The Great Threat from the North: The Year 101 BCE

Summary The consul Manius Aquillius defeats Athenion and ends the Second Servile War on Sicily; The consul Gaius Marius and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus annihilate the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercellae; Marius and Catulus hold a joint triumph; Marius works together with Glaucia and Saturninus and is elected…

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The Great Threat from the North: The Year 102 BCE

Summary Gaius Marius annihilates the Teutones and Ambrones at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae; Quintus Lutatius Catulus gives up the Alpine passes; The Cimbri overrun Catulus’ defences at the river Atiso; The praetor Gaius Servilius fails to achieve anything on Sicily during the Second Servile War; The censor Quintus Caecilius…

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The Great Threat from the North: The Years 104-103 BCE

Summary Gaius Marius celebrates a triumph for his victory over King Jugurtha of Numidia (104 BCE); Marius takes command of the new army raised by Publius Rutilius Rufus and subjects it to a rigorous training programme (104 BCE); Start of the Second Servile War on Sicily (104 BCE); The praetor…

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The Jugurthine War and the Great Threat from the North: The Year 105 BCE

Summary Sulla convinces King Bocchus of Mauretania to betray his son-in-law Jugurtha; Jugurtha is delivered to the Romans in chains and sent to Rome; Much to Marius’ annoyance, Sulla gets most of the credit for capturing Jugurtha; Marius is elected consul for a second time (in absentia); The former suffect…

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The Jugurthine War and the Great Threat from the North: The Year 106 BCE

Summary Quintus Caecilius Metellus celebrates a triumph for his victories in the Jugurthine War and acquires the nickname ‘Numidicus’; Gaius Marius captures an important fort of Jugurtha near the river Muluccha; Marius is joined by his quaestor Lucius Cornelius Sulla; While returning to his winter camp, Marius is attacked by…

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The Jugurthine War and the Great Threat from the North: The Year 107 BCE

Summary The concilium plebis gives command of the Jugurthine War to the consul Gaius Marius; Marius openly recruits part of his soldiers from the class of the proletarii (the ‘Marian’ reforms); Marius captures Capsa by surprise, burns the city to the ground and massacres the male population; The Tigurini, allies…

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The Jugurthine War: The Year 108 BCE

Summary The consul Hortensius is forced to resign for unspecified reasons; The censor Marcus Aemilius Scaurus is forced to resign when his colleague Marcus Livius Drusus dies; The town of Vaga rebels against the Romans and massacres the garrison; the only survivor is the garrison commander, Titus Turpilius; The proconsul…

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The Jugurthine War and the Great Threat from the North: The Year 109 BCE

Summary Aulus Postumius Albinus suffers a defeat against Jugurtha and is forced to accept a humiliating peace treaty; The treaty is rejected by the Senate and the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus is sent to Numidia to continue the Jugurthine War; A Lex Mamilia sets up a committee of three men…

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The Jugurthine War: The Years 111-110 BCE

Summary The consul Lucius Calpurnius Bestia invades Numidia and captures a number of cities (111 BCE); A truce is agreed after Bestia and his legate Marcus Aemilius Scaurus are allegedly bribed by Jugurtha (111 BCE); Jugurtha surrenders and is subsequently summoned to Rome to testify in the assembly after the…

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The Jugurthine War and the Great Threat from the North: The Years 113-112 BCE

Summary Jugurtha breaks the peace with Adherbal and captures his camp near Cirta; he subsequently puts the city under siege (113 BCE); The Senate sends a committee of three young men to Cirta to force Jugurtha to give up the siege; Jugurtha chooses to ignore them (113 BCE); In Noricum,…

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Prelude to the Jugurthine War: The Years 118-114 BCE

Summary King Micipsa of Numidia dies and leaves his kingdom to his sons Adherbal and Hiempsal and his nephew and adopted son Jugurtha (118 BCE); Jugurtha has Hiempsal murdered and defeats Adherbal on the battlefield (117 BCE); De Senate sends a committee of ten men (decemviri) under Lucius Opimius to…

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