his first proceedings was to propose a law for the prevention of bribery in the election of magistrates. Great offence was given to the patricians by this law; and, although it was passed, Lucius Aurelius Cotta, one of the consuls, obtained a decree by which Marius was cited to give anaccount of his conduct in having promoted it. When he appeared before the senate, for the purpose of justifying himself, be exhibited none of the embarrassment of a young man; he resolutely declared that, if the decree were not revoked, Cotta should be committed to prison. The latter, turning to Metellus, asked his opinion. Metellus rose and voted with his colleague. On this, Marius instantly ordered a lictor to take him into custody. The prisoner appealed to the other tribunes; but none of them would give him any assistance, and the decree was repealed. Elated with his victory, Marius went immediately from the senate to the forum, and had his law confirmed by the people.

This conduct showed him to be a man of inflexible resolution; and the generality of the Romans were inclined to consider that he would prove a bold asserter of the privileges of the people, against the power of the senate. But their opinion was soon changed; for a law having been proposed concerning the distribution of corn, he, in this instance, as strenuously opposed the population, as, in the former, he had opposed the senate. By such apparent independence of spirit, however, he, in some degree, obtained the esteem of both; as a man whom they considered to be incapable of serving either, when his so doing would be injurious to the public good.

At the termination of his tribuneship, Marius became a candidate for the office of aedile, but was rejected. Not long afterwards he offered himself for the praetorship, and, with some difficulty, succeeded. Notwithstanding the law which he had himself proposed, he was accused of bribery, in obtaining a majority of votes on this occasion; but he was acquitted, in consequence of half the judges being against him, and half in his favour.

Some time after this, Marius had the government of part of Spain ,- and the principal service recorded of him there, was his having cleared all the adjacent country of robbers. On his return to Rome, he was desirous of obtaining a share in the administration; but, having neither wealth nor eloquence to recommend him, be was unable to rise so rapidly as he wished. His resolute spirit, his indefatigable industry, and his plain and unostentatious mode of living, obtained for him, however, the favour of the population, and gradually elevated him into power. His fame, at length, became so well established, that he was considered worthy of alliance with the Caesars and married into that illustrious family.

Metellus having received the chief command of an army appointed to act against Jugurtha, in Numidia, took Marius with him, as one of his lieutenants. Here the subject of our memoir adopted every possible means of increasing his fame. He never declined the most difficult services, nor ever refused to submit to even the most servile conduct, when such was likely to promote his views. By cheerfully enduring hardships, and by rivalling even the common soldiers in abstemiousness and labour, he gained their affections. His fame and influence gradually extended through the army, and even to Rome. Many of the officers wrote to their friends In Rome, to state that the only means of successfully terminating the war, would be to elect Marius consul. Towards Metellus he exhibited the most consummate ingratitude, and an inveteracy of hatred which has not often been exceeded.

After much urgent solicitation, he obtained permission to return to Rome ; and there, by adducing false charges against his commander, and by pledging himself to the people that, if he had the chief command in Africa, he would either kill Jugurtha, or bring him alive into Italy, be induced them to elect him consul. No sooner was this office conferred upon him, than he proceeded, by the most illegal and obnoxious means, to increase the army. With regard to the consulship, he boasted that he "had taken it as a prey, from the men of rank; and, the more effectually to ingratiate himself in the minds of the population, he omitted no opportunity of flattering their prejudices, and vilifying the character of the nobility.

The command in Africa was given to him, at a time when Metellus had so nearly terminated the war, that nothing remained to be done, but to take the person of Jugurtha. Metellus was overcome with grief and resentment, to be, at such a moment, superseded, and by an inveterate foe, who had assumed the command, for the purpose only of snatching from him, both his victory and his triumph. But, in the conclusion of the war, this ambitious and unprincipled commander was, in his turn, disappointed; for Bocchus, the king of Mauritania, contrived to surrender Jugurtha into the hands of Sylla, the Roman quaestor; and thus to rob Marius of the chief glory of his exploits.

In the year of the city 648, the Roman territories were approached by an overwhelming force of Teutones and Cimbri, from the north. The strength of their armies was estimated at three hundred thousand warriors. The danger was so great, and the conduct of Marius had been so obnoxious, that no person of noble or opulent family would offer himself for the consulship: consequently Marius, though absent, was elected a second time consul. He, soon afterwards, returned, with his army, from Africa; and, on the same day, entered on his consulship, and was honoured with a triumph. Jugurtha, now a captive, was exhibited to the Romans in this triumph, as a public spectacle; and, according to the common report, there were carried in it more than three thousand pounds weight of gold, five thousand seven hundred and seventy-five pounds of silver bullion, and seventeen thousand and twenty eight drachmas in silver coin.

