Table Of ContentMarius
ANCIENTS IN ACTION
Boudicca
Marguerite Johnson
Catiline
Barbara Levick
Catullus
Amanda Hurley
Cleopatra
Susan Walker and Sally-Ann Ashton
Hadrian
James Morwood
Hannibal
Robert Garland
Horace
Philip D. Hills
Lucretius
John Godwin
Martial
Peter Howell
Ovid: Love Songs
Genevieve Lively
Ovid: Myth and Metamorphosis
Sarah Annes Brown
Pindar
Anne Pippin Burnett
Sappho
Marguerite Johnson
Spartacus
Theresa Urbainszyk
Tacitus
Rhiannon Ash
Marius
Federico Santangelo
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury Academic
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Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2016
© Federico Santangelo, 2016
Federico Santangelo has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: PB: 978-1-47421-471-1
ePDF: 978-1-47421-473-5
ePub: 978-1-47421-472-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Santangelo, Federico.
Marius / Federico Santangelo.
pages cm. -- (Ancients in action)
An introduction to Marius -- Why Marius matters -- Marius’ background -- The
context -- Marius’ rise -- Marius’ early career -- The Jugurthine War -- The Germanic
War -- Marius’ fall -- The wrong crowd -- Elder statesman -- Twists of fate -- The
Social War -- Disruption and tradition : the first march on Rome --Marius’ flight --
The final comeback -- Marius’ legacy -- The Mariani -- Caesar and Cicero -- Marius
under the Principate.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4742-1471-1 (pb) -- ISBN 978-1-4742-1472-8 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-4742-
1473-5 (epdf) 1. Marius, Gaius, approximately 157 B.C.-86 B.C. 2. Statesmen-
-Rome--Biography. 3. Rome--History--Republic, 265-30 B.C. 4. Rome--History,
Military--265-30 B.C. I. Title.
DG256.5.S46 2015
937.05092--dc23
[B]
2015019277
Series: Ancients in Action
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
per Giovanni Geraci
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Chronology ix
1 An Introduction to Marius 1
Why Marius matters 1
Marius’ background 4
The context 9
2 Marius’ Rise 15
Marius’ early career 15
The Jugurthine War 25
The Germanic War 42
3 Marius’ Fall 57
The wrong crowd 57
Elder statesman 65
4 Twists of Fate 71
The Social War 71
Disruption and tradition: the first march on Rome 74
Marius’ flight 81
The final comeback 87
5 Marius’ Legacy 95
The Mariani 95
Caesar and Cicero 99
Marius under the Principate 101
Further Reading 105
References to the Ancient Sources 113
Index 121
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Alan Beale and Roger Rees for inviting me to
write this book, and am especially indebted to Roger for offering
me some crucial advice on how to write it. I am also very grateful to
the anonymous readers who commented on a proposal and an early
draft. One of them also generously shared with me the stemma of the
Marii that I am including in the text (p. 13). Fiona Noble, Antonio
Pistellato, Lorna Rimell, and Alexander Thein offered invaluable
advice on various drafts. Ryan Horne at the Ancient World Mapping
Center (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) provided helpful
cartographical guidance and support. I am grateful to the Center
for permission to reproduce the map that is printed on p. xii. At
Bloomsbury Charlotte Loveridge, Anna MacDiarmid and Alice Reid
expertly guided me throughout the various stages of the project. Kim
Storry at Fakenham Prepress Solutions oversaw the production of
the volume.
This book stems from teaching, and sets out to be used primarily
(though by no means exclusively) in the classroom. My foremost
debt is therefore to the several cohorts of Newcastle students with
whom I have been discussing Marian matters over the years, and
whose reactions to some of the arguments presented here have deeply
informed my thinking on the period and my choices on how to frame
this account.
The dedication is a small token of gratitude and affection to a
scholar and teacher from whom I have learned a great deal more than
I could possibly say.
Chronology
(all dates bc)
188 Arpinum is granted Roman citizenship.
158/157 Marius is born at Arpinum.
146 Destruction of Carthage by Scipio Aemilianus.
133 C onquest of Numantia; tribunate of Tiberius
Gracchus.
119 Marius holds the tribunate of the plebs.
118 Death of Micipsa, king of Numidia.
116 (?) Marius fails to be elected to the aedileship.
115 Marius is elected to the praetorship.
114 Governorship in Further Spain.
110 Defeat of Spurius Postumius Albinus in North Africa.
109 C onsulship of Metellus Numidicus. Marius joins
him in Numidia as legatus. Birth of Marius the
Younger.
108 M ilitary operations in Numidia. Marius returns to
Rome to stand for the consulship.
107 F irst consulship; recruitment of capite censi into the
army; return to Numidia. Sulla joins the campaign
as quaestor.
106 C onquest of Moluccha and Cirta. Contacts between
Marius, Sulla and Bocchus.
105 J ugurtha is betrayed by Bocchus and captured
by Sulla. 6 October: Roman defeat at Arausio in
Southern Gaul against the Cimbri. Marius is elected
to the consulship for 104.
104 M arius celebrates his triumph over Jugurtha.
Campaign to Southern Gaul.
