View source for Cimbri

===Defeat===
[[File:The defeat of the Cimbri.jpg|right|thumb|''The Defeat of the Cimbri'' by [[Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps|Alexandre-Gabriel Décamps]]]]
[[File:Marius and the Ambassadors of the Cimbri.jpg|thumb|Marius (seated) and the ambassadors of the Cimbri ([[William Rainey]], 1900)]]
In 104–103 BC, the Cimbri had turned to the Iberian Peninsula where they pillaged far and wide, until they were confronted by a coalition of [[Celtiberians]].<ref>Livy: Periochae 67</ref> Defeated, the Cimbri returned to Gaul, where they joined their allies, the [[Teutons]]. During this time, C. Marius had the time to prepare and, in 102 BC, he was ready to meet the Teutons and the Ambrones at the Rhône. These two tribes intended to pass into Italy through the western passes, while the Cimbri and the Tigurines were to take the northern route across the [[Rhine]] and later across the [[Central Eastern Alps]].

At the estuary of the [[Isère (river)|Isère]], the Teutons and the Ambrones met Marius, whose well-defended camp they did not manage to overrun. Instead, they pursued their route, and Marius followed them. At [[Battle of Aquae Sextiae|Aquae Sextiae]], the Romans won two battles and took the Teuton king [[Teutobod]] prisoner.

The Cimbri had penetrated through the Alps into northern Italy. The consul [[Quintus Lutatius Catulus]] had not dared to fortify the passes, but instead he had retreated behind the river [[Po (river)|Po]], and so the land was open to the invaders. The Cimbri did not hurry, and the victors of Aquae Sextiae had the time to arrive with reinforcements. At the [[Battle of Vercellae]], at the confluence of the river [[Sesia]] with the [[Po (river)|Po]], in 101 BC, the long voyage of the Cimbri also came to an end.

It was a devastating defeat. Two chieftains, [[Lugius]] and [[Boiorix]], died on the field, while the other chieftains [[Caesorix]] and [[Claodicus]] were captured.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sampson |first=Gareth S. |title=The crisis of Rome: the Jugurthine and Northern Wars and the rise of Marius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUQpAQAAMAAJ&q=%22The+kings+Lugius+and+Boiorix+fell+on+the+battlefield;+Claodicus+and+Caesorix+were+captured%22 |access-date=1 December 2012 |year=2010 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |page=175 |isbn=978-1-84415-972-7 }}</ref> The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. The Cimbri were annihilated, although some may have survived to return to the homeland where a population with this name was residing in northern [[Jutland]] in the 1st century AD, according to the sources quoted above. Some of the surviving captives may have had sons that joined Spartacus's cause, and been among the rebelling [[gladiator]]s in the [[Third Servile War]].<ref name=strauss>{{cite book |last=Strauss |first=Barry |title=The Spartacus War |url=https://archive.org/details/spartacuswar00stra |url-access=registration |quote=marius german. |year=2009 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-3205-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/spartacuswar00stra/page/21 21]–22 }}</ref>

[[Justin (historian)|Justin]]'s epitome of [[Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus|Trogus]] has [[Mithridates VI]] send emissaries to the Cimbri to request military aid during the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]] (91-88 BCE).<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030902212356/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans38.html Marcus Junianus Justinus, ''Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus'', 38.3]}}, 'In the next place, well understanding what a war he was provoking, he sent ambassadors to the Cimbri, the Gallograecians, the Sarmatians, and the Bastarnians, to request aid'</ref> Justin also states that the Cimbri were again in Italy at this time, i.e. over ten years later.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030902212356/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans38.html Marcus Junianus Justinus, ''Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus'', 38.4]}}, 'all Italy, at the present time, was in arms in the Marsian war,... At the same time, too, the Cimbri from Germany, many thousands of wild and savage people, had rushed upon Italy like a tempest', The Latin text has not like this translation an imperfect and a pluperfect, but two perfect infinitives (consurrexisse... inundasse...)</ref>