When the solemnity of the triumph was ended, Marius assembled the senate in the capitol. Here, either through inadvertence or insolence, he entered in his triumphal robe. But, perceiving that the members of the senate were justly offended, by such an insult, he retired and put on his ordinary habit.

His next military employment was against the Teutones and Cimbri. To train his soldiers to hard ship, he accustomed them to long and tedious marches, and compelled every man to carry his own baggage, and to provide his own victuals. So inflexible was he in enforcing obedience to his directions in these particulars, that afterwards the proverb of Marius's mules, was applied to such laborious people, as executed readily and without murmuring, the orders that were given to them.

The enemy, happily for Marius, had turned their course, from Italy, towards Spain. Hence he had time to strengthen his army, by exercising his men, and exciting and confirming their courage. His popularity was now at its utmost height; and he was once more elected consul.

He proceeded towards the mouth of the river Rhone, where he encamped his army; and, having fortified his camp, he conveyed into it an immense supply of provisions. For the purpose of more conveniently receiving these, he caused an extensive canal to be made, communicating betwixt the river and the sea. One division of the barbarians marched, through Liguria, along the sea-coast, to reach Marius. They pushed forward with so much rapidity, that they soon traversed the intermediate country; and presented, to the view of the Romans, an incredible number of men, terrible in their aspect, in, their voice, and shouts of war. They spread themselves over a vast extent of ground, near the place where Marius was encamped, and then challenged him to battle.

The Roman soldiers were anxious for the combat; but Marius rebuked them for their rashness, and resolutely insisted that they should keep within their trenches. He made the soldiers mount guard by turns, upon the ramparts, for the purpose of accustoming them to behold the dreadful looks of the enemy, and to hear their savage voices without alarm; as well as to make them acquainted with the appearance of their weapons, and with their modes of using them. It was not, however, without the utmost difficulty that he could restrain the impetuosity of his men, and prevent them from engaging in a disadvantageous attack on so numerous an host. For the purpose of restraining their eagerness, he declared that he had been directed, by certain oracles, to wait for an indication both of the time and place, which were to ensure him the victory. He had, in the camp, a Syrian woman, who was carried about upon a litter, with great solemnity, and who pretended to be a prophetess; and this direction was stated to have been given by her.

The enemy became impatient of delay, and, as Marius refused to fight, they were determined, if possible, to force his entrenchments. They made the attempt, but were received with such a shower of darts from the camp, that they were repulsed with great slaughter. After this, they resolved to pass the Roman army, and leave Marius in therear. They consequently packed up their baggage, and proceeded on their march. Then it was that the immensity of their numbers was first correctly observed. On traversing the plain, near the Roman entrenchments, they tauntingly asked the men, whether they had any commands to their wives, as they should shortly be with them? As soon, however, as the bar barianshadall passed, Marius decamped and followed; always keeping near them, and choosing strong places for his camp at night: these he regularly fortified, that his troops might pass the nights in safety. The two armies thus marched nearly to the foot of the Alps. Here, Marius, having obtained a favourable situation and opportunity for attack, took advantage of it; and, in a battle which followed, great multitudes of the enemy were slain. They had, indeed, opposed the Romans with the most dreadful fury; and, even at the close of the day, myriads of the barbarians seemed still to be left. The Romans were inexpressibly terrified, and even Marius was not free from apprehension, lest he should be attacked, during the night, in a disadvantageous position, and without either trench or rampart to defend his army. But the barbarians were ignorant of his exposed situation, and, consequently, were unable to take advantage of it. By a skilful manoeuvre of Marius, the enemy, on the ensuing day, was attacked both in front and rear; and, unable long to oppose this double shock, they broke their ranks and fled. The Romans pursued them in all directions, and are said to have killed and taken prisoners, more than an hundred thousand of them: they also obtained possession of their tents, carriages, and baggage.

When the battle was ended, Marius gave directions that a selection should be made, from among the arms and other spoils, of such as were likely to make the most brilliant appearance in the procession of his triumph. The rest he piled together, for the purpose of offering them, a splendid sacrifice to the gods. The Roman soldiers, crowned with laurel, were assembled round the pile; and Marius, clad in a purple robe, had taken into his hand a lighted torch, for the purpose of setting fire to it, when a party of Romans were seen galloping towards the spot. On their arrival, they leaped from their horses, and saluted Marius consul for the fith time. The soldiers expressed their joy by acclamations and loudly clanking their arms; and, whilst the officers presented him with crowns of laurel, he set fire to the pile and completed the sacrifice.

