Caius Marius

Caius Marius ( 157 - 86 BC. ) Marii , people plebeian

Ordinary magistracy

Quaestor in Transalpine Gaul ( 121 ) Tribune of the plebs ( 119 ) Praetor ( 115 ) Consul ( 107 , 104 , 103 , 102 , 101 , 100 & 86 )

Warhead

Tribune - Numancia War ( 134 ) Propraetor in Lusitania ( 114 ) Legate - War of Jugurtha ( 109 to 108 ) Commander - War of Jugurtha ( 107 to 105 ) Proconsul in Africa ( 106 to 105 ) Commander - War of the Cimbri ( 104 to 101 ) Legate - Social War ( 91 to 88 ) Commander - First war of Mithridates ( 88 )

Titles and Honours

Triumph ( 105 & 101 )

Family and descendants

Marriage to Julia Caesaris ( 110 ) Birth of Gaius Marius the Younger ( 110 / 108 )

Series Ancient Rome

Caius Marius said the sage, born in 157 BC. AD to Cereatae, near Arpinum and died in Rome in 86 BC. AD , was a general and statesman Roman , elected consul seven times during his career. It is known to have dramatically reformed the Roman army , allowing the recruitment of citizens who were not landowners and restructuring several legions cohorts. He married Julia Caesaris , aunt of Julius Caesar.

Summary 1 The rise of Marius 1.1 From the origins "humble" 1.1.1 The young man Arpinum 1.1.2 The War of Numancia 1.2 The difficult beginnings 1.2.1 First magistracies 1.2.2 Praetor 1.3 The War of Jugurtha 2 The hegemony of Marius 2.1 The Cimbri and the Teutons 2.2 The reform of the army 2.3 A situation that degenerates 3 The difficulties of the late career 3.1 Social War and the war against Mithridates 3.2 Sylla-cons attack 3.3 The return of Marius 4 Marius and the Crisis of the Roman Republic 5 Consulates 6 Sources 6.1 Bibliography 6.2 Notes 6.3 References

/ / in 157 BC. AD in the country Volscian which, even if it offered the Roman citizenship to complete its inhabitants, however, remained a small town in second place, although it is also the birthplace of Cicero. He is the son of Gaius Marius and Fulcinie "poor and obscure parents, forced to earn a living work of their hands .

The family of Marius had no cognomen (third name enjoyed by children of the aristocracy in Rome) and his education was more military and intellectual . Nevertheless, it was a family of equestrian rank , and it was important enough to enter the customer of Caecilii Metelli , one of the largest families plebeian Rome.

War Numancia

He could thus, at almost twenty-five years to get elected military tribune , in 134 / 133 BC. AD It is said that he was impressed by the talent of his young military legate , would, of bravado, appointed at the meeting of his officers (all from the nobilitas , families who had members the Senate ) as the only worthy successor . Number of classical authors, as Valerius Maximus , attribute to this story behind the boundless ambition of the character.

Difficult beginnings

First magistracies

With its service Numancia and employers of Metelli , Marius managed to get elected quaestor in 121 BC. AD in Transalpine Gaul , at the time of the coup Senate cons Gaius Gracchus.

Presumably, these events inspired Marius, who was elected tribune of the plebs in 119 BC. BC with support from Metelli and began its alliance with the populares weakened. He then distinguished himself by imposing a new law on voting procedures (or distribution of wheat, according to sources) against the advice of the consul Aurelius Cotta , he did not hesitate to threaten to jail . He acquired a reputation as a politician and solved some popularity among the poor (whether voting or wheat, the measure was in their favor). However, it alarmed the Senate and nobilitas , made cautious by the very recent cases gracquiennes (it would also be scrambled with Metelli , but this is disputed), and they prevented his election to the municipal administration the following year .

Praetor

His popularity and his supporters in the movement populares allowed him still to be narrowly elected praetor in 115 BC. BC , last of the six judges elected ^, , but then he had to wipe a trial optimates for electoral corruption ^, (which was also not unreasonable, but could be brought to the entire political class Roman). They had not reckoned reforms brothers Gracchus (not canceled), calling the court knights (the equestrian rank, the rank just below the senate ), which made it a pleasure to exonerate Marius .

