THE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE news that Rome was free of the threat of the Cimbri was soon matched by good news from Sicily. Marius’s consular colleague in 101 was Manius Aquillius, one of his longtime protégés. Son of the disgraced organizer of Asia, the younger Aquillius had served as one of Marius’s chief lieutenants in Gaul. As consul in 101, he was tasked with finally ending the Second Servile War. Aquillius brought a professional bearing to the conflict and set about restoring order to the island.15
The job was not going to be easy. Following Lucullus’s unconscionable dismantling of the Roman forces in early 102, his replacement could do nothing to stop the slave armies for the whole next year. At some point during that year, however, “King Tryphon” died and Athenion took over as supreme leader of the slave forces. With the slaves ascendant, lawlessness again spread to the native Sicilians: “For since there was at this time complete anarchy… and no Roman magistrate exercised any jurisdiction, all ran wild and committed many great enormities with impunity, so that all places were full of violence and robbery, which pillaged the possessions of the rich.” Those who had once been “pre-eminent amongst their fellow citizens for their wealth and distinction, by a sudden change of fortune were… treated with the greatest contempt and scorn.”16
By the time Aquillius arrived in the spring of 101, Athenion had extended his dominions as far as Messana (modern-day Messina) on the northeast tip of the island. Aquillius arrived with cohorts of veterans from Marius’s Gallic army and was quick to challenge the slaves to a battle, during which he allegedly killed Athenion in single combat. This heroic embellishment probably traces back to Aquillius’s own reports of the war, but whether it was in dramatic single combat or a more routine clash of armies, Athenion died in the fighting and just ten thousand surviving rebels fell back to the fortress at Triocala.17
But unlike Lucullus, Aquillius pursued the survivors and captured the slave capital of Triocala. Rounding up the last of the rebels, Aquillius shipped them all to Rome, where he planned to make them fight against various wild beasts for the amusement of the Roman citizens. But once these final rebels arrived in Rome and learned their fate, they committed mass suicide rather than be used as human props in the arena. It was the final bloody act of the Second Servile War that left Sicily depopulated and despoiled.18
BACK IN ROME, jubilation reigned. With all their enemies finally dead or in chains, the Romans commenced with a nonstop victory party. The Assembly declared fifteen days of thanksgiving after news of Marius’s victory over the Cimbri and then prepared for his great triumphant return to the city. But Marius would not celebrate this triumph alone; he instead invited Catulus to share the stage with him. Joint triumphs were not unheard of, but they were incredibly rare—a triumph was a political expression of singular achievement. The point was to own the spotlight, not share it. Friendly sources paint this as an act of generous magnanimity. But hostile sources say Marius knew Catulus had
The sources also diverge on Marius’s subsequent campaign for a sixth consulship in 100. Friendly sources say the voters justly rewarded Marius for his service—a victory lap to enjoy. Hostile sources say that with the military crisis over, the voters were ready to end the run of consecutive consulships. These latter sources claim Marius spread lavish bribes in order to win reelection. But it’s doubtful such underhanded tactics were necessary. The Third Founder of Rome enjoyed unprecedented fame, wealth, and power. He won reelection easily. He would now be consul for a fifth consecutive year.20
While it appeared as though Marius only wanted to use his fifth consulship to ensure that his Gallic veterans would get the same land bonus as his Numidian veterans, he came to office in January 100 flanked by populare radicals who had a much more aggressive agenda. Saturninus won another term as tribune and artfully controlled the Assembly. His partner Glaucia was elected praetor, giving him wide jurisdiction over the courts. Another close ally named Gaius Saufeius was elected quaestor, giving this radical clique access to the state treasury. Marius’s consular partner Lucius Valerius Flaccus, meanwhile, could not be counted on to stand in their way and is described as “more a servant than a colleague.”21
