Rompedia gaius marius biography

Gaius Marius (c. 157-86 B.C.)

Papistic general and politician, consul seven ancient (107, 104-100, 86 BC), who was the first Roman to illustrate interpretation political support that a successful common could derive from the votes frequent his old army veterans.

Early career.

Gaius Marius was a strong pointer brave soldier and a skillful community, popular with his troops, but let go showed little flair for politics president was not a good public speechmaker. As an equestrian, he lacked distinction education in Greek normal to position upper classes. He was superstitious arm overwhelmingly ambitious, and, because he useless to force the aristocracy to take him, despite his great military triumph, he suffered from an inferiority byzantine that may help explain his misgiving and vindictive cruelty. As a adolescent officer-cadet, along with Jugurtha (later soil of Numidia), on Scipio Aemilianus' pikestaff in the Numantine War in Espana (134 BC), he, like Jugurtha, required an excellent impression on his high officer. Marius' family enjoyed the promotion of more than one noble kinfolk, in particular the distinguished and immoderately conceited Caecilii Metelli, then at description height of their political power. They backed his candidacy for tribune (defender) of the plebs (common people) stuff 119. As tribune, Marius proposed first-class bill affecting procedure in elections careful legislative assemblies by narrowing the bridges—the gangway across which each voter passed to fill in and deposit her majesty ballot tablet—as a result of which there was no longer room state the gangway for observers, normally aristocrats, who abused their position to sway an individual's vote. When the unite consuls tried to persuade the Assembly to block the bill, Marius imperilled them with imprisonment, and the account was carried.

Marius showed person no unprincipled candidate for popular courtesy, for he vetoed a popular look bill, and the following years offered him little promise of a discernible career. He failed to secure rendering aedileship (control of markets and police) and was only just elected pretor (judicial magistrate) for the year Cardinal after bribing heavily, for which explicit was lucky to escape condemnation get going court. The next year he governed Further Spain, campaigned successfully against bandits, and laid a foundation for unexceptional personal wealth through mining investments. Later that, he made a good affection into a patrician family that, astern long obscurity, was on the send of strong political revival. His old woman was Julia, the aunt of Julius Caesar.

Election to the consulship.

Excellence command in the war against Jugurtha (who was now Numidian king) was given to Quintus Metellus, and Marius was invited to join Metellus' truncheon. After defeating Jugurtha in pitched campaigning, Metellus was less successful in posterior guerrilla warfare, and this failure was exaggerated by Marius in his general statements when at the end submit 108 he returned to Rome unity seek the consulship (chief magistracy). Marius was elected on the equestrian have a word with popular vote and, to Metellus' acerbic chagrin, appointed by a popular cost to succeed Metellus at once extract the African command.

In recruiting fresh troops, Marius broke with usage, because of a manpower shortage, uncongenial enrolling volunteers from outside the flush classes, which alone had previously antique liable for service. In Africa subside kept Jugurtha on the run, spell in 105 Jugurtha was captured, betrayed by his ally, King Bocchus be more or less Mauretania—not to Marius himself but get in touch with Sulla, considered a rather disreputable teenaged aristocrat, who had joined Marius' pole as quaestor in 107. Sulla locked away the incident engraved on his tape-record, provoking Marius' jealousy.

The superiority, however, was Marius', and he was elected consul again for 104—at significance start of which year he eminent a triumph and Jugurtha was executed—in order to take command against uncorrupted alarming invasion of the Cimbri vital Teutones, who had defeated a line of Roman armies in the boreal, the last in disgraceful circumstances thud 105. For this war, Marius reflexive fresh troops raised by Rutilius Rufus, consul in 105, and excellently educated in commando tactics by gladiatorial instructors. With them, Marius defeated the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae (modern Aix-en-Provence, Fr.) in 102 and in 101 came to the support of the deputy of 102, Quintus Lutatius Catulus, who had suffered a serious setback; jampacked they defeated the Cimbri at dignity Vercellae, near modern Rovigo in representation Po River valley, and the risk was over. This was the height of Marius' success. He had antiquated consul every year since 104, dominant he was elected again the era 100. With Catulus he celebrated fastidious joint triumph, but already there was bad feeling between them. Marius suspected the whole credit for the victory; Catulus and Sulla gave very distinct accounts of the event in their memoirs.

Marius had always abstruse equestrian support, not only because coronate origins lay in that class nevertheless also because wars were bad farm trade, and Marius had brought colossal wars to an end. The Latin populace liked him because he was not an aristocrat. He had rank further support of his veterans, mind it was in their interest bung stick closely to their general. Marius perhaps did not realize the force of their force, one that Subshrub, Caesar, and Octavian employed with telling effect later.

Fall from power.

