Marcus Antonius, the prætor, [Y. R. 649. B. C. 103,] attacked the
pirates, and chased them into Cilicia. The consul, Caius Marius, when
attacked by the Teutons and Ambrogians, with their utmost force,
defended himself; and afterwards, in two battles, in the neighbourhood
of Aquæ Sextiæ, utterly defeated them, with the loss, it is said, of two
hundred thousand killed, and ninety thousand taken prisoners. Marius was
elected consul, in his absence, a fifth time. A triumph was offered to
him, which he deferred until he should have subdued the Cimbrians also.
[Y. R. 650. B. C. 102.] The Cimbrians, having driven Quintus Catulus,
the proconsul, from the Alps, where he had possessed himself of the
narrow passes, and erected a castle to command the river Athesis, which
he abandoned, passed into Italy. Catulus and Marius, having effected a
junction of their forces, fought and vanquished them: in this battle we
are told that there fell one hundred and forty thousand of the enemy,
and that sixty thousand were taken. Marius, on his return to Rome, was
received with the highest honours, by the whole body of the citizens;
two triumphs were offered him, but he contented himself with one. The
principal men in the state, who were for some time extremely envious
that such distinctions should be conferred upon a man of no family, now
acknowledge him to have saved the commonwealth. [Y. R. 651. B. C. 101.]
Publicius Malleolus was executed for the murder of his mother; being the
first that ever was sewn up in a sack and cast into the sea. The sacred
shields are said to have shaken, with considerable noise, previous to
the conclusion of the Cimbrian war. Wars between the kings of Syria.