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Gaius Marius (Gaius Marius) was born in 156 or 157 BCE in Cereatea near Arpinum in southern Lazio. He was one of the most famous Roman leaders. He became famous for defeating the Teutons and Cimbri tribes and carrying out a thorough reform of the Roman army, which was considered the third founder of Rome (after Romulus and Camillus). Seven times elected consul (107, 104, 103, 102, 101, 100 and 86 BCE).
Origin
Marius came from a not-very-wealthy family. His parents were clients of the respected plebeian family of Herennius. At first, young Marius worked as an ordinary peasant before joining the army.
There is a legend saying that Marius as a young man found an eagle’s nest with seven chicks. As eagles were considered sacred animals of Jupiter, the most important god of the Romans, this event was later seen as an omen that heralded Marius being elected consul seven times. Later, Marius issued a decree recognizing the eagle as a symbol of the Senate and the Roman People (Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR).
Military and political career
In 134 BCE he joined the army of Scipio the Younger. His abilities were noticed during the siege of Numantia during the war in Spain. Gradually, Marius began to think more and more realistically about his political career. To this end, he took part in the election for one of the 24 special military stands of the first four legions. Then he took part in the elections for the office of quaestor, after an unsuccessful election for the office in Arpinum.
In 119 BCE he assumed the office of people’s tribune for a year, with the support of Quintus Caecilius Metellus (later known as Metellus Numidicus), a member of one of the most influential families of the period. During his office, he clearly supported the popular party, and through his activities, he soon became the leader of the party. His achievements include, for example, the passing of a law prohibiting the use of wealth and property in elections.
After leaving office, he took part in the elections for curule and plebeian edicts, which he, however, lost. In 116 BCE he won the election as praetor for a year and was quickly charged with ambitus (electoral corruption). He managed to win an acquittal and calmly completed his office. In 114 BCE Marius’ imperium was postponed and sent to the Iberian Peninsula to govern Lusitania (present-day Portugal) as a propretor. During his reign, he undertook several small military operations of little importance (including the fight against rebel tribes). He resigned his office in 113 BCE
He did not apply for a consulate due to his lack of success. In order to raise his political rank, he married Julia (Julius Caesar’s aunt), thanks to which he became connected with the patrician family.
In 109 BCE his former protector Quintus Caecilius Metellus, who was his opponent under Marius’ tribunal, appointed Gaius as his legate in the campaign in Africa against Jugurtha king of Numidia. The legates (legati) were usually envoys of the senate, but a man appointed as legate by the Senate was used as the chief deputy general. Metellus obtained the Senate’s approval to recognize Marius as his legate and could go to war. During the Metellus campaign, he used Marius’s military experience, which gradually strengthened his political position.
In 108 BCE, Marius felt strong enough to run in the upcoming consular elections. Despite the lack of support from Metellus, who advised Marius to run in the next elections with his son, he started an election campaign. He began to win his electorate among soldiers and merchants, whom he flattered by saying that if he had only half of the soldiers of Metellus, the war would have been over long ago. Through intrigues and false accusations, Marius eventually took his command and obtained a consulate in 107 BCE.
In order to increase the size of the army for the war in Africa, Marius carried out military reform, which allowed him to recruit a huge number of new recruits and to completely modernize and improve the Roman “war machine” (this reform is detailed in a separate section).
With time, however, Marius realized that it would not be as easy to win the war as he had thought at first. He succeeded, however, gradually over the course of 107 BCE and the following year, to push the Yugurta southwest towards Mauritania. At that time, the quaestor in Marius’ army was Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the perfect leader who would be his future main rival for power in Rome. By the end of 105 BCE, he had won several victories and finally ended the war by making an alliance with Bokchus, King of Mauritania, who treacherously captured Jugurtha and handed him over to the Romans. For the victory over Jugurtha, Marius received the right to triumph, which he made on January 1, 104 BCE. The main prisoner was, of course, Jugurtha:
But we are told that when he had been led in triumph he lost his reason; and that when, after the triumph, he was cast into prison, where some tore his tunic from his body, and others were so eager to snatch away his golden earring that they tore off with it the lobe of his ear, and when he had been thrust down naked into the dungeon pit, in utter bewilderment and with a grin on his lips he said: “Hercules! How cold this Roman bath is!”.
– Plutarch of Cheronea, Life of Marius, 12