Original subtitles

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Rome.

\h\hFrom a small republic, it grows into the greatest empire

ever known, lasting for over 600 years.

At its height it stretches \hfrom London to Baghdad,

\hprojecting its power with the first professional army,

\hand creating the model of Western civilization.

\h\h\hAnd yet, when the empire begins to falter,

it collapses with \hshocking speed.

It takes only 100 years for the imperial edifice of Rome

\h\hto vanish like smoke, swept away by the barbarian invasions.

[screams]

How did it happen?

[thunderclap]

[music playing]

\hIt is late in the second century BC--

\h100 years before the crucifixion of Christ,

\h\ha decade before the birth of Julius Caesar.

Rome is facing a transition--

\h\h\hone that will change its fundamental character forever.

[horse neighing]

It comes at a time of conquest.

[battle cry]

\h\h\hRome has come off 150 years of really successful

foreign expansion.

They’ve defeated Carthage, \h\h\h\htheir great enemy

across the Mediterranean \h\h\h\h\hSea in Africa.

And they’ve begun to expand to the North.

\hAnd they’ve made big conquests that are hard to keep in Spain.

NARRATOR: But even as the Romans are carving out their place

in the world through \h\hbrutal conquest,

the republic faces a cataclysmic event that will eventually

force the Romans to abandon \h\h\hthe rule of the senate

\h\h\h\h\h\hfor the absolute dictatorship of an emperor.

[cheering]

\hIt begins with the first barbarian war.

[horse neighing]

\hBy 113 BC, Rome has become master

\h\h\hof the entire Mediterranean basin.

But with new lands come new enemies.

\h\hThe Romans know that there are more people farther away,

\hespecially to the North, and that these people are,

\h\hif anything, even more formidable than the armies

they’ve defeated before.

\h\h\hAnd they’re worried about those people coming into Italy.

[battle cry]

NARRATOR: Beyond the borders \h\h\hof Roman civilization,

\h\h\h\hthe soldiers face an unfamiliar breed of warrior.

\h\hThey call them barbarians, a word meaning foreign and crude.

\h\h\h\hAnybody that didn’t follow classical customs,

speak classical languages--

Latin or Greek-- was considered to be very different, other,

barbarian.

\hAnd Rome simply regarded them as much less capable, much less

civilized than themselves.

[horse neighing]

\hNARRATOR: Only the rugged Alpine mountain range keeps

the northern barbarians at bay.

\h\h\h\h\hThe Alps mountain chain at the top of Italy

is like the cork in the bottle that keeps the bad guys away,

from the Roman point of view.

And the Romans don’t \hcontrol that cork.

\hAnd so they know that it could pop out at any time,

\h\hand the enemy could come pouring into Italy.

Or at least that’s their fear.

[music playing]

\hNARRATOR: Against this growing barbarian menace

stands the Roman army--

a volunteer militia which prides itself on being well-ordered,

well-trained, and well-armed.

\h\h\h\hAn individual Roman soldier would

be wearing metal and leather \harmor, a helmet, something

to protect his chest.

\h\h\hAll of this armor together could weigh as much as 60 or 70

pounds, half his body weight.

NARRATOR: The burden of Rome’s expansion

falls squarely on the shoulders of these battle hardened men.

\h\hBut back in the capital, it’s the wealthy government

officials who reap the benefits.

\hRome is not an empire yet, but a republic ruled by the senate.

At the top of the \hpolitical ladder

are two elected officers \h\h\hknown as consuls.

\hThey were the highest civilian and military officials in Rome.

Above all, their responsibility was to lead the army.

\h\hBecause national security came first.

But they were also, because of \htheir tremendous prominence,

very important in setting \hthe agenda for politics,

for legislation, for reform.

\h\hNARRATOR: Though the Roman Republic embraces

\h\hDemocratic ideals, all men are not created equal.

Soldiers may win the \hbattles for Rome.

\h\h\hBut they dare not hope to achieve the position of consul.

The highest office is \hreserved for members

\h\h\hof Rome’s most important families,

like Gnaeus Papirius Carbo.

\h\h\hA very small number of families

dominated the elections \h\h\hto become consul.

\h\hThis is part of the belief that Rome really

needed the kind of honor that came from a long distinguished

family history.

NARRATOR: Now, as Rome expands, this honor is no longer

based on merit but on money.

\hWhat’s happening in Rome is, as Rome conquers more

\hterritory, more wealth is going to flow into the city.

