This video is sponsored by Skillshare. Learn more about Skillshare and the exclusive offer they have for our viewers at the end of the video. Throughout its history Roman civilization had many enemies, but none of them were as fierce as the Germanic peoples, and no other ethnic group fought the Romans for so long. The Romans and Germanic tribes started their bitter fight on first contact and the conflicts between these two peoples decided the fate of Rome. The Cimbrian War of 113-101 BC was the first engagement and its results influenced the history of Rome for the next 6 centuries. By the mid-2nd century BC the Roman Republic was in control of most of the Mediterranean directly or via its allies. Rome won the conflicts against the Seleucids, Macedon and the Greek leagues and that allowed the Republic to take control of Greece. To the west the Romans defeated a number of Gallic tribes in the 120s BC and created the province of Gallia Narbonensis. However, new enemies were already on their way. Between 120-115 BC the Jutland peninsula suffered some kind of catastrophe. The peninsula was either flooded or extreme colds made it virtually unlivable. In any case, the proto-German tribe populating modern day Denmark called the Cimbri had to leave these lands. By 115 BC they began migrating to the South. They were joined by their neighbors and relatives Teutones in Northern Germany. The tribes, now 200 thousand warriors strong moved into the modern day Czech Republic but were defeated there by the Celtic Boii and were forced to change their route. In 113 BC the Cimbri and Teutones crossed the Danube into Pannonia and then moved to Noricum. The region was populated by the Celtic Taurisci, who weren’t able to repel the invaders and asks their ally Rome for
help invaders and asked their ally - Rome for help. At the time the Roman society was showing the first signs of the crisis that will end the republic in the next century: their conquests made the elites richer, while the poor lost their lands. The landless were not allowed to join the legions. This was weakening the army in terms of leadership, morale, and numbers, and that became the central theme of this war. Roman consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo answered the call and moved his legions to block the North-Eastern Alpine passes into Italy. The Cimbri send emissaries promising that they were not going to attack Taurisci anymore. Carbo seemingly agreed to peace and gave the tribes guides to show the route away from Roman territory, but at the same time he laid an ambush for them. The tribes learned of this and attacked Roman ambush near Norei, crushing the legions. The Romans lost more than 20 thousand soldiers in this battle. For reasons unknown, the Cimbri and their allies did not attack Italy immediately and moved to the west through Noricum to Raetia. Celtic tribes called Tigurini and Tougeni joined them here and all these tribes moved into Gallia. We don’t know much about their time in modern day France, but we know that they raided and looted Gallia and the Gauls were not able to stop the invaders. Rome was content not to have to deal with the invaders anymore, as they had been fighting the Jugurthine war of 112-106 BC in Numidia. This war underlined the problems in Roman society: military and civilian leaders were bribed by the Numidian leader Jugurtha multiple times and the Roman army became so disorganized it failed to win against a much weaker enemy. In 109 BC the Cimbri and their allies decided to move into Roman controlled Gallia Narbonensis. Roman consul Marcus Junius Silanus attempted to negotiate with them. The tribal alliance demanded lands in the Rhone valley and promised to defend the Roman borders, but Silanus declined. In the ensuing battle, the Romans were defeated yet again. Most of the tribes returned to Gallia Transalpina, while the Tigurini stayed to roam Narbonensis and in 107 BC they ambushed a newly formed Roman army near Burdigala, modern day Bordeaux. The Roman leaders were killed and there were almost 10 thousand casualties. The Romans now understood that the Germanic threat was real. An 80 thousand strong army was formed to be sent to Gallia Narbonensis. As their most talented general Gaius Marius was leading the African army at that moment, a commoner Gnaeus Mallius Maximus was to lead the army and Quintus Servilius Caepio was his second-in-command. Caepio, a patrician from one of the oldest families of Rome, was not happy that Novo Homus – new man with no aristocratic blood, will be the one in charge. In 105 BC Mallius arrived to Gallia Narbonensis and positioned his troops on the west bank of the Rodan river near the city of Arausio, while Caepio stayed with his troops on the eastern side despite orders to cross the river. He forced the river only after the direct order from the Senate, but even then insisted on a different camp and ignored order from Mallius. The king of Cimbri Boiorix decided to negotiate with Mallius and asked him to let tribes pass into Hispania. Caepio did not want a commoner to get the credit for stopping the Germanic threat and ordered his troops to attack the Cimbri. His smaller force was easily stopped by the Germans and was slaughtered after being surrounded. Mallius was not prepared for the swift counter-attack of the enemy, his legionaries were basically encircled. 80 thousand legionaries died on this day – the biggest Roman defeat since Hannibal crushed them at Cannae. But as Hannibal before them, the tribal alliance didn’t attack Rome after this battle. Most of the tribes moved into northern Hispania and pillaged it, so the Romans got one more chance to catch their breath and prepare for the inevitable invasion. In 106 BC Marius finally finished the Jugurthine war and despite the law prohibiting it, was elected consul for the second time in 104 BC. Marius recognized the problems of the Roman army. His reform is one of the focal points of the Roman military and political history and we will cover it in our Armies and Tactics series. In short, the landless were allowed to join the legions. The army became professional, training and equipment were standardized and those serving were promised lands. The legionaries started carrying all of their supplies, weapons, and rations themselves, which improved the mobility of the army, and the stamina of the soldiers. The traditional manipular organization of the legion was scrapped, for a more agile formation based on the cohort, a group of 400 soldiers. All these allowed the organization of the strongest Roman army in history, with the best-trained legionaries. By the time Cimbri and their allies decided to turn their attention to Italy in 102 BC Marius was ready to stop them. The tribal army was divided into two halves: The Teutones led by the king Teutobud moved via the Mediterranean coast in order to attack western part of Italy, while the Cimbri moved from Gallia into Noricum to move into North-Eastern Italy.
