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Documentation:
The Battle of Vercellae, also known as the Battle of the Raudian Fields, was the final decisive battle in the war between the Cimbri wandering people and the Romans. The battle took place on the 30th. July 101 B.C. BC took place and ended with the complete defeat of the Cimbri, who thus ceased to exist as a closed tribal group. After the Cimbri, Teutons and Ambrons had roamed Europe in search of new settlement areas, presumably because of storm surges and climate deterioration in their homeland on the North Sea, the Cimbri, who had separated from the other tribes, finally invaded northern Italy. They had previously successfully defeated the Romans in several battles, including the Battle of Noreia in 113 BC. BC and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. BC The Roman general Quintus Lutatius Catulus had the task of protecting the Alpine passes. When the Cimbri nevertheless streamed over the Alps, he gave up the passes and, in order not to spread his army too much, retreated behind the Adige and entrenched himself there. The Cimbri attacked the last defenders beyond the Adige. Full of admiration for their bravery, they allowed the defenders to leave freely, but then devastated the surrounding areas. At the same time, Gaius Marius, who had destroyed the Teutons in the Battle of Aquae Sextiae a year earlier, marched with his reformed army (the soldiers had to carry all their own luggage and were therefore called muli Mariani - "Mule of Marius"). to northern Italy to unite with the troops of Catulus. The leader of the Cimbri, Boiorix, made Marius a peace offer: the Cimbri would refrain from fighting if they were allowed to keep the land. Marius, who knew the strength of his forces, rejected the treaty and instead presented the Cimbri with the captured Teutonic King Teutobod - it was only then that the Cimbri learned of the destruction of their brother people. Boiorix then asked Marius to determine the location of the fight. He decided on the Raudische Felder near Vercellae (today Vercelli). Catulus' army numbered 20,300 men, Marius had 32,000 men. Catulus' legions stood in the center, with half of Marius' forces marking the flanks. Marius supposedly arranged his legions this way because experience has shown that the center deepened during the battle and was therefore less active He would thereby get the glory for the victory. Opposed to this was the Cimbri people, who numbered around 160,000 men, women and children, and the Cimbri had a cavalry of 15,000 men. According to Plutarch, the Cimbrians were very well equipped: they wore armor made of iron, white shields and helmets that had the head shapes of wild animals and had large plumes of feathers. They used spears with two hooks as projectiles and for hand-to-hand combat they used a large, powerful sword. Apparently Marius had not unintentionally chosen midday as the time for the battle, as the sun was shining in the faces of the Cimbri advancing from the north, so they had to hold their shields over their eyes. Shortly before the battle began, Marius and Catulus sacrificed an ox and Marius promised the gods 100 more oxen in the event of victory. The Cimbrian horsemen did not attack the Romans head-on, but instead pivoted to the right, gradually bringing the Romans between themselves and their infantry, who were on the left. Although the Roman generals understood the ruse, they could no longer hold back their men, who had marched off after one claimed that the enemy wanted to flee. Shortly after the attack began, huge dust rose from the dry plain, so that Marius and his troops initially missed the enemy and wandered around for a while until they came across the enemy from behind. Meanwhile, the main army, the Cimbri infantry, encountered Catulus. The dust contributed significantly to increasing the courage of the Romans. You could only see the opponents directly in front of you, without recognizing the majority of the Germanic people. The Cimbri, who were more used to the cool climate of the north, continued to struggle enormously with the heat and humidity of the southern countries. The Romans, on the other hand, were so hardened by their years of training that it didn't cause them any problems. In addition, the sun was shining straight towards the Cimbri, so they had to hold their shields in front of their faces and had difficulty seeing their opponents. The majority of the Cimbri fell on the actual battlefield, the Walplatz, which was designated by the Romans at their request.[2] To prevent their line of battle from being torn apart, the first line fighters were linked together by forged chains attached to their belts to prevent them from fleeing. The fighters fleeing from other sectors of the front were attacked by the Romans drove them into their camp, where their soldiers watched in shock as the Cimbrian women killed their husbands, sons or brothers who had fled, beat and strangled their children and, to escape slavery, then killed themselves by hanging themselves from their chariots or threw themselves under the hooves of the mounts. Many of the surviving Cimbrian men tied themselves to the horns or feet of the oxen in order to be hanged or killed. being dragged to death. Although so many died in battle, over 60,000 prisoners were reportedly taken and sold into slavery. After the fighting ended, there were disputes between Marius and Catulus as to who had the greater share in the victory. After a dispute arose among the soldiers, the deputies from Parma who were present were elected as a kind of arbitrators. Catulus' men paraded these around and showed that most of the dead Cimbri had been killed with spears with the name "Catulus" carved on the shaft. Nevertheless, it was partly due to the previous victory and partly due to higher dignity that the entire work was attributed to Marius. He was then proclaimed by the people as the “third founder of Rome” (after Romulus and Camillus). From the loot, Marius donated two temples, one to Honos and one to Virtus. Catulus also built a temple, but he demonstratively dedicated it to another deity: Fortuna - the goddess of luck. The descendants of the prisoners are said to have joined the rebellious slave train of Spartacus, who had escaped from a gladiator school near Capua, 30 years later as gladiators together with fellow Teutonic sufferers.
Source: Wikipedia