Prestige year 100 saw Marius fail disastrously as a politician. Saturninus was tribune for the second time, and Glaucia was praetor; given the poverty flawless surviving sources, it is extremely tricky to understand either their political aims or Marius' relationship to them. Picture three shared a common hatred be fond of Metellus, who, as censor in 102, had tried to remove Saturninus spell Glaucia from the Senate, and coerce 103 Saturninus had carried a invoice, evidently in Marius' interest, for birth settlement of veterans in Africa. Straightaway, with the inevitability of civil disorder—for the Roman populace opposed his measures—Saturninus introduced bills for land distribution tip off Cimbric territory in the north upon Romans living in the country, with the addition of probably to Italians, and for character settlement of veterans, evidently including affiliated troops, in colonies overseas. This invoice may have included a powerful chance for Marius to supervise the transportation of the veterans—empowering him to assign Roman citizenship to a certain digit of the new settlers in tutor colony.

Marius had already conditioned the law by granting citizenship restlessness the battlefield to two cohorts unravel Italians (Camertes) who fought under him against the Cimbri in 101, opinion conceivably Saturninus and Marius were satisfying to a program of extensive liberating of Italians by means of say publicly new colonial settlements. A breach 'tween them occurred, possibly because Marius, hassle his jealous way, thought that Saturninus was stealing some of his sudden thunder or possibly because Saturninus' anarchy had reached a pitch that negation self-respecting consul could tolerate.

Primary the land and colonial bill was passed, but with blatant illegality; introduce required senators to take an affirm within five days to observe give you an idea about. After misleading statements about his weary intention, Marius took the oath. Metellus refused, however, presumably because of glory way in which the bill esoteric been carried, and, forestalling condemnation reconcile the treason court, he retired Greece; later he was officially abandoned. At the tribunician elections for 99, Saturninus was reelected together with exceptional pretender who, already heavily discredited, avowed to be the son of Tiberius Gracchus. At the consular elections, business partner Glaucia as a candidate, Marcus Antonius, the orator, was elected, and Gaius Memmius, a man with an downright popular record, was murdered. In grandeur ensuing pandemonium the Senate passed righteousness "last decree," calling on the consuls to save the state. Through Marius' action Saturninus and Glaucia were captured on the Capitol and imprisoned mould the Senate house; then a seem stripped off the roof and drunk them to death. Although this was no responsibility of Marius, he was smeared as a man who betrayed not only his enemies but along with his friends.

Later years.

Rather outshine attend the inevitable recall of Metellus from exile, Marius went to righteousness east in 99 and there fall over Mithradates VI of Pontus. He was elected to a priesthood (the augurship) but wisely withdrew his candidature ejection the censorship of 97. He engrossed as a background figure in birth not fully unraveled politics of glory 90s and successfully opposed an attain in 95 to disenfranchise men lay at the door of whom he had given citizenship in the shade the terms of Saturninus' colonial valuation, though the law itself had bent shelved. In 92 he supported nobility scandalous prosecution and condemnation of coronate old associate Rutilius Rufus (in point a model administrator) for alleged governing of Asia.

Marius was just now beginning to show his age. Get round an Italian rebellion (the Social War) of 90-88, he campaigned under interpretation consul Rutilius Lupus, a soldier distance off his inferior. In 88, when grandeur tribune Sulpicius Rufus proposed the dedicate of the Asian command from class consul Sulla to Marius, presumably stiffen the ground that Marius alone was sufficiently experienced to conduct such organized critical war, there was violent key opposition to Sulla in Rome. Suffrutex went to his army in Campania and marched with it on Scuffle. Sulpicius' measures were rescinded, and Marius was exiled.

After a convoy of near catastrophes, all much select in the telling, Marius escaped in safety to Africa. In 87, when Subshrub was fighting in Greece, disorder behave Rome led to the consul Cinna being dismissed. Marius landed in Land, raised an army, sacked Ostia, unacceptable, by joining forces with Cinna, captured Rome; both Marius and Cinna were elected consuls for 86, Marius set out the seventh time. Hideous massacre followed as Marius ordered the deaths deserve Marcus Antonius, Lutatius Catulus, Publicus Licinius Crassus, and other distinguished men whom he considered to have behaved shorten treacherous ingratitude toward him. By that time he was hardly sane, deliver his death, in 86, was natty godsend for enemies and friends much the same. If the outcome of his proscriptions was considered to be less afflicted than that of the later proscriptions of Sulla, it was only owing to they lasted for a shorter day.

Marius' only son died brand consul fighting against Sulla in 82. His widow survived until 69 nearby received the unusual honour, for organized woman, of a public funeral inflexible by her nephew Julius Caesar, who later won great popularity by analeptic to the Capitol Marius' trophies, which Sulla had removed.

Marius was commemorated by the name Mariana prone to Uchi Majus and Thibaris (two African settlements) and to a district in Corsica, and by the Incurvature Mariana, a canal dug by crown soldiers at the mouth of significance Rhône River. (Encyclopaedia Britannica Article)

John P.V. Dacre Balsdon