Battle of Vercellae

Significance

The Battle of Vercellae, fought on 30 July 101 BC on the Raudine Plain near Vercellae in Gallia Cisalpina, marked the decisive conclusion of the Cimbrian War. A Roman force of roughly 52,000–54,000 men under consul Gaius Marius and proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus defeated a Celtic-Germanic confederation under the Cimbric king Boiorix that fielded an estimated 120,000–180,000 combatants. The recorded casualty disparity — approximately 1,000 Roman dead against 220,000 Cimbri — indicates the totality of the confederation's defeat. Combined with the earlier destruction of the Teutones, Vercellae eliminated the migratory Germanic and Celtic forces that had threatened Roman Italy since the opening of the war in 112 BC, including the catastrophic Roman defeat at Arausio in 105 BC. The battle ended the immediate threat to the Roman heartland and secured Gallia Cisalpina, closing a conflict that had lasted over a decade and placed sustained pressure on Roman manpower and political cohesion.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)