Uncomfortable in the intrigues of Rome is finally the battlefield that Marius came to power.

War of Jugurtha

After fighting in Lusitania as propraetor in 114 BC. AD , Marius left for Africa to fight Jugurtha alongside his patron Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus , the consul of 109 BC. BC (a fact which challenges the thesis of the blurring). In addition to his military successes Muthul , Sicca and Zama , Marius distinguished himself by his attitude towards his men. Tough but fair, not hesitating to do the chores himself to lead by example, he developed a special relationship with them, regularly rewarding its origins "humble" . These soldiers are the main information sources in Rome on the conduct of the war, he quickly gained a strong following . The populares not hesitate to exploit this success by opposing systematically Metellus , they blackened the attitude.

Noting that popularity, Marius did not hesitate to ask for leave , initially refused , and to seek a consulate that he obtained, in 107 BC. AD ^, , becoming one of the first novus homo (not a member of the nobilitas , having no ancestors magistrate ) of the Republic elected to that post. Based on its allies in tribune, he was awarded the proconsul in Africa and the command of the War of Jugurtha in Numidia , to the detriment of Metellus ^{, , ,} . It had to suffer the humiliation of seeing his former client appropriating his troops and win a war he had already earned himself almost , pushing the limits Numidian king of Mauretania ^, (the Numidia corresponding to Algeria today and Mauritania to Morocco ).

But Marius could not take full glory of this victory, because it is his quaestor , Lucius Cornelius Sulla , who, after diplomatic negotiations, captured Jugurtha ^{, ,} . From there arose a unalterable hatred between the two men. The year of the victory of Marius 105 BC. AD , was also his re-election as consul , he had no need, against all tradition, to come to Rome. His popularity is at its peak.

The loss of Jugurtha provides two triumphs : the first to Metellus , who was nicknamed Numidicus, the second to Marius. However, this was before the chariot of Marius that walked Jugurtha in chains before being strangled to Tullianum on the orders of Consul .

The hegemony of Marius

The Cimbri and the Teutons

The repeated defeats of Roman armies in the north face of Cimbri and Teutons were the occasion for Marius to renew its glory and consolidate his power. The two peoples had indeed won, north of the Pyrenees , a series of victories against the Roman army, aided by the rivalry between the factions patrician , whose defeat at the Battle of Arausio ( Orange ) in 105 BC. AD These defeats were terrified the citizens of Rome by reviving the specter of invasion of Rome by the Gauls in the ^fourth century BC. AD ^,

It was an opportunity for Marius to assert its superiority over the final nobilitas. With the help of the populares , who now formed a real party in Rome "Marianist" he received the command against the two peoples . His success during the war of the Cimbri and popularity allowed him to extend it by being re-elected (again in absentia) consul in 104 , 103 , 102 and 101 BC. AD (thus creating a precedent for this type of re-election chain violating any institutional traditions).

After waiting the Cimbri (victory over the "giant" Theutobocus ) and the Teutons in the region of Arles where he was digging, for logistical reasons, a broad gap called Septic Marie Island at the mouth of the Rhone , he overcame to First, the Teutons in the vicinity of Aachen to Pourrires in 102 BC. AD in a bloody ambush ^, , then crushed the Cimbri in Gaul Cisalpine the battle Vercellae near Vercelli in 101 BC. AD while trying to cross the Alps ^, .

Triumphant for the second time , it reached a level unmatched glory and was seen as a new Romulus. His dominion over the Roman political life had become undeniable, he frequently brought domination scene by different events: go to the senate in triumphal costume or be accompanied by a priestess Syrian symbolizing its ties with the gods.

The reform of the army

These victories, Marius is mostly the army reform that began in the year 106 BC. BC and completed in 104-103 BC. AD before going to war against the barbarians.