And there’s a sense \h\h\hthat wealth is

going to demoralize the citizen body and the aristocracy,

both--

that as wealth becomes more and more powerful in Roman society,

\h\h\hmore and more enticing, that this

is going to infiltrate its way \hinto the political process.

NARRATOR: By spreading \h\haround his wealth,

Carbo can buy his \hplace as consul.

\h\h\hIn terms of campaigning, one of the things that you’ll

\h\hfind as you go on later in the Republic

is the system becomes \h\hextremely corrupt.

You have people bestowing \hall sorts of largesse--

\h\hany sort of little kind of gifts or remuneration in order

to get your-- your vote.

NARRATOR: But in the North, \h\h\ha dangerous new tribe,

the Cimbri, is on the move.

From their home in \hNorthern Europe,

\h\h\hthey journey South toward Roman territory.

\hCompletely uncivilized, the Cimbri radiate terror,

\h\h\haccording to the famous ancient biographer, Plutarch.

ACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): \hThey were believed

to be German tribes based \h\h\hon their great size,

\h\h\hthe light blue color of their eyes,

and the fact that their name, Cimbri, is the German nickname

for plunderers.

\h\hNARRATOR: Led by the great warlord, Boriorix,

the horde leaves a smoking trail of destruction in its wake.

\hPETER WELLS: They were characteristic Iron Age

peoples.

We don’t really know exactly what it is they were after.

They may have been moving in \horder to attack and invade

provinces that were becoming \h\h\hwealthy through trade

with Rome.

They may have simply been coming to seek their fortunes in what

\hthey perceived as a richer land near the Mediterranean.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: The Cimbri aren’t the only ones

lured by Rome’s growing wealth.

\hOn the way South, two more barbarian tribes join them--

the Teutones and Ambrones.

\h\h\hThe combined barbarian armies are heading straight

for an Alpine pass into Roman territory, guarded

\h\h\h\hby the simple villagers of Noricum.

Though Noricum is not \h\ha Roman territory,

\hit’s proximity to the Roman border ties its people closely

to the republic.

\h\hNoricum is the area that we would say today is essentially

Austria.

\h\hThe people who live there are the Norici, and therefore

they--

\hthe territory is named after them.

The people there, the Norici, controlled the Alpine passes.

NARRATOR: Romans also rely on the Noricans for trade,

as their skills working in \hprecious metals and iron

are well known.

What the Noricans actually have available in the way

of raw materials-- it’s gold, silver, and salt.

\h\h\hMineable salt in the Alps is a major industry.

So the Romans truly needed \hlarge quantities of salt

for preservative, and they had to have that.

And they had to have \h\hit all the time.

NARRATOR: The Norican villages provide an irresistible target

to the merciless Cimbri warriors.

[scream]

[battle cry]

\hHungry for loot, they are rapacious and heavily armed

for the raid.

By the period we’re talking about the,

second and first centuries BC, the Cimbri had very effective

swords, spears, shields.

\hHelmets are rarer, but they were fully equipped

with very able kinds of weapons.

[battlcry]

NARRATOR: But the barbarians are after more than the Noricans’

wealth.

\hNorthern barbarians who were migrating--

\h\hwhat they wanted above all was land.

They weren’t there to raid and leave.

They wanted to live next to the Romans.

[battle cry]

\h\h\hNARRATOR: The craftsmen of Noricum

\hstand no chance against the warriors of the North.

The Noricans send an emissary \hto their allies in the Roman

Senate, begging for help against the vicious Cimbri invaders.

They seek out the aristocrat \h\hCarbo, whose politicking

has finally paid off.

He now holds the post of consul, the most prestigious office

in Rome.

\h\hCarbo orders his aide to begin preparations for war.

He has just one year to win \hthe glory and riches that

come from battle.

THOMAS S. BURNS: We’re talking about needing

to show the qualities \h\h\h\hof leadership

through a display of manliness.

And a display of manliness meant success on the battlefield.

Generals not only feathered the nest

of themselves and \htheir families,

but of all their supporters.

[ominous music]

\h\hNARRATOR: Carbo takes the challenge,

leading his troops to Noricum.

\h\h\hDespite an utter lack of experience in the ways of war,

\h\h\hhe is eager to prove that he is more than just

a wealthy senator.

\hHe arrives in Noricum backed by the men of the Roman army.

After a century of victories, \h\h\h\hthey exude confidence.

