Gaius Marius the Younger

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Gaius Marius (* 109 BC ; † 82 BC in Praeneste ) was a Roman politician of the late republic and son of the commander of the same name and his wife Julia .

As a child, Marius was raised along with Marcus Tullius Cicero and Titus Pomponius Atticus . During the alliance war he did military service under his father and Lucius Porcius Cato . During the coup d'état of Sulla in 88 BC He had to flee Rome like his father and ended up in North Africa in a roundabout way . When the Populars in 87 BC BC again took power, he returned to Rome .

During the civil war between the Populares and Sulla, Marius was elected consul at the age of only 26 , without having previously held another office of the cursus honorum . He opposed Sulla, who was moving to Rome, in front of the city, but was defeated at Sacriportus and withdrew to Praeneste , where he was besieged by Quintus Lucretius Ofella . After attempts at relief had failed and after the battle of Porta Collina the cause of the Populares was apparently lost, the defenders of Praeneste opened the gates. Marius tried to escape from the city through an underground passage, but failed. Presumably he died by suicide. Sulla presented his severed head on the Rostra in Rome. He married the young widow Mucia Tertia to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus .

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literature

  • TF Carney: Marius (3). In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 3, Stuttgart 1969, Col. 1032 f.
personal data
SURNAME Marius, Gaius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician, consul 82 BC Chr.
DATE OF BIRTH 109 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 82 BC Chr.
Place of death Praeneste