Gaius Marius

Marius got married to a patrician named Julia, who later became the aunt of Julius Caesar. Marius and Julia were blessed with a son.

Marius passed away on January 13, 86 B.C, at the age of 71. He died on the seventh day after being elected as the consul for the seventh time.

Marius was born in 157 B.C at a place called Arpinum, Roman Republic. Greek biographer Plutarch had stated that Marius belonged to a poor family, and that his father was a labourer.

However, taking into account the fact that Marius had connections with prominent personalities in Rome, it can be concluded that he belonged to a renowned family in Arpinum.

Marius had to struggle in his early days before starting his career as a soldier in 134 B.C. His hard work caught the attention of the famous Roman general, Scipio Aemilianus, who took him under his military.

By maintaining good attitude and work ethic, Gaius improved his chances of becoming a successful politician, which was his ambition right from the beginning. He even ran for the local office which he eventually lost and then ran for the quaestorship, which made his intentions clear.

In 120 B.C, he served under Metellus Numidicus as a plebeian tribune. Metellus Numidicus belonged to one of the most powerful families in Rome.

In 119 B.C, Gaius suggested a bill to keep a check on the nobles, who often abused their powers to influence an individual’s vote. He came up with an idea to build a passageway through which each voter could pass in order to cast his vote without any interruption.

He was even threatened and was asked to block the bill, but Marius announced that he would imprison anyone who’d try to talk him out of his intention. Despite oppositions, the bill was introduced.

The bill caused a rift between Gaius and Metellus Numidicus, who was against the bill. Due to his nobility, he was made the Governor of Spain, but his career was in jeopardy.

After their temporary disagreement in 119 B.C, Metellus took Marius to Africa in 109 B.C for his campaign against Jugurtha, a king of Numidia. While Metellus used Marius’ military experience, Marius strengthened his position for a possible consulship in future.

After a year, Marius gave a hint about his desire to run for the consulship. He also claimed that he could have won the Jugurthine war with half of Metellus’ army, had he been the consul.

Initially, Metellus was against the idea of his subordinate competing in the election. He felt it was too early for Marius to compete, and that he should at least wait till his son runs for the consulship. Metellus’ son was only 20 years old at that time and was considered too young to compete by Marius.

When Marius started receiving praises from everywhere, Metellus decided to dissolve his personal feelings and let Marius compete for the consulship. In 107 B.C, Marius became the first outsider to be elected as the consul in 35 years.