The Cimbri claimed \hthey didn’t know

that they were in territory that they shouldn’t have been in.

They sent ambassadors.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: The barbarians have never

seen such a well-equipped \h\hand disciplined force.

\h\h\hThe warlord, Boriorix, tells Carbo his people only

wish to return home peacefully.

Carbo agrees to let them go.

But there is little \hglory in a truce.

\h\h\hThe Roman general devises a plan to force

the victory he so badly needs.

\hCarbo pretended that he was going to negotiate,

and then he sent his troops on a shortcut

\h\hto attack the Cimbri before the ambassadors could get back,

thinking that his sneak \h\h\hattack would work.

NARRATOR: Carbo’s \hplan backfires.

The Roman commander \h\hCarbo outfoxed

this group called the Cimbri.

\h\hBut he did it in a way that smelled of disgrace.

NARRATOR: A few of the \hCimbrian ambassadors

\hsurvived to carry a tale of treachery

back to the barbarian camp.

Furious, the barbarians \hswear they will never

\h\h\hleave until they exact bloody revenge.

[battle cry]

[music playing]

\h\h\hIn 113 BC, the Roman General Carbo

parlays for peace with violent \h\h\hbarbarians, the Cimbri.

\hThen he turns around and murders their ambassadors.

[thunderclap]

His treachery enrages \h\h\hthe barbarians,

who value honor above all else.

\h\h\hVowing to avenge their fallen comrades,

\h\h\hthe Cimbri strike back with swift and sudden fury.

Classical biographer, Plutarch--

ACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): Their \hcourage and daring were

irresistible.

They rushed into battle with the speed of a raging fire.

Nothing could stand up to them.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Led by two warlords--

\h\hBoriorix of the Cimbri and Teutobod

of the Teutones, the barbarians advance in inexhaustible waves.

[horse neighing]

\h\hThe archeology tells us that they had very good weapons, not

inferior to Romans.

\hIt tells us that they had really--

real military organization \h\hwith infantry troops,

with officer corps.

So we can-- we can tell quite a bit.

Certainly, we can tell much more than the Romans seemed

to understand until \h\hit was too late.

[swords clanging]

NARRATOR: Consul Carbo suddenly finds himself

\h\hfar from the comfort and privilege of Roman politics.

\hHere, the language of power is spoken in steel and blood.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAs consul, chief war magistrate, he fails miserably.

\h\h\hBecause the chief war magistrate is only

\hout there for a year, it’s very frequently amateur hour

out there on the field of battle.

So you end up with, \h\hvery frequently,

\hinept leadership in a very important position.

And, on occasion, it results in disaster for the Romans.

\h\hNARRATOR: The battle for Noricum is such a disaster.

Romans were, in the end, saved from being pushed

\hover the cliff into the hail of utter destruction

only by a giant storm--

lightning, thunder, and rain.

[thunderclap]

NARRATOR: Knocked \hfrom his horse,

Carbo struggles to flee \hfrom the deadly chaos.

\h\h\h\hHe escapes the battle only to commit

suicide, for he has \hdisgraced himself

\hand Rome in the eyes of the gods.

\h\hThe gods save the Romans, but only just, and only after many,

many had been killed.

What did that mean?

It meant the gods were unhappy at the way the Romans behaved.

[music playing]

\h\hNARRATOR: And yet the Romans cling to the notion

that only the aristocrats can lead them to victory.

\hThe Romans believed that old man good, new meant dangerous.

\h\h\h\h\hSo they-- for their politicians and their leaders,

\hthey preferred people with a long, distinguished family

history.

NARRATOR: Over the next decade, a string of nobles, all armed

with more arrogance than skill, lead armies North to protect

Rome’s province in Gaul.

\h\hThey meet the barbarians at Tolosa, Burdigala, and finally,

Aurasio--

\h\h\hpresent day Toulouse, Bordeaux and Orange, France.

In each instance, the barbarians completely

route Rome’s heralded legions.

[non-english speech]

\hThe Romans had their particular formal ways

of fighting.

\h\hIf we think of the beginning of the film "Gladiator," that’s

a perfect representation of \hhow Rome liked to fight--

\h\h\h\h\h\htake hours to set up everything in the battle order,

and then launch the attack.

\hNARRATOR: In contrast, the barbarians’ counterattack is

unpredictable, and devastating \h\h\h\h\hto the Roman lines.

