Gaius Marius
Roman general and seven-times consul (c. 157-86 BCE): the Jugurthine and Cimbrian wars, the army reforms attributed to him, and his rivalry with Sulla.
Category: Figures
- 111 BCEJugurthine War
Rome fights Jugurtha of Numidia, who had bribed Roman senators. Gaius Marius, elected consul in 107 BCE, ends it when his quaestor Sulla gets Jugurtha handed over by King Bocchus in 105.
- c. 107 BCEMarius opens the legions to the poor (traditional)
Tradition credits Marius from 107 BCE with enlisting landless volunteers and standardising the cohort and eagle, making armies loyal to their generals. Most modern scholars reject a single "Marian reform".
- 102 BCEBattle of Aquae Sextiae
In 102 BCE Marius, re-elected consul year after year, destroys the Teutones and Ambrones in southern Gaul and captures their king Teutobod.
- 101 BCEBattle of Vercellae ends the Cimbrian War
In 101 BCE Marius nearly annihilates the Cimbri at Vercellae in northern Italy and their leaders Boiorix and Lugius are killed. The invasion that began in 113 BCE ends.
- 88 BCESulla marches on Rome
In 88 BCE, in a quarrel over the command against Mithridates, consul Sulla leads his legions into Rome. Marius and the tribune Sulpicius are outlawed. Roman armies now act as a political weapon.
- 86 BCEMarius takes a seventh consulship and dies
Marius returns with Cinna in 87 BCE and their men purge their opponents. He is consul for the seventh time in 86 BCE but dies on 13 January, a few days into the year.