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Young Folks' History of Rome

23. The Wars Of Marius, 106-98
After the death of Massinissa, king of Numidia, the ally of the Romans, there were
disputes among his grandsons, and Jugurtha, whom they held to have the least right,
obtained the kingdom. The commander of the army sent against him was Caius Marius,
who had risen from being a free Roman peasant in the village of Arpinum, but serving
under Scipio Æmilianus, had shown such ability, that when some one was wondering
where they would find the equal of Scipio when he was gone, that general touched the
shoulder of his young officer and said, "Possibly here."
Rough soldier as he always was, he married Julia, of the high family of the Cæsars, who
were said to be descended from Æneas; and though he was much disliked by the Senate,
he always carried the people with him. When he received the province of Numidia,
instead of, as every one had done before, forming his army only of Roman citizens, he
offered to enlist whoever would, and thus filled his ranks with all sorts of wild and
desperate men, whom he could indeed train to fight, but who had none of the old feeling
for honor or the state, and this in the end made a great change in Rome.
Jugurtha maintained a wild war in the deserts of Africa with Marius, but at last he was
betrayed to the Romans by his friend Bocchus, another Moorish king, and Lucius
Cornelius Sulla, Marius' lieutenant, was sent to receive him—a transaction which Sulla
commemorated on a signet ring which he always wore. Poor Jugurtha was kept two years
to appear at the triumph, where he walked in chains, and then was thrown alive into the
dungeon under the Capitol, where he took six days to die of cold and hunger.
a fourth time elected consul.
in Italy.
fought. These people were a whole tribe—wives, children, and everything they had with
them—and to be defeated was utter and absolute ruin. A great enclosure was made with