You have these lines of men.

\h\hAnd if the person next to you goes down,

the person behind will \hstep into that gap.

And death would be much, \h\hmuch more intimate.

[battle cry]

[music playing]

[swords clanging]

NARRATOR: The death toll is staggering.

At Aurasio alone, 80,000 \h\hRomans are massacred

in a single afternoon.

[screams]

\hWhen an army lost its cohesiveness,

then the men were literally \h\h\hlike fish in a barrel,

\h\h\hto be picked off at leisure by the other side.

\h\hSo when a side has been defeated, then the victors--

they just slaughter \h\hthem one by one,

with no danger to the people \h\hdoing the slaughtering.

It’s not a battle anymore.

It’s a mass execution.

[non-english chatter]

NARRATOR: By 105, BC the Cimbri and their allies

desire much more than Roman blood and booty.

Some members of the clan want to set down roots.

They were farming peoples.

They engaged in trade.

They lived in small villages.

People were growing wheat and \hbarley, rye, oats, millet--

\h\h\h\h\ha whole variety of different kinds of cereals.

They were raising lentils \h\h\h\hand peas and beans

and other kinds of garden crops.

Cattle were extremely important.

\hPigs, sheep and goat were all being raised.

\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: This new domesticity alarms the Romans.

To their minds, the only \hthing more threatening

than a barbarian warrior \his a barbarian woman.

\h\hThe presence of women is a standard Roman way

of communicating that this is \han invasion for settlement.

In other words, this \his a group that’s

coming in to significantly \h\halter the way we live,

to threaten our basic values.

\h\hIf it’s just a raid, it’s just a bunch of teenage guys.

We can deal with that.

\h\hBut, see, when we throw women into the description,

we have the migratory feature.

And there, it’s a permanency.

\hIt requires a sterner and long-term solution.

NARRATOR: It requires a general who can beat the barbarians

back once and for all.

\hThe hero Rome so desperately needs

emerges on another hotly \hcontested borderland,

\hnearly 1,000 miles away in Numidia, part of present day

Algeria.

For eight long years, the Romans have tasted only defeat here,

until now.

[battle cry]

The name of their savior is Marius.

\hWith guts and cunning, he crushes the Numidian armies

of the rogue King Jugurtha.

[music playing]

[battle cry]

[swords clanging]

Rome needed great soldiers.

\h\h\h\h\hAnd Marius was the greatest Rome had yet seen.

Both because he was a great commander--

Marius could pick the right \h\htime and the right place

for a battle--

\h\hbut also because he won his soldiers’ loyalty and affection

\h\h\hby getting down and digging ditches with them,

\h\h\hby eating the same rough food, by being in better shape

than even they were.

And they were the best \hconditioned soldiers

in the world.

NARRATOR: He comes by his \hcommon touch naturally.

For Marius is no aristocrat.

\h\h\hStill, he speaks of his humble background with pride.

ACTOR (AS MARIUS): I cannot \h\h\hpoint to my ancestors.

But I can show medals and \h\hother military honors,

to say nothing of the scars on my body, all of them in front.

These are my title of nobility.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: Now, as the Northern barbarians close in,

the Romans turned to Marius, \htheir last and best hope.

[music playing]

At the end of the second century BC, a violent barbarian tribe,

the Cimbri, along with their allies,

\hthe Teutones and Ambrones, lay waste to the northern frontier.

\hA horrified Rome turns to its greatest general

and new consul, Marius.

\h\h\h\hHe’s a proven military commander.

And you don’t want \h\hto fool around

\h\hwhen you have Teutones and Cimbri, who have defeated army

after army.

You really want to take care \h\hof the problem urgently.

And so you want to send \h\ha capable leader out

on the field.

\hNARRATOR: But even the great Marius cannot lead without men

to follow him.

\h\hDevastated by a decade of war, Rome

faces critical troop shortages.

If you have as many men lost to the German tribes in 113

\hand 100 and 107 and 106 and 105 as the Romans did,

\h\hthat’s going to traumatize Roman society pretty severely.

NARRATOR: Despite a vigorous \h\h\hrecruitment campaign,

\h\hMarius cannot find enough qualified men--

landholders who are \hwilling to serve.

To be in the Roman army in the High Republic,

\h\h\hyou had to have a property qualification.

You had to be a person of means.

\hAnd-- and this causes some problems for the Roman army

\h\hbecause there’s a problem with manpower.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Marius’ solution is \has simple as it is radical.

