εὐτύχημα δὲ δοκεῖ τῷ Μαρίῳ μέγα γενέσθαι, τῶν γάρ βαρβάρων ὥσπερ τινὰ παλίρροιαν τῆς ὁρμῆς λαβόντων καὶ ῥυέντων πρότερον ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, χρόνον ἔσχε καὶ τὰ σώματα γυμνάσαι τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὰ φρονήματα πρὸς τὸ θαρρεῖν ἀναρρῶσαι, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, αὐτὸς οἷος ἦν κατανοηθῆναι.
And now, as it would seem, a great piece of good fortune befell Marius. For the Barbarians had a reflux, as it were, in their course, and streamed first into Spain. This gave Marius time to exercise the bodies of his men, to raise their spirits to a sturdier courage, and, what was most important of all, to let them find out what sort of a man he was.
τὸ γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ σκυθρωπὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ περὶ τὰς τιμωρίας δυσμείλικτον ἐθισθεῖσι μηδὲν ἁμαρτάνειν μηδὲ ἀπειθεῖν ἅμα τῷ δικαίῳ σωτήριον ἐφαίνετο, τήν τε τοῦ θυμοῦ σφοδρότητα καὶ τὸ τραχὺ τῆς φωνῆς καὶ ἀγριωπὸν τοῦ προσώπου συντρεφόμενον κατὰ μικρὸν οὐχ αὑτοῖς ἐνόμιζον εἶναι φοβερόν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πολεμίοις.
For his sternness in the exercise of authority and his inflexibility in the infliction of punishment appeared to them, when they became accustomed to obedience and good behaviour, salutary as well as just, and they regarded the fierceness of his temper, the harshness of his voice, and that ferocity of his countenance which gradually became familiar, as fearful to their enemies rather than to themselves.
μάλιστα δὲ ἡ περὶ τὰς κρίσεις ὀρθότης αὐτοῦ τοῖς στρατιώταις ἤρεσκεν ἧς καὶ τοιόνδε τι δεῖγμα λέγεται. Γάϊος Λούσιος ἀδελφιδοῦς αὐτοῦ τεταγμένος ἐφʼ ἡγεμονίας ἐστρατεύετο, τάΧχα μὲν ἀνήρ οὐ δοκῶν εἶναι πονηρός, ἥττων δὲ μειρακίων καλῶν. οὗτος ἤρα νεανίσκου τῶν ὐφʼ αὑτῷ στρατευομένων, ὄνομα Τρεβωνίου, καὶ πολλάκις πειρῶν οὐκ ἐτύγχανε·
But it was above all things the uprightness of his judicial decisions that pleased the soldiers; and of this the following illustration is given. Caius Lusius, a nephew of his, had a command under him in the army. In other respects he was a man of good reputation, but he had a weakness for beautiful youths. This officer was enamoured of one of the young men who served under him, by name Trebonius, and had often made unsuccessful attempts to seduce him.
τέλος δὲ νύκτωρ ὑπηρέτην ἀποστείλας μετεπέμπετο τὸν Τρεβώνιον· ὁ δὲ νεανίας ἧκε μέν, ἀντειπεῖν γὰρ οὐκ ἐξῆν καλούμενον, εἰσαχθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν σκηνὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιχειροῦντα βιάζεσθαι σπασάμενος τὸ ξίφος ἀπέκτεινε. ταῦτα ἐπράχθη τοῦ Μαρίου μὴ παρόντος· ἐπανελθὼν δὲ προὔθηκε τῷ Τρεβωνίῳ κρίσιν·
But finally, at night, he sent a servant with a summons for Trebonius. The young man came, since he could not refuse to obey a summons, but when he had been introduced into the tent and Caius attempted violence upon him, he drew his sword and slew him. Marius was not with the army when this happened; but on his return he brought Trebonius to trial.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλῶν κατηγορούντων, οὐδενὸς δὲ συνηγοροῦντος, αὐτὸς εὐθαρσῶς καταστὰς διηγήσατο τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ μάρτυρας ἔσχεν ὅτι πειρῶντι πολλάκις ἀντεῖπε τῷ Λουσίῳ καὶ μεγάλων διδομένων ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ προήκατο τὸ σῶμα, θαυμάσας ὁ Μάριος καὶ ἡσθεὶς ἐκέλευσε τὸν πάτριον ἐπὶ ταῖς ἀριστείαις στέφανον κομισθῆναι, καὶ λαβὼν αὐτὸς ἐστεφάνωσε τὸν Τρεβώνιον ὡς κάλλιστον ἔργον ἐν καιρῷ παραδειγμάτων δεομένῳ καλῶν ἀποδεδειγμένον·
Here there were many accusers, but not a single advocate, wherefore Trebonius himself courageously took the stand and told all about the matter, bringing witnesses to show that he had often refused the solicitations of Lusius and that in spite of large offers he had never prostituted himself to anyone. Then Marius, filled with delight and admiration, ordered the customary crown for brave exploits to be brought, and with his own hands placed it on the head of Trebonius, declaring that at a time which called for noble examples he had displayed most noble conduct.
