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The Battle of Vercellae, also called The Battle of the Raudine Plain, was fought in 101 BC between a Roman Republic army led by Consul Gaius Marius against a large invasion force of the Germanic Cimbri, near the settlement of Vercellae (modern Vercelli) in Cisalpine Gaul. The Cimbri were virtually wiped out, with over 140,000 killed and 60,000 captured, including large numbers of women and children. Much credit for this victory has been given to the actions of Proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus Caesar's legate, Lucius Cornelius Sulla who led the Roman and allied Italian Cavalry.
The battle
Thus follows Theodor Mommsen's account:
- The two armies met below Vercellae not far from the confluence of the Sesia with the Po,(25) just at the spot where Hannibal had fought his first battle on Italian soil. The Cimbri desired battle, and according to their custom sent to the Romans to settle the time and place for it; Marius gratified them and named the next day — it was the 30th July 653 (101 BC) — and the Raudine plain, a wide level space, which the superior Roman cavalry found advantageous for their movements. Here they fell upon the enemy expecting them and yet taken by surprise; for in the dense morning mist the Cimbrian cavalry found itself in hand-to-hand conflict with the stronger cavalry of the Romans before it anticipated attack, and was thereby thrown back upon the infantry which was just making its dispositions for battle. A complete victory was gained with slight loss, and the Cimbri were annihilated. 1
- Those might be deemed fortunate who met death in the battle, as most did, including the brave king Boiorix; more fortunate at least than those who afterwards in despair laid hands on themselves, or were obliged to seek in the slave-market of Rome the master who might retaliate on the individual Northman for the audacity of having coveted the beauteous south before it was time. The Tigorini, who had remained behind in the passes of the Alps with the view of subsequently following the Cimbri, ran off on the news of the defeat to their native land. The human avalanche, which for thirteen years had alarmed the nations from the Danube to the Ebro, from the Seine to the Po, rested beneath the sod or toiled under the yoke of slavery; the forlorn hope of the German migrations had performed its duty; the homeless people of the Cimbri and their comrades were no more.2
Aftermath
The victory of Vercellae, following close on the heels of Marius' defeat of the Teutons at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae the previous year, put an end to Germanic plans to invade Rome.
Politically, this battle had great implications for Rome as well. It marked the beginning of the rivalry between Marius and Sulla, which would eventually lead to the first of Rome's great civil wars. As a reward for their gallant service, Marius granted Roman citizenship to his Italian allied soldiers, without consulting or asking permission from the Senate first. When some Senators questioned this action, he would claim that in the din of battle he could not distinguish the voice of Roman from ally from the voice of the law. Henceforth all Italian legions would be Roman legions. This was also the first time a victorious general had openly defied the Senate. Nor would it be the last; In 88 BC, Sulla, in defiance of both the Senate and tradition, would lead his troops into the city of Rome itself. And Julius Caesar, when ordered by the Senate to lay down his command and return to Rome to face misconduct charges, would instead lead one of his legions across the Rubicon in 49 BC. This would mark the start of the civil war between himself and Senatorial forces under Pompey which would effectively end the Roman Republic.
See also
References
- Mommsen, Theodor, History of Rome, Book IV "The Revolution", pp 71-72 .
Battles of the Roman Republic | Roman Gaul
Campi Raudii | Schlacht von Vercellae | Battaglia dei Campi Raudii | Vercellaei csata | Slag bij Vercellae | Slaget ved Vercellae
"Battle of Vercellae"