Cimbri

A Germanic people probably from north Jutland, Denmark. They migrated south in the second century BC, but were driven out of Spain by the Celtiberi and were annihilated by the Romans under Gaius Marius in the Po Valley, Italy, in 101 BC.

After warring for several years with Celtic peoples on the River Danube, the Cimbri defeated a Roman army under Cn Papirius Carbo, near Noreia, in 113 BC. Four years later they defeated M Julius Silanus in southern Gaul, and in 105 annihilated the combined forces of Mallius and Q Servilius Caepio at Arausio (Orange). But instead of crossing the Alps the Cimbri moved into Spain, where they were repulsed by the Celtiberi. Turning back in 103 BC, they overran Gaul as far as the River Seine and were joined near Rouen by the Teutons and Ambrones. This great host moved south by different routes; the Teutons and Ambrones intended entering Italy from the west; the Cimbri (who had now been joined by the Helvetii), via the eastern passes of the Alps. The former were routed by Marius at Aquae Sextiae (Aix-en-Provence) in 102; the latter, having forced their way to the Po, were annihilated by Marius and Q Lutatius Catulus on the Raudine Plain near Vercellae.