τοῦτο εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἀπαγγελθὲν οὐχ ἥκιστα τῷ Μαρίῳ συνέπραξε τὴν τρίτην ὑπατείαν ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων ἔτους ὥρᾳ προσδοκίμων ὄντων ἐβούλοντο μετὰ μηδενὸς ἄλλου στρατηγοῦ κινδυνεῦσαι πρὸς αὐτούς, οὐ μὴν ἧκον ὡς προσεδοκῶντο ταχέως, ἀλλὰ πάλιν διῆλθε τῷ Μαρίῳ ὁ τῆς ὑπατείας χρόνος.
Tidings of this were brought to Rome and helped in no small degree to secure for Marius his third consulship; at the same time, too, the Barbarians were expected in the spring, and the Romans were unwilling to risk battle with them under any other general. However, the Barbarians did not come as soon as they were expected, and once more the period of Marius’s consulship expired.
ἐνισταμένων δὲ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν καὶ τοῦ συνάρχοντος αὐτοῦ τελευτήσαντος, ἀπολιπὼν ἐπὶ τῶν δυνάμεων Μάνιον Ἀκύλλιον αὐτὸς ἧκεν εἰς Ῥώμην. μετιόντων δὲ πολλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν τὴν ὑπατείαν, Λούκιος Σατορνῖνος ὁ μάλιστα τῶν δημάρχων ἄγων τὸ πλῆθος, ὑπὸ τοῦ Μαρίου τεθεραπευμένος ἐδημηγόρει, κελεύων ἐκεῖνον ὕπατον αἱρεῖσθαι. θρυπτομενου δὲ τοῦ Μαρίου καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν φάσκοντος ὡς δὴ μὴ δεομένου, προδότην αὐτὸν ὁ Σατορνῖνος ἀπεκάλει τῆς πατρίδος ἐν κινδύνῳ τοσούτῳ φεύγοντα τὸ στρατηγεῖν.
As the consular elections were at hand, and as his colleague in the office had died, Marius left Manius Aquillius in charge of the forces and came himself to Rome. Here many men of great merit were candidates for the consulship, but Lucius Saturninus, who had more influence with the people than any other tribune, was won over by the flattering attentions of Marius, and in his harangues urged the people to elect Marius consul. Marius affected to decline the office and declared that he did not want it, but Saturninus called him a traitor to his country for refusing to command her armies at a time of so great peril.
καὶ φανερὸς μὲν ἦν ἀπιθάνως συνυποκρινόμενος τὸ προσποίημα τῷ Μαρίῳ, τὸν δὲ καιρὸν ὁρῶντες οἱ πολλοὶ τῆς ἐκείνου δεινότητος ἅμα καὶ τύχης δεόμενον ἐψηφίσαντο τὴν τετάρτην ὑπατείαν, καὶ συνάρχοντα Κάτλον αὐτῷ Λουτάτιον κατέστησαν, ἄνδρα καὶ τιμώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρίστων καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐκ ἐπαχθῆ.
Now, it was clear that Saturninus was playing his part at the instigation of Marius, and playing it badly, too, but the multitude, seeing that the occasion required the ability as well as the good fortune of Marius, voted for his fourth consulship, and made Catulus Lutatius his colleague, a man who was esteemed by the nobility and not disliked by the common people.
πυνθανόμενος δὲ τοὺς πολεμίους ὁ Μάριος ἐγγὺς εἶναι διὰ ταχέων ὐπερέβαλε τὰς Ἄλπεις· καὶ τειχίσας στρατόπεδον παρὰ τῷ Ῥοδανῷ ποταμῷ συνῆγεν εἰς αὐτὸ χορηγίαν ἄφθονον, ὡς μηδέποτε παρὰ τὸν τοῦ συμφέροντος λογισμὸν ἐκβιασθείη διʼ ἔνδειαν τῶν ἀναγκαίων εἰς μάχην καταστῆναι.
Learning that the enemy were near, Marius rapidly crossed the Alps, and built a fortified camp along the river Rhone. Into this he brought together an abundance of stores, that he might never be forced by lack of provisions to give battle contrary to his better judgment.