In the summer of 102 BC Marius was waiting for the Teutones in his well-fortified camp close to the Rhone river. The Germans tried to assault this camp, but their 3-day long attack failed and they lost thousands. That strengthened the morale of the legionaries. The Teutones decided to bypass the Romans to the north, but Marius moved parallel to them and forced them to fight in the location called Aquae Sextiae. Marius had 40,000 soldiers and his opponents outnumbered him 2-to-1. The Romans positioned themselves on the hill, with 4 thousand legionaries as an ambush in the nearby forests. To provoke the Teutones Marius led his cavalry in an attack, but retreated on contact behind the line of the legionaries. The Germans run swiftly uphill and were met by the Roman pilae and then the shield wall. The Romans had a clear advantage in training and equipment and soon the Teutones had to start a retreat to the base of the hill but were followed by the legionaries. By this point in the battle, Teutobud’s forces were tired and battered. They tried to create a shield wall of their own but the combined attack of main Roman forces from the front and ambushing group from the rear broke their lines. More than 50 thousand Teutones were killed, while the Romans lost few thousand soldiers and continued the massacre in the Germanic camp, where tens of thousands were killed and enslaved. But the Cimbri were still strong and Marius’ co-consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus was tasked with the defense of the Alpine passages. Under the Cimbri pressure he had to abandon Brenner Pass. His second attempt to mount a defense on Adige river also failed, when Cimbri tried to encircle his positions and forced him to retreat beyond the Po river, which was more defensible. That allowed Cimbri to loot rich territory between the Alpes and Po river. By that point, they had been traveling for almost a year from Spain to Italy and were exhausted, so they were not so eager to attack Roman positions in winter. Marius used that opportunity to move back into Italy. He was elected the consul yet again. In the spring of 101 BC Marius moved into Po valley, where his 32 thousand legionaries were joined by 20 thousand of Catulus. Modern historians believe that Cimbri led by Boiorix had up to 60 thousand warriors, while Roman historians claim that the Germanics were 200 thousand strong. The Cimbri continuously avoided Marius throughout spring and early summer. Marius was pushing Boiorix to the North-West in an attempt to entrap them along the Alpes. The Cimbri were not able to avoid Romans anymore. By the end of July, both armies reached the place called Vercellae. The Romans led by Marius and Catulus had more than 50 thousand legionaries, while Cimbri were able to field between 60 and 80 thousand warriors. Marius’s army had an advantage in cavalry, as most Cimbri fought on foot. As soon as the battle started the Roman cavalry on both flanks of the legions moved swiftly to attack their counterparts. The Cimbri line moved to attack the legionaries. While the infantry lines clashed, with Romans on the defensive and being pushed back, Marius’s cavalry was able to win their engagement against Boiorix’s horsemen in short order. The Roman cavalry then turned and attacked the rear of the Cimbri line. The Germanic forces were surrounded and almost all of their army was killed. The battle took few hours and all of the Cimbri were either killed or enslaved.
That was the end of the Cimbrian war. The Romans were able to defeat this threat, the biggest since Hannibal. But new cracks formed in the Roman society and they would eventually lead to a series of civil wars that we are planning to cover in future. The sponsor of this video – Skillshare is the premier online learning community with more than 19,000 classes that teach videography, productivity, photography, and more. The modern life is fast paced and demands constant self-improving, so Skillshare is great for people who want to learn a new skill or make their passion a full-time job. If you are planning to create a youtube channel – Skillshare is the place to start. It has more than 500 courses teacher After Effects ranging from the basics to the courses that can surprise even the advanced users. Premium Membership begins around $10 a month - but for the first 250 people to sign up with the link in the description, you can get 2 months of Skillshare for FREE! These spots typically go quite quickly so make sure to get in there Thank you for watching our documentary on the Cimbrian War. We are planning to release more videos on the Roman history, so subscribe and press the alarm bell to get notified – we release videos every Thursday and Sunday - there is more to come. We try to answer every comment and appreciate each like and share. These videos are made possibly by our brilliant Patrons over at Patreon and Youtube sponsors. You can join the ranks of our supporters via the links in the description and get many perks, like early access to the videos, info on our schedule, ability to vote on the upcoming series and so much more. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.