He sends his recruiters \h\hout to seek soldiers

among the landless poor.

\hTHOMAS S. BURNS: You don’t have to be a property holder

to be a Roman citizen, \h\hso why should you

\h\hhave to be a property owner to be a legionnaire?

Many people wished \hto be soldiers.

It’s a good job.

And it’s probably an exciting job--

opportunities for booty, \hwine, women and song.

\h\hChance to see the world at government expense, et cetera.

The same things that we see on our recruitment posters.

[non-english speech]

\hMarius said anybody can be in the army.

This then gave the Romans \h\h\ha much greater pool

of men on which to draw to strengthen their legions.

Because, in Roman society, there were many, many, many more poor

than there were middle class.

NARRATOR: The old guard judges \h\hrecruits by their income.

\h\h\hMarius judges his by their fighting potential.

Stand up against a legionary \h\h\h\hand you can stand up

to the barbarians.

By extending the search for legionnaires down

into the [inaudible].

\hWhat that rather quickly does is it makes the ordinary soldier

even more dependent upon the \hsuccess of the commander.

The general is expected to provide for his men,

and to provide for them as soon as he can, and to be generous.

\h\hNARRATOR: Lured by the promise of wealth,

\h\ha new breed of Roman soldier marches to war.

Marius pledges to give them all the tools and skills they need.

ACTOR (AS MARIUS): I will teach you to strike down an enemy,

fear nothing but disgrace, \hto sleep on bare ground

\hand work hard on an empty stomach.

NARRATOR: In 104 BC, Marius and his army

\h\hset off for Gaul to meet the Cimbri.

\h\hIn a stroke of good fortune for the Romans,

the barbarians choose that very moment to leave Gaul, and raid

Hispania instead.

It is a tactical mistake that \h\hbuys Marius valuable time.

\h\hMarius molds his new army from the ground up.

\h\hHe not only hardens them to the rigors of a soldier’s life.

He makes them love it.

\h\h\hMarius made lots of innovations in the army.

\hFor example, he gave each legion an eagle--

a silver eagle as its standard.

He trained his men to carry what they needed on campaign so they

could move faster.

\h\hBut he weighed them down so much that they called themselves

Marius’ mules.

\hMarius didn’t need pac animals for his army to go on campaign.

\hHe already had his mules, and they only had two legs.

But they were more effective.

They were more flexible.

And it’s the flexibility of the legions that is enhanced

\hby Marius’ military reforms, including the standardization

of equipment.

NARRATOR: Well-equipped \hand unified in spirit,

\h\h\h\hMarius’ mules are transformed but untested.

\hTwo years pass with no sign of the barbarians.

Still, the fear they \h\hinspire remains.

Panicked, the Romans ignore their own ancient traditions

\habout term limits and re-elect Marius consul--

the chief magistrate of war.

I think part of the problem is to deal with the threat

\hfrom the North you have to give Marius

this extraordinary command where in 104, 103, 102, 102, 100,

he’s consul.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

NARRATOR: At last, in 102 \h\hBC, the phantom menace

becomes real.

The Cimbri, Teutones and Abrones sweep out of the North and West

on a collision course with Rome.

\h\h\hMarius builds a fortress near Aurasio.

He sends another army \h\hto guard Noricum--

fo4, above all else, \hthe Alpine passes

into Italy must be protected.

Within weeks, half \h\hof the horde--

\hthe Teutones and Ambrones, swarm around Marius’ fort--

\ha terrifying sight, according to Plutarch.

ACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): \h\h\hTheir numbers

appeared to be infinite.

They were hideous to look at.

\h\h\h\hTheir speech and their shouting were unlike anything

\hthat anyone had ever heard before.

[battle cry]

NARRATOR: And yet, Marius forces his men to look and learn.

\h\h\h\h\h\hMarius was a brilliant military man.

\h\hHe understood the life and the thoughts

and the psychology of a soldier.

What Marius gave to \hthe Roman Republic

was confidence that Romans could defeat the fiercest barbarians

in the world.

[battle cry]

NARRATOR: The fortress holds.

\h\h\hThe Teutones and Ambrones cannot pass.

150,000 strong, they head South, seeking another Alpine pass.

\hThe Romans pursue them at a distance,

in no hurry to engage until \hthe right time and place.

\h\hFor Marius has already picked out

\h\h\hthe perfect battlefield, where he will at last unleash

\h\hthe power of his unconventional army.