τὴν δὲ κομιδὴν ὧν ἔδει τῷ στρατεύματι μακρὰν καὶ πολυτελῆ πρότερον οὖσαν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, αὐτὸς εἰργάσατο ῥᾳδίαν καὶ ταχεῖαν. τὰ γάρ στόματα τοῦ Ῥοδανοῦ, πρὸς τὰς ἀνακοπὰς τῆς θαλάττης, ἰλύν τε πολλὴν λαμβάνοντα καὶ θῖνα πηλῷ βαθεῖ συμπεπιλημένην ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος, χαλεπὸν καὶ ἐπίπονον καὶ βραδύπορον τοῖς σιταγωγοῖς ἐποίει τὸν εἴσπλουν.
The conveyance of what was needful for his army, which had previously been a long and costly process where it was by sea, he rendered easy and speedy. That is, the mouths of the Rhone, encountering the sea, took up great quantities of mud and sand packed close with clay by the action of the billows, and made the entrance of the river difficult, laborious, and slow for vessels carrying supplies.
ὁ δὲ τρέψας ἐνταῦθα τὸν στρατὸν σχολάζοντα τάφρον μεγάλην ἐνέβαλε, καὶ ταύτῃ πολύ μέρος τοῦ ποταμοῦ μεταστὴσας περιήγαγεν εἰς ἐπιτήδειον αἰγιαλόν, βαθὺ μὲν καὶ ναυσὶ μεγάλαις ἔποχον, λεῖον δὲ καὶ ἄκλυστον στόμα λαβοῦσαν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν. αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἔτι ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν φυλάττει.
So Marius brought his army to the place, since the men had nothing else to do, and ran a great canal. Into this he diverted a great part of the river and brought it round to a suitable place on the coast, a deep bay where large ships could float, and where the water could flow out smoothly and without waves to the sea. This canal, indeed, still bears the name of Marius.
τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων διελόντων σφᾶς αὐτοὺς δίχα Κίμβροι μὲν ἔλαχον διὰ Νωρικῶν ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ Κάτλον χωρεῖν καὶ τὴν πάροδον ἐκείνην βιάζεσθαι, Τεύτονες δὲ καὶ Ἄμβρωνες διὰ Λιγύων ἐπὶ Μάριον παρὰ θάλατταν.
The Barbarians divided themselves into two bands, and it fell to the lot of the Cimbri to proceed through Noricum in the interior of the country against Catulus, and force a passage there, while the Teutones and Ambrones were to march through Liguria along the sea-coast against Marius.
καὶ Κίμβροις μέν ἐγίνετο πλείων ἡ διατριβὴ καὶ μέλλησις, Τεύτονες δὲ καὶ Ἄμβρωνες ἄραντες εὐθὺς καὶ διελθόντες τὴν ἐν μέσῳ χώραν ἐφαίνοντο πλήθει τε ἄπειροι καὶ δυσπρόσοπτοι τὰ εἴδη, φθόγγον τε καὶ θόρυβον οὐχ ἑτέροις ὅμοιοι. περιβαλόμενοι δὲ τοῦ πεδίου μέγά μέρος καὶ στρατοπεδεύσαντες προὐκαλοῦντο τὸν Μάριον εἰς μάχην.
On the part of the Cimbri there was considerable delay and loss of time, but the Teutones and Ambrones set out at once passed through the intervening country, and made their appearance before Marius. Their numbers were limitless, they were hideous in their aspect, and their speech and cries were unlike those of other peoples. They covered a large part of the plain, and after pitching their camp challenged Marius to battle.
ὁ δὲ τούτων μὲν οὐκ ἐφρόντιζεν, ἐν δὲ τῷ χάρακι τοὺς στρατιώτας συνεῖχε, καὶ καθήπτετο πικρῶς τῶν θρασυνομένων, καὶ τοὺς προπίπτοντας ὑπὸ θυμοῦ καὶ μάχεσθαι βουλομένους προδότας ἀπεκάλει τῆς πατρίδος, οὐ γάρ ὑπὲρ θριάμβων τὴν φιλοτιμίαν εἶναι καὶ τροπαίων, ἀλλʼ ὅπως νέφος τοσοῦτον πολέμου καὶ σκηπτὸν ὠσάμενοι διασώσουσι τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
Marius, however, paid no heed to them, but kept his soldiers inside their fortifications, bitterly rebuking those who would have made a display of their courage, and calling those whose high spirit made them wish to rush forth and give battle traitors to their country. For it was not, he said, triumphs or trophies that should now be the object of their ambition, but how they might ward off so great a cloud and thunder-bolt of war and secure the safety of Italy.
