Marius heard in Gaul of the irruption of the barbarians, and he ordered his army to march to Genua in Liguria (as it would seem), and went himself to Rome. Here every one was now full of admiration for him; and the feeling that he was the only man who could save the country, was become so general, that even the oligarchs were for his being made consul for the fifth time. People were so eager to gain his goodwill, that they offered him a triumph; but this he declined until he should have destroyed the Cimbri, and his assurance communicated itself to every one. He accordingly united his army with that of Catulus, who had remained in command as proconsul. They both of them now passed the Po with somewhat more than fifty-two thousand men. It is said that the Cimbri knew nothing of the defeat of the Teutones; which is a downright absurdity, as it is impossible that from autumn to the end of July, they should not have got any news. It was surely for this very reason, that they asked Marius for land and places of abode, as they felt that half of their power had been overthrown: if they also demanded this for their brethren, these must have been the Tigurini. Whether the Cimbri now wished to secure the passes to Gaul, that they might keep the road over the little St. Bernard open for any emergency, and this was why they came to Vercellæ, is uncertain; yet notwithstanding all the variations in the readings, there seems to be no doubt that a battle was fought near Vercelli on the declivity of the Alps: for one cannot see how any body should have thought of placing it in this corner of Lombardy. Writers call the spot _Campi Raudii_. The battle, contrary to the Roman custom, was announced three days beforehand, and on the third day before the calends of the Sextilis (July 29th as the calendar was then), it was fought. So much time had the Cimbri spent in their ravages since the beginning of winter, in this unwholesome aguish country, where the water is so bad: epidemics also had already broken out among them. On the day of the battle, Marius put the army of Catulus in the centre, disposing his own on the two wings: the account of it, which is found in Plutarch only, is so confused, that nothing distinct can be made out of it. It is incredible that the Cimbri should have formed a great square, each side of which was three-quarters of a (German) mile long, the men in the outside ranks having, as we are told, their girdles linked together with chains: such a mass would amount to many millions of men. Marius is said to have so placed his troops that the sun and the wind were in the faces of the barbarians; such a thing may be history, or it may be fiction. Catulus had to stand the brunt of the battle; at least the fight was hottest where he was: and yet it was only a proof of party spirit, when people disputed whether it was to Marius or to Catulus that the victory was due; for it seems beyond all doubt that Marius decided the battle in the wings, and