[music playing]

\hIn 102 BC, hundreds of thousands of barbarians

swarmed towards Italy.

\h\hThe great Roman General Marius pursues the Teutones

and the Ambrones, as they seek a pass over the Alps.

He moves his troops from his fortress at Aurasio

to Aqua Sextae, modern day \hAix-en-Provence, France.

\h\hThere, Marius orders his men to set up camp.

\h\h\hHe chooses his position carefully.

\hThe Roman camp is a-- is a singular military piece

\h\hof machinery that would preferably be on high ground

\h\hin order to see any kind of enemy maneuvers.

It’s going to be laid out on a grid pattern.

You’re going to surround \hit with a deep ditch,

and you’re going to have a rampart dug--

or heaped up above that ditch, \h\hwhat’s known as an agger.

And everyone would have their place.

\hNARRATOR: There is one more feature that most camps have,

but this particular \h\hcamp is lacking.

Classical biographer, Plutarch--

ACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): Marius \hchose a place that was not

very well supplied with water.

\hThey said he did this deliberately,

\h\hso as to encourage his soldiers to fight.

When people complained \h\hthey were thirsty,

\h\hMarius pointed to a river running close by the barbarian

camp.

"There is some drinking water for you," he said,

"but you have to pay for it with blood."

NARRATOR: On the banks \hof the Rhone River,

settled side by side in two great camps,

\hthe Ambrones and Teutones have plenty of fresh drinking water.

Confident that the Romans \h\hare no match for them,

\hthe Ambrones lose themselves in feasting and making merry.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: The \hRomans, especially,

\h\h\h\hthe ordinary soldiers were afraid

of the northern barbarians-- the ones from the farthest north,

from the coldest climates.

\h\h\hTough climates made for tough men.

They were much bigger \h\h\hthan the Romans.

They were much louder \h\h\hthan the Romans.

And from the Roman \h\hpoint of view,

\h\hthey were smelly, not because they didn’t bathe.

They probably bathed more \hthan the Roman soldiers.

\hBut they used, shall we say, a different cologne--

bear fat.

The Romans were used to the scent of olive oil.

NARRATOR: They never suspect the danger lurking in the forest,

\h\has a small but desperate contingent of Marius’ troops

creep up on the barbarian camp.

\h\hRoman soldiers were always afraid

because they weren’t fools.

\hThey knew that they were going to be in danger of being killed

\hjust as easily as the enemy, because Roman soldiers didn’t

do their real killing \h\h\hfrom a distance.

[ominous music]

[scream]

[battle cry]

[swords clanging]

NARRATOR: Marius’ mules throw themselves into the skirmish,

\h\hbut the barbarians swiftly rally in overwhelming numbers.

Just as defeat closes \h\hin on the Romans,

Marius orders reinforcements \h\h\h\h\h\h\hinto the fray.

Reenergized, the Romans pushed the Ambrones back

to their camp.

\h\hThere, the battle takes a strange turn,

as Plutarch reports.

\h\hACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): The women came out armed

with swords and axes, and making the most horrible shrieking.

They threw themselves into the thick of the fighting.

And though their bodies were gashed and wounded,

\h\hthey endured it to the end with unbroken spirits.

The barbarian women always \hcame to the battlefield.

\hSometimes the women would pull the wagons

up right behind the men so that they couldn’t retreat

from battle.

They’d block them in.

The women were so aware of their sense of honor and liberty,

that they thought death was better than retreat.

[swords clanging]

The Romans thought that these women were unbelievably brave,

unbelievably courageous.

They thought these barbarians were the ultimate risk takers.

By bringing their family \h\hto the battlefield,

\h\hthey’re putting everything on that one roll of the dice.

We win or we die.

And that means all of us--

men, women, children, babies.

[swords clanging]

NARRATOR: But the Romans also \hhave something to protect--

their honor and homeland.

\h\hWith the skills that Marius has taught them,

they earned their first victory over the German invaders

in more than a decade.

[wolf howling]

Back at camp, Marius prepares \hfor the revenge attack that

\hwill certainly be launched by Teutobod, King of the Teutones.

\h\hIn Aqua Sextae, N he faced a really difficult

tactical situation.

As usual, the enemy far outnumbered the Romans.

But Marius, always able to choose the right time

and the right place, carefully \h\h\h\hselected the terrain.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: He lays a trap with his trusted captain, Claudius

Marcellus.

