![]() ![]() ![]() The legionnaires managed to capture the pair of vultures. The troop’s blacksmith forged two bronze collars to fasten around the vultures’ necks. (Plutarch Marius 17.3)įor the soldiers had caught them, put these rings on, and let them go again and after this, on recognizing the birds, the soldiers greeted them, and they were glad to see them when they set out upon a march, feeling sure in such cases that they would be successful. The Battle of Vercellae (101 BC), Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1725–9 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA). It is not recorded whether Marius or his augurs were involved, but Plutarch says that the soldiers conceived of a plan to mark the two vultures as their own mascots. It seemed clear to the men that the familiar pair of vultures had chosen sides by favoring Marius’ army. But the Roman soldiers took this natural desire a step further. Like the Lagash king of Sumeria who appropriated the vultures as participants in his victory over Umma, Marius’ men hoped to be the victors who would provide a banquet of dead Cimbri and Teutons for the ravenous vultures. Who was doomed to be devoured by the lurking birds? After all, to the carrion-eaters, all corpses were the same. ![]() The sight of vultures circling over an army on the march in enemy territory, or roosting expectantly in trees around a battlefield, surely evoked uneasy emotions in soldiers. Powerful leaders understood the importance of creating positive omens and neutralizing ominous signs for their followers. On his campaign against the Germanic marauders, Marius was accompanied by a covey of Etruscan augurs who read the portents. The return of the Aquila standard to Augustus in 20 BC, previously lost to the Parthians in 53 BC (detail of the central breastplate relief on the statue of Augustus of Prima Porta, carved during his lifetime and now in the Musei Vaticani, Vatican). Romulus declared that the superior number of vultures gave him divine approval (Livy 1.6-7 Plutarch Romulus 9.4 Aelian On Animals 10.22 Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities 1.85). At dawn, Remus spotted six vultures, but Romulus counted twelve from his post on the Palatine. The brothers agreed to decide the matter by augury, each staying the night on his chosen hill. Romulus and Remus, sons of the war god Mars, had disagreed about the hill on which to build their new city: Remus favored the Aventine, while Romulus insisted on the Palatine. Everyone knew that vultures ( gyps) were a key omen in Rome’s mythic foundation. It was natural for Marius’ soldiers to view the consistent sight of the vulture pair as a portent. Avian flight patterns and behavior were interpreted by an augur or auspex, one who looks at birds. Since Rome’s earliest beginnings, the Romans had set great store by bird auguries, predicting the future by observing the auspices. The “Marius” bust, 1st century BC (Musei Vaticani, Vatican). Two vultures were always seen hovering about the armies of Marius before their victories, and accompanied them on their journeys, being recognized by bronze rings on their necks. The affair of the vultures, however, which Alexander of Myndus relates, is certainly wonderful. Plutarch reports that at some point during the Cimbrian War campaign, Marius’ soldiers noticed that a certain pair of vultures were seen hovering over his armies before their victories and this same pair made a habit of accompanying them on their marches: His rigorous new training of disciplines forged a tough, loyal force that ultimately turned the tide against the Germanic onslaught. Marius won the affection of his men by sharing their hardships. His radical reforms allowed poor, landless men to serve in the military for the first time, and promises of good pay attracted numerous eager recruits. Map of the Cimbrian War: red X marks Cimbri and Teuton defeats, the blue X Cimbri and Teuton victories.Īmid rising panic in Rome, in 102 BC, the great commander Marius (157–86 BC) was elected to take charge of the Roman army. ![]()
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