The king of the Cimbri was indignant at this impudence and had Scaurus executed. Scaurus was not humbled by his capture and advised Boiorix to turn back before his people were destroyed by the Roman forces. The Roman force was completely overwhelmed and the legate was captured and brought before king Boiorix. The initial contact between the Romans and Cimbri occurred when a detached picketing group under the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus met an advance party of the Cimbri. However, because Maximus was a novus homo and therefore lacked the noble background of the Roman aristocracy – in addition to his military inexperience – Caepio refused to serve under him and made camp on the opposite side of the river. As the consul of the year, Maximus out-ranked Caepio and therefore should by law have been the senior commander of the combined armies. Two of the major Roman forces available were camped out on the Rhone River, near Arausio: one led by Mallius Maximus, and the other by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio. The reasons for Rutilius not taking charge himself do not seem to be known: perhaps he faced political opposition because of his friendship with Gaius Marius, or perhaps he believed Mallius Maximus deserved the chance to earn himself a share of glory, or perhaps he was simply temporarily ill. The senior of the year's two consuls, Publius Rutilius Rufus, was an experienced and highly decorated soldier, veteran of the recent war in Numidia, but for some reason did not take charge of the military campaign himself but remained in Rome while his inexperienced, untried colleague Gnaeus Mallius Maximus led the legions north. Įven before the battle had erupted, the Romans were in trouble. Having regained Tolosa, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio adopted a defensive strategy, waiting to see if the Cimbri would move toward Roman territories again. An ambush of Roman troops and the temporary rebellion of the town of Tolosa (modern Toulouse) caused Roman troops to mobilize in the area, with eighty strong forces. The migrations of the Cimbri tribe through Gaul and adjacent territories had disturbed the balance of power and incited or provoked other tribes, such as the Helvetii, into conflict with the Romans.
Even surpassing the devastating Battle of Cannae in losses, which took place more than 100 years earlier. In terms of losses, the battle is regarded as one of the worst defeats in the history of ancient Rome. Roman losses are described as being up to 80,000 troops as well as another 40,000 auxiliary troops ( allies) and servants and camp followers – 120,000 in total, virtually all of their participants in the battle. This major defeat gave Gaius Marius the opportunity to make radical reforms to the organisation and the recruitment of Roman legions.
Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri under Boiorix and the Teutons under Teutobod, were two Roman armies, commanded by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus.ĭifferences between the Roman commanders prevented the Roman armies from co-operating, with devastating results. The Battle of Arausio took place on 6 October 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio, now Orange, Vaucluse, and the Rhône river.
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