ταῦτα μὲν ἰδίᾳ πρὸς τοὺς ἡγεμόνας καὶ τοὺς ὁμοτίμους ἔλεγε, τοὺς δὲ στρατιώτας ὑπὲρ τοῦ χάρακος ἱστὰς ἀνὰ μέρος καὶ θεᾶσθαι κελεύων εἴθιζε τὴν μορφὴν ἀνέχεσθαι τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τήν φωνὴν ὑπομένειν ὅλως οὖσαν ἀλλόκοτον καὶ θηριώδη, σκευήν τε καὶ κίνησιν αὐτῶν καταμανθάνειν, ἅμα τῷ χρόνῳ τὰ φαινόμενα δεινὰ ποιουμένους τῇ διανοίᾳ χειροήθη διὰ τῆς ὄψεως· ἡγεῖτο γὰρ πολλὰ μὲν ἐπιψεύδεσθαι τῶν οὐ προσόντων τὴν καινότητα τοῖς φοβεροῖς, ἐν δὲ τῇ συνηθείᾳ καὶ τὰ τῇ φύσει δεινὰ τὴν ἔκπληξιν ἀποβάλλειν.
This was his language in private to his officers and equals; but he would station his soldiers on the fortifications by detachments, bidding them to observe the enemy, and in this way accustomed them not to fear their shape or dread their cries, which were altogether strange and ferocious; and to make themselves acquainted with their equipment and movements, thus in course of time rendering what was only apparently formidable familiar to their minds from observation. For he considered that their novelty falsely imparts to terrifying objects many qualities which they do not possess, but that with familiarity even those things which are really dreadful lose their power to affright.
τῶν δὲ οὐ μόνον ἡ καθʼ ἡμέραν ὄψις ἀφῄρει τι τοῦ θάμβους, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀπειλὰς τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ τὸν κόμπον οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ὄντα θυμὸς αὐτοῖς παριστάμενος ἐξεθέρμαινε καὶ διέφλεγε τὰς ψυχάς, οὐ μόνον ἀγόντων καὶ φερόντων τὰ πέριξ ἅπαντα τῶν πολεμίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ χάρακι ποιουμένων προσβολὰς μετὰ πολλῆς ἀσελγείας καὶ θρασύτητος, ὥστε φωνὰς καὶ διαγανακτήσεις τῶν στρατιωτῶν πρὸς τὸν Μάριον ἐκφέρεσθαι.
And so in the case of his soldiers, not only did the daily sight of the enemy lessen somewhat their amazement at them, but also, when they heard the threats and the intolerable boasting of the Barbarians, their anger rose and warmed and set on fire their spirits; for the enemy were ravaging and plundering all the country round, and besides, often attacked the Roman fortifications with great temerity and shamelessness, so that indignant speeches of his soldiers reached the ears of Marius.
τίνα δὴ καταγνοὺς ἀνανδρίαν ἡμῶν Μάριος εἴργει μάχης ὥσπερ γυναῖκας ὑπὸ κλεισὶ καὶ θυρωροῖς; φέρε, παθόντες ἀνδρῶν πάθος ἐλευθέρων ἐρώμεθα πότερον ἄλλους ἀναμένει μαχουμένους ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἰταλίας, ἡμῖν δὲ λειτουργοῖς χρήσεται διὰ παντός, ὅταν δέῃται τάφρους ὀρύσσειν καὶ πηλὸν ἐκκαθαίρειν καὶ ποταμούς τινας παρατρέπειν;
What cowardice, pray, has Marius discovered in us that he keeps us out of battle like women under lock and key? Come, let us act like freemen and ask him if he is waiting for other soldiers to fight in defence of Italy, and will use us as workmen all the time, whenever there is need of digging ditches and clearing out mud and diverting a river or two.
ἐπὶ ταῦτα γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἤσκει τοῖς πολλοῖς πόνοις ἡμᾶς, καὶ ταῦτα τῶν ὑπατειῶν ἀποδειξάμενος ἔργα τοῖς πολίταις ἐπάνεισιν. ἢ τὰ Κάρβωνος αὐτὸν φοβεῖ καὶ Καιπίωνος, οὓς ἐνίκησαν οἱ πολέμιοι, πολὺ μὲν αὐτοὺς τῆς Μαρίου δόξης καὶ ἀρετῆς ἀποδέοντας, πολὺ δὲ χείρονα στρατὸν ἄγοντας; ἀλλὰ καὶ παθεῖν τι δρῶντας, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι, κάλλιον ἢ καθῆσθαι πορθουμένων τῶν συμμάχων θεατάς.
For it was to this end, as it would seem, that he exercised us in those many toils, and these are the achievements of his consulships which he will exhibit to his fellow-citizens on his return to Rome. Or does he fear the fate of Carbo and Caepio, whom the enemy defeated? But they were far behind Marius in reputation and excellence, and led an army that was far inferior to his. Surely it is better to do something, even if we perish as they did, rather than to sit here and enjoy the spectacle of our allies being plundered.
Cite This Text