MARIUS MOCKS THE AMBASSADORS OF THE CIMBRI
While Marius was carrying all before him, his colleague Catulus was in
a sorry plight.
He had found it impossible to hold the passes of the Alps against the
Cimbri, and had been forced to descend into the plain of Northern
Italy. Here he crossed the river Adige, and encamped on its bank.
The Cimbri never doubted that they would be able to conquer the Romans.
Already they were elated to find that the passes were not guarded. No
tidings of the terrible battle of Aquæ Sextiæ had yet come to daunt
their courage.
And so, in the sheer pride of their strength, they flung aside their
clothing, and naked, climbed through falling snow and over ice-clad
rocks to the top of the mountain passes. Then, turning their broad
shields into sledges, they boldly shot down the slopes on the other
side.
When they reached the Adige they saw the Roman camp across the river.
Before attacking it they determined to dam the stream.
The Roman soldiers, as they watched the barbarians at work, were amazed
at their strength.
Giant trees were uprooted and flung into the river as though they were
saplings. Huge rocks, too, that seemed beyond the strength of man to
move, were hurled into the bed of the Adige as though they were stones.
Who could fight with such men as these barbarians seemed to be?
To the dismay of Catulus, his army decided that they could not face
such foes, and they began to steal out of the camp. It was evident
that soon the whole army would take to flight before it was attacked.
But the Consul could not let the soldiers so disgrace their fame.
Rather would he take upon himself the blame of having ordered a
retreat. So, seizing the Roman eagle, he hastened with it to the front
of his men, and himself led them away.
When the Cimbri saw that most of the Romans had left their camp they
crossed the river and captured it, in spite of the brave defence of
those who had scorned to turn their backs upon an enemy.
The barbarians showed that they could respect courage, for they spared
the lives of these brave soldiers. But before they let them go they
made them swear upon their brazen bull to observe certain conditions.
Now the brazen bull was to these barbarians sacred as a god.
When, a short time after this, the Cimbri were defeated, the bull was
carried away with other spoil, and treasured by Catulus in memory of
his victory.
After taking the Roman camp, the barbarians wandered through the plains
of Lombardy, burning and plundering wherever they went.
Marius, meanwhile, after his victory over the Teutones and Ambrones,
was recalled to Rome, and voted a triumph.
Hearing, however, that Catulus was in danger from the barbarians, he
would not stay to celebrate it, but hastened to join his colleague.
The two Consuls met near the river Po, and crossing the river they
found the Cimbri at Vercellæ.
Here the barbarians expected each day to be joined by the Teutones and
Ambrones.
As they did not wish to fight until their allies arrived, they
pretended that they were anxious to make terms with Marius, and sent to
ask him to give them land for themselves and their brethren.
‘Who are your brethren?’ the Consul asked the ambassadors who stood
before him.
‘The Teutones,’ answered they.
Those who surrounded Marius laughed, for well they knew what had
befallen the Teutones.
‘Do not trouble yourselves for your brethren,’ replied Marius, taunting
them, ‘for we have already provided land for them, which they shall
possess for ever.’
Then the ambassadors understood that their brethren lay slain upon the
ground, and their anger rose. Fearless of danger, they hurled threats
at the Consul, saying that the Cimbri and those Teutones who were still
left alive would avenge the death of their fellows.
‘Their rulers are not far off,’ cried Marius. ‘It will be unkindly done
of you to go away before greeting your brethren.’
Then the kings of the Teutones, who had been captured, were brought
before the ambassadors, loaded with chains.
Seeing how these mighty chiefs had been humbled, the ambassadors were
silent, and soon after they went back to the Cimbri to tell them what
they had heard and seen in the Roman camp.
The Cimbri could not restrain their rage when they knew what had
befallen their allies. Three days later they were on the plains of
Vercellæ, impatient to avenge their defeat.
Marius, too, was eager for battle. His cavalry, strong as ever, wore
that day strange helmets. Each one looked like the head of some strange
beast, while above the head waved a lofty plume, that added to the
height of the soldier. Their white shields gleamed in the sun, and
their breastplates were of iron.
The day began in discomfort for the Cimbri. Cold and frost they could
endure, as they had shown when they crossed the Alps, but heat soon
made them weak and stupid.
In vain they tried to shelter their faces with their shields. The sun
shone in their eyes, beat upon their heads. Clouds of dust, too, were
blowing, and hiding them from the Romans, who, not seeing the great
numbers arrayed against them, fought the more fearlessly.
To help them to keep their ranks unbroken, the front rows of the Cimbri
were fastened together by long chains, which were slipped through their
belts. But when the battle went against them these chains were a source
of danger.
On this day the Cimbri were worsted, and when the Romans began to cut
them down, the chains made it impossible for those in the front to
escape.
Those in the rear fled to their camp. But here, as in the camp of the
Ambrones, the women, clad in black, mounted upon the wagons and slew
their own husbands, brothers, sons, if they ventured to seek refuge
from the enemy.
Rather than fall into the hands of the Romans, many of the men and
women hanged themselves, after first killing their little children.
Although many of the Cimbri died in this terrible way, more than sixty
thousand were taken prisoners.
Catulus claimed the victory of Vercellæ as his, and was dissatisfied
with Marius, who, he said, did not wish to share the honour with any
one.
However that may be, when the Consuls returned to Rome, Marius was
offered two triumphs, but he would only accept one, and that one he
shared with Catulus.