Arming formerly Diversified, was approved, and its acquisition was facilitated by an increase in pay. He strengthened the staff, which, for each legion , passed in 4000 to 6 000 men. Training in handling is replaced by the cohort. Aware that the train crews were a temptation to the enemy, interested in taking it, Marius decided to delete it, each Legionnaire to move back to his own material. Finally, and most importantly, he abolished the role of the census in recruiting soldiers. With rising living standards, service in the army, an important source of profit in these times of conquest, had become virtually inaccessible to the lower classes of Roman society. He even had, during the century, lower several times hundred. By removing, Marius opened the army to a crowd of volunteers wishing to gain fame and fortune on the battlefield.

The proletarianization of the army, even if it does not in itself an innovation (the Second Punic War had even necessitated the use of slaves ) meant, this time being systematized in the long term, a total change of mind. As shown by the historian Raymond Bloch, an army of rich, we'll go to an army of poor, a leveling up to a race to the bottom. The army became a professional army, fully dedicated to the leader who will bring him victory, able to follow him illegally. We now understand better why the classics have as much decried the reforms of Marius , even if it is in fact the conclusion of an evolution which began almost a century earlier.

A situation that escalates

Reelected to the year 101 BC. BC , Marius became the first consul to be elected as many times consecutively (the only other Roman to have been six times consul is Titus Quinctius Capitolinus barbatus , which had seen 32 years elapse between the first and his last consulate). He could easily impose its decisions on Senate and pass laws in favor of agrarian its veterans. The difficulties came in fact from its allies, the populares , in particular the tribune of the plebs Appuleius Lucius Saturninus , and the magistrate Gaius Servilius Glaucia , who, while their leader was fighting in the north, made a reign of terror in Rome by, inter alia, kill anyone who tried to run against them in the tribune and the consulate.

The Senate exceeded, decided as a last resort, to appeal to Marius to restore order through a ultimum senatus consults which required the consul to punish troublemakers. Marius, worried by a situation that escaped him, abandoned his old friends and sided with the Senate. Saturninus , Glaucia and all their followers were executed. Although he retained supporters, the murder of his own allies left Marius very isolated. After these disorders in Rome, the first rank fell to a patrician ruined, Sylla , who soon came into conflict with Marius.

The difficulties of the late career

Social War and the war against Mithridates

After being forgotten by an embassy in the East in 98 BC. AD and a prolonged withdrawal in his villa Misenum , Marius thought he saw in the Social War (the revolt of the Italians, claiming the same level of citizenship as the Romans) a means to improve its image.

He mobilized his clients against the allies and even won some successes against the Marsi. The trouble was that Marius had built part of its popularity just by supporting the dissemination of citizenship to all of Italy , and, although he was originally from a town with citizenship , it was not itself Roman. Again, he was a contradictory position, proving his lack of fluency with political intrigue.

He nonetheless managed to revive the alliance populares , and obtained from the tribune of the plebs Sulpicius Rufus in 88 BC. AD , command of the war against the king's Bridge (from Sinope to Trebizond , north coast of Turkey today) Mithridates VI. He hoped a brilliant action which would have allowed him to take the reins of power. But he harmed and the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla , to which the command should be vested.

Sylla-cons attack

Born into a family patrician fallen Sylla hoped much from the first war against Mithridates , which would have allowed him to upgrade his name and settle permanently in power. He had already shown under the orders of Marius in Numidia , but especially during the social war , where his exploits, both as a war leader than as a negotiator, he was able to get the consulate in 88 BC. BC However, he stumbled, as we have seen, the inclination of Marius, and their supporters clashed violently in the streets of Rome. If the unwavering support of Caecilii Metelli (who have not forgiven her betrayal Marius in Numidia) had hoped for an instant victory to Sulla , who was given command of the war as a consul , it is ultimately the old Marius, by a plebiscite (highly regulated ...) Late organized by the orator Rufus , who won his case.

Sylla , who had recruited his army, pretended to accept. But it was better to join its troops based in Campania , which also waited much of the war, and walk with them in Rome. The act was an unlawful unprecedented (since Remus , no Roman had dared to cross arms in the limits established by Romulus ), although the goal of Sulla was precisely to restore legality. After removing the majority of forces populares , he voted (by senators terrorized) a senatus consults putting all his opponents off-the-law. If Rufus was beheaded, Marius managed to escape with a handful of supporters on the island of Ischia (in the Tyrrhenian Sea , off the current Naples ), then in Africa , after incredible adventures (very romanticized by Plutarch ). Meanwhile, Sylla , satisfied, left with his men towards the Euxine.