Not long after this, intelligence was brought to Rome, that Catulus, the other consul, had been defeated in the Alps, by a detachment of the Cimbri; and that, the intervening country being left without defence, the enemy had overrun and plundered it in various directions. Marius was, consequently, recalled to Rome ; and the senate passed a decree that he should be honoured with a triumph. He, however, for the present declined it, hoping, probably, that, after another defeat of the enemy, his triumph might be the more splendid.

As soon as his forces were ready, and he had been joined by that part of the army which had been in Gaul, he hastened to relieve Catulus. He then crossed the river Po, with the intention of preventing the barbarians from penetrating into the interior of Italy. A little while after his arrival near the camp of the Cimbri, Boiorix, the king of that people, attended by a small party of horse soldiers, advanced in front of his army, and challenged the Romans to battle. They did not decline the combat; and, on an appointed day, the two armies were drawn up opposite to each other. In the hope of being able to appropriate to himself the whole honour of the victory, Marius ranged his forces in such manner, that it was possible the defeat of the enemy might be accomplished by the two wings, before Catulus, to whom he had given the command of the centre, could come up. At the commencement of the battle, a prodigious cloud of dust concealed the armies from each other. Marius, who first moved to the charge, passed the ranks of the Cimbri, and wandered about with his troops, unable to discover his foe. Catulus was more successful: in the conflict which took place with his legions, the enemy's commander was slain; and, although the Cimbri were infinitely more numerous than the Romans, the greatest and best part of their troops were cut to pieces. Notwithstanding the fact of the defeat having been chiefly effected by Catulus, Marius, for a while, contrived to obtain the whole merit and honour of the victory; and, when he returned to the capital, he was saluted as the third Founder of Rome; having rescued her from a danger not less dreadful than that which she had incurred from the Gauls, in the time of Camillus. The population wished to give him the exclusive honour of a triumph; but this, he had the honesty to reject, and , consequently shared it with Catulus.

After the termination of his fifth consulate, Marius aspired to the honour of a sixth, with more ardour than most men have shown for a first; and, with a view of obtaining it, he courted the favour of the people, and endeavoured to ingratiate himself even with the meanest of them, by the most servile condescensions. For the purpose of ensuring their exertions in his favour, he assumed towards them an air of gentleness and compliance, which was altogether unnatural to him; and, in no case, did he scruple to make his honesty subservient to his ambition.

By conduct like this, we cannot be surprised that he should have rendered himself obnoxious to all the patricians; and, towards Metellus, who had always shown an honest indignation against such persons as by dishonourable arts had sought to gain the favour of the people, his conduct was, in particular, disgraceful. He left no means untried, by which he could prejudice the Romans against this eminent general; and he, at length, succeeded in obtaining a decree that he should be interdicted the use of fire and water, and that no man should admit him into his house. This, being a virtual banishment from the Roman territory, Metellus retired to the island of Rhodes, where he passed most of his time in the study of philosophy.

The whole subsequent conduct of Marius was so selfish and so dishonourable, that he gradually rendered himself odious to the plebeians as well as to the patricians. At the ensuing election of censors, he did not even dare to offer himself a candidate, lest he should be rejected. After this, his opponents exerted their utmost efforts to effect his disgrace; and they at length succeeded in obtaining an edict for the recall of Metellus. Marius, unable to endure the presence of a man whom he had so deeply injured, contrived to make a voyage into Cappadocia and Galatia. His pretence for this voyage was the fulfilment of a sacred vow; but the real causes of it were a desire to be some time absent from Rome, and a hope that he might be able to rouse the Asiatic kings to a war with the Romans. The latter project, however, wholly failed.

On his return to Rome, he built a house near the forum, hoping to have, constantly at his gates, a numerous concourse of people; but in this he was mistaken. Marius was mortified at the decline of his own popularity, but he was not less mortified at the increase of that of a man whom be both hated and dreaded. Sylla, who has already been mentioned, as having acted under Marius, in Africa, was as unprincipled, and more artful, than himself. He rose, in the administration, chiefly in consequence of the envy which the nobles bore to his rival; and, after a while, he became so popular, that Bocchus, king of Mauritania, now an ally of the Romans, was induced to erect, in the capitol, some augures of victory, and to place, by their side, a group of gilded statues, which represented him delivering Jugurtha into the hands of Sylla. This circumstance rendered the fury of Marius almost ungovernable; and its consequence would probably have been an immediate and dreadful commotion in the state, had not the Social war, or war of the allies, at this period, broken out.

