Battle of Aquae Sextiae

{{Campaignbox Cimbrian War}} The '''Battle of Aquae Sextiae''' ([[Aix-en-Provence]]) took place in [[102 BC]]. After a string of [[Roman Republic|Roman]] defeats (see [[Battle of Arausio]]), the Romans under [[Gaius Marius]] finally defeated the [[Teutones]] and [[Ambrones]]. ==The battle== Marius took up a strong position on a carefully selected hill and enticed the Teutones to attack him there using his cavalry and light infantry skirmishers (most of whom were allied [[Ligurian]]s). The leading Teutone elements, the [[Ambrones]], took the bait and attacked. They were soon foolishly followed by the rest of the horde. Meanwhile, Marius had hidden a small Roman force of 4,000 nearby. At the battle's height this force launched an ambush, attacking the Teutones from behind, and throwing them into confusion and rout. The Roman accounts claim that in the ensuing massacre 90,000 Teutones were slain and 20,000 including their King [[Teutobod]], were captured. The only surviving reports are Roman, but certainly the complete annihilation of the Teutones and Ambrones speaks to the crushing nature of their defeat. [[Plutarch]] mentions (''Marius'' 10, 5-6) that during the battle, the [[Ambrones]] began to shout ''"Ambrones!"'' as their battle-cry; the [[Ligurian]] troops fighting for the Romans, on hearing this cry, found that it was identical to an ancient name in their country which the Ligurians often used when speaking of their descent ({{polytonic|"οὕτως κατὰ ὀνομάζουσι Λίγυες"}}), so they returned the shout, ''"Ambrones!"''. The captured women committed [[mass suicide]], which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism (cf [[Jerome]], letter cxxiii.8, 409 AD [http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF2-06/letters/lette123.htm]):

By the conditions of the surrender three hundred of their married women were to be handed over to the Romans. When the Teuton matrons heard of this stipulation they first begged the consul that they might be set apart to minister in the temples of [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]] and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]; and then when they failed to obtain their request and were removed by the [[lictor]]s, they slew their little children and next morning were all found dead in each other's arms having strangled themselves in the night.

==External links== *[http://italian.classic-literature.co.uk/history-of-rome/04-the-revolution/ebook-page-71.asp Read Theodor Mommsen's account of the battle, written in the late 1800's] {{coord missing|France}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Aquae Sextiae}}