Marius sends Marcellus \h\h\h\hwith 3,000 men

into the woods behind \hthe Teutones’ camp.

He instructs them to lay low \huntil the fighting begins.

[battle cry]

\h\h\h\hThe barbarians, spoiling for vengeance,

charge up the hill to the Roman camp,

just as Marius has planned.

They meet a wall of swords, \h\h\haccording to Plutarch.

\hACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): Marius himself fought

\h\hin the front rank, putting into practice

\h\hthe orders he’d given his soldiers.

For he was in as good \htraining as anyone.

And in daring, he far \hsurpassed them all.

This battle was a real test of Marius’ philosophy in creating

his mules, that were strong enough to stand up with all

\hof their armor and to stay in position

\h\h\hand hold their discipline, even when the enemy was yelling

\hand charging with a fantastic fierceness,

\hin full armor rushed them with their swords

so that they could be like a flying wedge coming downhill

and smashing the enemy.

\hNARRATOR: As Marius and his men force the barbarians back,

Marcellus and his cohorts \h\hburst from the woods.

\h\hTogether, they snuff out any hope of retreat

for King Teutobod and his warriors.

\h\h\hThe body count defies imagination.

The Roman slaughter more \hthan 100,000 Teutones.

The rest they take as slaves--

\hspoils of war that will make Marius’ mules and all

of his supporters rich.

\hHis patronage is not just to the soldiers.

\hHe is very generous to all Romans of all ranks.

\h\hMarius, by monopolizing power at the very top, in--

in reality becomes the patron of even members

of the senatorial class.

NARRATOR: Swept up by \hthe barbarian fever,

\h\hthe Romans once again elect Marius to Rome’s most important

office.

He will serve as consul for an unprecedented fifth term.

\h\h\hThere was such an immense fear that the barbarians would

come pouring in through the \hgateway of the Alps, which

the Romans didn’t control, and \hlay waste to Italy and sack

Rome.

\hPolitics has to take the hindmost.

\h\hNARRATOR: For Rome is not out of danger,

\h\hMarius has only crushed half of the barbarian horde.

\h\h\hThe Cimbri-- the most fearsome barbarians of all--

are still on the loose.

While Marius is in \hRome, the Cimbri

\hbreak through the Roman fortifications at Noricum.

\h\hThe enemy has at last breached Italy’s borders,

and is ravaging the Pole Plane.

Clearly, only one man has \hthe courage and cunning

to meet this new crisis--

Consul Marius.

[battle cry]

\h\h\hIn 102 BC, Marius’ mules massacre the violent barbarian

tribe, the Teutones, \h\hin Souther Gaul,

\hdestroying half of the barbarian force.

But the terrifying Cimbri tribe slips

through the Austrian Alps.

From Rome, Marius rushes North \h\hto the Pole Plain, vowing

to eliminate the barbarians \h\h\h\h\honce and for all.

When Marius arrives \hin the Roman camp,

the Cimbri send him an envoy.

They come not to attack, \h\hbut to make demands.

The Cimbri come to him and say we want land.

That’s what we want.

We don’t want to fight.

We want land just like the land you gave our neighboring tribe

\h\hthere across the mountains in France.

\hThe Cimbri apparently haven’t heard about the disaster that

has befallen their Teutones comrades.

\h\hSo Marius, with a crooked smile on his face-- a smirk,

maybe--

says to them, "Oh, you \hdon’t have to worry.

\h\hYour brothers-- they already have their land.

We’d be happy to give the same land to you,"

meaning your graves \h\h\hin the earth.

[non-english speech]

\hNARRATOR: In disbelief, that Cimbri demand proof,

according to Plutarch.

ACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): Marius \h\hmocked, "But your friend

is right here.

Please don’t go without \hsaying hello to him."

And he ordered Teutobod, \hKing of the Teutones,

to be brought forward in chains.

NARRATOR: Marius will cut \hno deal with the Cimbri.

\h\hTheir envoy leaves, swearing to take revenge

for their fallen allies.

[ominous music]

\h\h\hDespite Marius’ recent victory over the barbarians,

the Romans are still vastly \houtnumbered by the fierce

northern warriors.

With battle looming, \hthe great general

calls for an animal sacrifice.

\h\h\h\hThe Romans would always have a sacrifice before going

\h\h\hinto battle, to see if the gods would send in the message,

\h\h\h"There’s nothing wrong with your plan."