In this war Marius was employed, but, in conducting it, his military reputation was by no means increased. He was slow in his resolutions, and dilatory in his attacks. In one battle, indeed, he defeated the enemy, with a loss of six thousand men; and, throughout the whole campaign, he took care to give them no advantage over him; yet he greatly disappointed the expectation of his country men, and, at last, pretending to be incapacitated for service, he gave up the command.

Two years after this, at the commencement of the Mithridatic war, desirous of again being employed, be affected to shake off his former infirmities; and, to convince the people that his bodily powers were still unimpaired, he was present every day at the Campus Martius, where, although he had become corpulent and heavy, he underwent the most robust exercises with the young men, and showed himself nimble in the use of arms, and active on horseback. Some persons, says Plutarch, were pleased with his conduct, and went to witness the spirit which be exerted in these exercises; but the more sensible of the people, when they beheld it, pitied the avarice and ambition of a man, who, though elevated from poverty to opulence, and from the meanest condition to greatness, knew not how to set bounds to his good fortune. It shocked them to think that this man, instead of being contented with the admiration he had gained, and, instead of enjoying his present possessions in peace, should be anxious, at so advanced an age, and after so many honours and triumphs, of being employed to fight with the lieutenants of Mithridates.

About this time, the tribune Publius Sulpicius, having secured in his interest about six hundred men of the equestrian order, whom he called his anti-senate, determined, if possible, to overthrow the constitution. Whilst Sylla, who was now one of the consuls, was engaged in besieging Nola, Sulpicius obtained entire influence over the city, and caused the command of the army to be decreed to Marius. No sooner, however, was Sylla informed of this circumstance, than he marched his men into Rome, and Marius was compelled to seek for safety in fight. He escaped to the sea-coast, and, there embarking, sailed eastward along the Italian shore, till, being overtaken by a storm, he was compelled to land near Circmum, a little town in Campania. Here he was recognized by a few herdsmen, almost the only inhabitants of that part of the country. They advised him to hasten immediately away, as a party of horsemen had just passed, in pursuit of him. In the agony of his distress, he turned out of the high road, and entered a thick wood, where he passed the night, in the most frightful anxiety. On the ensuing morning, nearly exhausted by hunger, he proceeded to the sea-shore. He now implored of his companions not to desert him; but entreated them to await the accomplishment of his last hope, the fulfilment, as he asserted, of an ancient prediction, that his career of glory was not yet terminated, and that he should be a seventh time consul.

At this instant they espied a troop of horsemen rapidly approaching them; and, at the same time, two vessels were sailing along the shore. Exerting, therefore, all their remaining strength, they ran to the sea, and, plunging into the water, swam off, towards the ships; but Marius was so unwieldy, that it was not without difficulty he could be supported in the water and lifted on board. When the horse men had approached the spot, they called aloud to the ship's crew, either to come on shore, or to throw him into the sea. With tears, entreaties, and promises, be, however, induced them to declare that they would endeavour to save his life; and the soldiers rode off, disappointed and enraged by the loss of their prey. Not long afterwards, the seamen changed their minds; and, fearful of the danger to which they might be exposed, for protecting a person of his importance, whom the government had ordered to be apprehended, they resolved to set him on shore. They therefore cast anchor near the mouth of the river Liris, landed him, and, immediately afterwards, sailed away.

Marius was overwhelmed with astonishment and terror at this unlooked-for disaster. He sate, for some time, gazing at the vessel, in silent stupefaction. At length he rose, and, with difliculty, scrambled over a succession of wild and almost impassable places, through bogs and ditches, till he came to the cottage of an old man, who worked in the fens. He threw himself at the feet of this man, and implored his protection: entreating him to save and shelter one, who, if he escaped the present danger, would reward him far beyond his hopes. The cottager, commiserating the distress of the stranger, told him that his but would be sufficient, if he wished only to repose himself; but that, if he was wandering about, to elude the search of his enemies, it would be requisite to conceal him in a place more retired. Marius entreated him to do so; and the cottager conducted him into the fens, to a kind of cavern in the bank of ariver; supplying him with a quantity of reeds and dried grass to lie upon; or, in case of necessity, to throw over him.

Marius had not long been concealed, before he was alarmed by a tumultuous noise near the cottage; a party of soldiers having arrived there in search of him. He had been traced nearly to this spot; and the old man was threatened with immediate death, unless he informed them of the place of his concealment. Marius overheard the conversation; and, stripping himself, he quitted the cave, and plunged into the bog, amidst the water and mud. This, however, tended rather to discover than to conceal him. He was soon observed, and, being dragged out, naked and covered with dirt, was conveyed to the town of Minturnae, and there delivered to the magistrates.

