Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman of the late Republic who held the consulship seven times, more than any other Roman of his era. Born to a family of smallholders near Arpinum, he gained early military experience at the siege of Numantia in 134 BC. As consul he took command in Numidia and brought the Jugurthine War to an end, then faced the invasion of the Cimbri and Teutones, defeating the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae and the Cimbri at Vercellae. He later quarrelled with Sulla, went into exile, returned to seize Rome and died within weeks of his seventh consulship in 86 BC. The Marian reforms once credited to him are now described by historians as a construct of modern scholarship.