The crisis of Rome: the Jugurthine and Northern Wars and the
rise of Marius Pen & Sword Military, 15. aug. 2010 - 259 sider
In the later 2nd century BC, after a period of rapid expansion
and conquest, the Roman Republic found itself in crisis. In
North Africa her armies were already bogged down in a long
difficult guerrilla war in a harsh environment when invasion by
a coalition of Germanic tribes, the Cimbri, Teutones and
Ambrones, threatened Italy and Rome itself, inflicting painful
defeats on Roman forces in pitched battle. Gaius Marius was the
man of the hour. The first war he brought to an end through
tactical brilliance, bringing the Numidian King Jugurtha back in
chains. Before his ship even returned to Italy, the senate
elected Marius to lead the war against the northern invaders.
Reorganising and reinvigorating the demoralised Roman legions,
he led them to two remarkable victories in the space of months,
crushing the Teutones and Ambrones at Aquiae Sextae and the
Cimbri at Vercellae.The Roman army em