- The Battle of Aquae Sextiae (102 BCE) took place at Aix-en-Provence and resulted in an overwhelming Roman victory.
The Reason for the Battle
- Earlier, in 105 BCE, at the Battle of Arausio Orange, the Cimbri and Teutoni massacred a Roman Army of 80,000 Legionaries. However, they didn’t follow it up with an invasion of Italy, but moved south through the Pyrenees instead. This gave Rome a brief chance to recover.
The Roman Preparations
- To avoid another disaster, Marius completely changed the Tactics and organisation of the Roman Army by implementing the Marian Reforms. This involved a permanent professional standing army and the adoption of the highly flexible Cohort System.
Description
- The battle resulted in an overwhelming Roman victory at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae.
- Gaius Marius’ Legions massacred 90,000 Teutones and Ambrones, and captured 20,000.
The Outcome
- Italy was saved from invasion.
Aix en Provence