The return of Marius

Taking advantage of the departure of Sulla , the populares survivors tried to regain power. The consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna , though installed by Sulla in which he swore allegiance until part, proposed 87 BC. AD recalled Marius. However Gnaeus Octavius , the other consul , and the Senate refused traumatized net and deposed.

He then took refuge in Campania , where he raised a new army. The population, still burned by the social war , was easily recruit, and a href = "Lucius_Cornelius_Cinna_ (consul_en_-87)" title = "Lucius Cornelius Cinna (consul -87)"> Cinna went to hire slaves. He was joined by Marius at the head of a Moorish cavalry recruited in Africa. The two men marched on Rome. The battle was particularly bloody.

If Sulla had tried to give a legal framework for the purge, which limits some of the deaths and destruction, Marius and Cinna behaved entirely as invaders by eliminating their opponents many proscriptions. The city was handed over to Italian populations drunken revenge, who undertook to pay the Romans the vicissitudes of the social war. It is said that Marius did deliver the head of Octavius and he amused himself by insulting him as the vilest possible. The violence was such that Marius and Cinna were forced to hire a squad of Gauls to eliminate some of their troops become too virulent. However, Marius was returned to power. He declared himself consul with Cinna in 86 BC. AD , realizing that once the oracles, in Numidia , he had predicted seven consulates. He died the same year 17 January 86 BC. AD , for some, suicide, for others an excess of wine. Cinna and his supporters held power for four years until the return of Sulla.

Marius leaves an adopted son Gaius Marius the Younger , who shares his wealth, and who, after his death, he was elected consul in the year 82 with Gnaeus Carbo Papirius. He renewed the war against Sulla , but was defeated near Palestrina , he committed suicide in despair.

Marius and the Crisis of the Roman Republic

It is difficult to determine clearly the beginning of the crisis that hit the Roman Republic and generated the majority of the issues that triggered its expansion. Some are at the end of the second Punic War , when for the first time, a charismatic general ( Scipio Africanus ) concentrated in his hands, but not institutional, most of the honors and powers. Others put it at the time of turmoil gracquiennes when ambitious politicians (the Gracchi brothers ) began to use the lower classes of the population (or rather the least upper ...) to force the very closed circle of power. Finally, we can also place the crisis began in the early ^first century BC. AD , when Marius use the people to concentrate in his hands most of the honors and powers. By being the first to be a faith imperator (a great and powerful general) and populares (a politician ready to meet the requirements of the less wealthy), Marius does mark a new stage in the crisis in Rome, creating a figure Original to be used later by men like Pompey , Caesar and finally Augustus , who will base his principate. We understand better now why the classical authors such as Plutarch and Sallust are equally stressed the revolutionary aspect of the character, accusing him of being behind the fall of the Republic. However, like any great historical figure, it is difficult to say whether Marius innovates or if simply synthesizing existing trends.

Marius seems a priori to have shaken a number of executives in Roman political life, up to forcibly take the city. Yet, we find that policy initiatives rarely come to him, except perhaps in his early career. He seems to have been more the toy ambitions populares , who used his fame to further their cause. But Marius did not appear clearly had specific policy guidance, as was shown in his attitude 101 BC. AD remains primarily a military leader, very effective, moreover, whose major works remain the capture of Jugurtha , the reform of the army and the victory against the Cimbri and the Teutons. Although he presides over the outcome of the majority of them, it does not cause himself any war. Through his inimitable ability warrior, and his actions often expedient, he wakes up and focuses on dynamics that is often beyond control, and does not create any. We can therefore speak of a detonator more than a troublemaker. The political situation in which he arrived was already itself particularly flawed, and it is his action that gave rise to the sudden outbreak of tensions. This can be summarized in the form of Cicero "An uneducated man, but really a man! .

Consulates