At Minturnae he was lodged in the house of a woman whose name was Fannie, and who was supposed to entertain an inveterate hatred against him, in consequence of a disgrace to which, while he was consul, he had subjected her. She, however, bore him no malice, and afforded him every accommodation in her power. A proclamation had been issued from Rome, authorizing any one who found Marius, to put him to death. In consequence of this proclamation, the magistrates and council of Minturnae ordered that he should immediately be executed; but they could find no citizen who would undertake the office of executioner. A horse-soldier, however, a deserter either from the Gaulish or the Cimbrian army, was induced, by the promise of an adequate reward, to enter the apartment of Marius, for the purpose of stabbing him. With his drawn sword in his hand, he opened the door. The Roman general fixed his eyes attentively upon him, and called aloud: Fellow, dost thou dare to kill Marius? On which the terrified dragoon dropped his sword and fled.

Some of the inhabitants of Minturnae, now touched with compassion for the fate of so eminent a man, caused him to be conveyed on board a ship; and he escaped to Africa. After he had landed, he proceeded to Carthage; and, for some time, he lay concealed among the ruins of that city. The governor, fearful of giving offence, by suffering him any longer to continue there, sent an officer to order him out of Africa. To this officer Marius said: Go, tell the governor that thou hast seen the exiled Marius, sitting upon the ruins of Carthage: the same Marius, who has been six times consul, who has been denominated the third founder of Rome; and whom the Romans, in their libations, have associated with their gods. This Marius, was now an exile, seated on the ruins of a city once wealthy and powerful; a city which had disputed, with Rome, in three destructive wars, the empire of the world. He shortly afterwards left Carthage, and retired to the island of Circina, not far distant.

Here he was informed that Sylla, his rival, and through whose influence he had been proscribed, was with the Roman army in Boeotia; and that his own party, with Cinna the new consul at their head, had regained the ascendency in Rome. These circumstances induced him to return to Italy. He landed in Tuscany, and, having collected there a considerable number of troops, he filled with them forty ships, and proceeded along the shore to Ostia, the port of Rome. There he landed, and thence he marched to the capital. He entered the city at the head of his troops; and, with almost unequalled cruelty, he put all his enemies to the sword, without regard to age, dignity, or former services. Among the rest who were thus sacrificed to his resentment, were Cneius Octavius, the consul, and Quintus Catulus, formerly his own colleague in the consulship. Marius is said to have ordered, that his soldiers should destroy every one of those to whom he did not stretch out his hand, in friendship, when they saluted him.

Cinna, who hitherto had calmly beheld the but chering of his fellow-citizens, now began to be appalled with the blood that was shed; but the fury of Marius seemed to increase with the slaughter, and he went on, destroying all those of whom he had the least shadow of suspicion. In conclusion, Marius caused himself to be chosen consul the seventh time, and Cinna to be made his associate in that office.

They did not, however, long enjoy this blood stained dignity, before intelligence was brought that Sylla had terminated the Mithridatic war; and that, after having reduced the Asiatic provinces to obedience, he was returning, with a large army, to Rome. We now behold this wretched victim of ambition and avarice, worn out with toils and haunted by remorse, expecting, on the arrival of his opponent, the retaliation of all his enormities. His faculties fail him, and, to overcome his fears, he indulges in intemperance, till he is thrown into a fever, which leaves him no hopes of life. Here, at the point of death, we can behold the bed on which he is stretched in no other light than a scaffold, prepared for his punishment. His own crimes are his executioners; and he sinks, under the agonies which they inflict, an object of detestation to his associates, and of abhorrence to himself.

Thus, (says Plutarch,) at the age of seventy years, distinguished by the unparalleled honour of seven consulships, and possessed of a more than regal fortune, died Marius, with the chagrin of an unfortunate wretch, who had not obtained what he desired.

Some of the ancient writers, forgetting the vices of Marius, and contemplating only his military exploits, rank him among the most virtuous and estimable of the Roman citizens. Cicero, erroneously, styles him the father of his country; the parent of Roman liberty; the guardian of the state and of the empire; a man as excellent as he was wise.

He died in the year of Rome 667, and eighty-seven years before the Christian era. Some time after his death, his ashes were dug up by order of Sylla, and scattered before the winds.

Authorities - Plutarch, Sallust, and Appian.