\hIt didn’t guarantee victory, but it meant you had a chance.

And the Romans took that very seriously.

NARRATOR: The Romans’ faith is their only shield in the face

of overwhelming odds.

\h\hBy the end of tomorrow, a tidal wave of blood will flow.

Whose blood remains in the hands of the gods.

Marius searches the goat \h\hentrails for a sign,

\h\hand finds that the heavens are with him.

[cheering]

In 101 BC, all Rome \h\hholds its breath

\h\h\has two mortal enemies meet outside the hamlet of Vercelli,

Italy.

\h\h15,000 strong, the Cimbri cavalry

rides onto the field of battle.

\h\h\hRight behind them come the fearsome infantry, like a cloud

of locusts on the move.

[battle cry]

\hAs the Roman line is set, Marius makes a final appeal

to the gods.

Classical biographer Plutarch--

\h\hACTOR (AS PLUTARCH): Marius washed his hands.

\h\hAnd lifting them up to heaven, vowed

\h\hto make a sacrifice of 100 beasts should victory be his.

NARRATOR: Altogether, \h\hthe Romans number

a little more than 50,000 men.

\h\hThey face at least twice as many Cimbri.

It’s the Romans’ worst nightmare,

but Marius outsmarts the enemy.

He gets his troops in position first,

so that the sun will rise behind the Roman soldiers.

When the sun gets to its full power,

it reflects off the Romans’ shiny armor.

And the barbarians think that the sky is on fire,

like, the gods have sent lightning bolts to help

their enemies.

[battle cry]

\hNARRATOR: Sensing the Cimbri’s sudden anxiety,

the Romans attack.

[battle cry]

The Romans do have slingers and they do have archers.

\h\hBut the foot infantry is the mainstay of the battle.

\hYou’re going to get blood on you.

You’re going to hear the groans of the person you’re killing,

the person who’s getting \h\hkilled next to you.

\hYou can’t tell what’s going on behind you or to the side

of you because you’re \h\hwearing a helmet.

You can hardly hear, and you can only see straight ahead.

It required courage \h\hand dedication,

and overcoming your fear to an overwhelmingly amazing degree.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: At Vercelli, the Romans wipe out 120,000 Cimbri.

More importantly, they cast out of the shadow for fear that has

terrorized Rome for 13 years.

Marius returns home from the Cimbrian war a hero.

Adoring crowds hail him \has the Savior of Rome.

Despite their own long-standing rule that no one should serve

consecutive consulships, \h\hthey clamor for him

to once again run for consul.

\h\hAs Marius is doing this, he’s moving little by little

\h\htoward becoming, in the eyes of the people,

\h\ha permanent head of this enterprise,

so that we’re approaching \h\h\h\hhaving an emperor.

NARRATOR: It is exactly what the aristocracy has worried

about all along.

Now that the barbarian \h\hdanger has passed,

many nobles are openly \h\hhostile to Marius.

\h\hTo stay in power, Marius must find support elsewhere.

\h\hHe seeks out corrupt politicians, whose tools

include bribery and murder.

As a politician, \hMarius was not

\hgood at choosing who should be his allies.

The battlefield of politics \h\hwas one in which Marius

was not decisive and \hwasn’t insightful

\hthe way he was on the battlefield of javelins

and swords.

NARRATOR: Jealous of other \h\hrising military stars,

Marius orders the assassination of many of his rivals.

\h\h\hUnder Marius’ leadership violence,

not debate, becomes the currency used to settle

political differences.

He has saved Rome, only to cut out the heart of the republic.

Yet Marius never loses the love of a people.

In 86 BC, shortly before his death,

\hthey elect him to an extraordinary seventh

consulship.

\h\h\hHe left a legacy of power in the hands of the military.

\hHe left a legacy of popular support for one man in power.

\h\h\hIt’s a hinge event because the balance of power will shift.

Instead of 10 or 20 ruling \h\h\hfamilies controlling

the consulship, you’ll start to have just these grand warlords.

The power of money, the power \h\hof having all of those men

behind their back--

\hwhether through actually in the form of giving them

political support or actually using it as a potential threat

to go against their political enemies--

it’s going to really be a problem for the Roman

government down the road.

\hNARRATOR: As the Empire starts a long, slow slide

\hinto dictatorship, Rome is launched into an apocalypse

\h\hof political injustice, and endless war from which there is

no return.