Battle Of Aquae Sextiae

	partof	Cimbrian War
	caption	The migration of the Teutons and the Cimbri
	date	102 BC
	place	modern Aix-en-Provence , France
	result	Roman victory
	combatant1	Teutones
	combatant2	Roman Republic
	commander1	King Teutobod
	commander2	Gaius Marius
	strength1	over 110,000
	strength2	about 40,000 (6 Legions with cavalry and auxiliaries)
	casualties1	90,000 killed<br>20,000 captured
	casualties2	Insignificant, probably under 1,000

The Battle of Aquae Sextiae ( Aix-en-Provence ) took place in 102 BC . After a string of Roman defeats (see Battle Of Arausio ), the Romans under Gaius Marius finally defeated the Cimbri and Teutones .

Marius took up a strong position on a carefully selected hill and enticed the Teutones to attack him there using his cavalry and light infantry skirmishers (most of whom were allied Ligurian s ). The leading Teutone elements, the Ambrones , took the bait and attacked. They were soon foolishly followed by the rest of the horde. Meanwhile, Marius had hidden a small Roman force of 3,000 nearby. At the battle's height this force launched an ambush, attacking the Teutones from behind, and throwing them into confusion and rout. In the ensuing massacre 90,000 Teutones were slain and 20,000, including their King Teutobod, captured.

Plutarch mentions (''Marius'' 10, 5-6) that during the battle, the Ambrones began to shout ''"Ambrones!"'' as their battle-cry; the Ligurian troops fighting for the Romans, on hearing this cry, found that it was identical to an ancient name in their country which the Ligurians often used when speaking of their descent (), so they returned the shout, ''"Ambrones!"''.
The captured women committed mass suicide, which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism (cf Jerome , letter cxxiii.8, 409 AD {Link without Title} ):

By the conditions of the surrender three hundred of their married women were to be handed over to the Romans. When the Teuton matrons heard of this stipulation they first begged the consul that they might be set apart to minister in the temples of Ceres and Venus ; and then when they failed to obtain their request and were removed by the Lictor s, they slew their little children and next morning were all found dead in each other's arms having strangled themselves in the night.

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Battle Of Aquae Sextiae