Toggle sidebar

Biker, Happy Joan of Arc Day!

  • Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Biker, Happy "Battle of Arausio"day.​
​
​


The Battle of Arausio took place on October 6, 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio (modern day Orange, Vaucluse) and the Rhône River. Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri under Boiorix and the Teutoni were two Roman armies, commanded by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus. However, bitter differences between the commanders prevented the Roman armies from cooperating, with devastating results. The terrible defeat gave Gaius Marius the opportunity to come to the fore and radically reform the organization and recruitment of Roman legions. Roman losses are described as being up to 80,000 troops, as well as another 40,000 auxiliary troops (allies) and servants and camp followers — virtually all of their participants in the battle.
The migrations of the Cimbri tribe through Gaul and adjacent territories had disturbed the balance of power and incited or provoked other tribes, such as the Helvetii, into conflict with the Romans. An ambush of Roman troops and the temporary rebellion of the town of Tolosa caused Roman troops to mobilize in the area, with three strong forces.

Having regained Tolosa, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio adopted a defensive strategy, waiting to see if the Cimbri would move toward Roman territories again. In October of 105 BC, they did.
Even before battle was joined, the Romans were in trouble. The senior of the year's two consuls, Publius Rutilius Rufus, was an experienced and highly decorated soldier, veteran of the recent war in Numidia, but for some reason did not take charge of the military campaign himself but remained in Rome while his inexperienced, untried colleague Gnaeus Mallius Maximus led the legions north. (The reasons for Rutilius not taking charge himself do not seem to be known: perhaps he faced political opposition because of his friendship with Gaius Marius, or perhaps he believed Mallius Maximus deserved the chance to earn himself a share of glory, or perhaps he was simply temporarily ill.) Two of the major Roman forces available were camped out on the Rhone River, near Arausio: one led by Mallius Maximus, and the other by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio. As the consul of the year, Maximus out-ranked Caepio and therefore should by law have been the senior commander of the combined armies. However, because Maximus was a novus homo and therefore lacked the noble background of the Roman aristocracy - in addition to his military inexperience - Caepio refused to serve under him and made camp on the opposite side of the river.

The initial contact between the two forces occurred when a detached picketing group under the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus met an advance party of the Cimbri. The Roman force was completely overwhelmed and the legate was captured and brought before Boiorix. Scaurus was not humbled by his capture and advised Boiorix to turn back before his people were destroyed by the Roman forces. The king of the Cimbri was indignant at this impudence and had Scaurus executed.

Meanwhile, Maximus had managed to convince Caepio to move his force to the same side of the river, but Caepio still insisted on a different camp, and actually pitched his closer to the enemy. The sight of two Roman armies gave Boiorix pause for thought, and he entertained negotiations with Maximus.

According to Mommsen, Caepio was presumably motivated into action by the thought that Maximus might be successful in negotiations and claim all the credit for a successful outcome; he launched a unilateral attack on the Cimbri camp on October 6.[7] However, Caepio's force was annihilated because of the hasty nature of the assault and the tenacity of Cimbri defence. The Cimbri were also able to ransack Caepio's own camp, which had been left practically undefended. Caepio himself escaped from the battle unhurt.

With a great boost in confidence from an easy victory, the Cimbri then proceeded to destroy the force commanded by Maximus. Already at a low ebb due to the infighting of the commanders, this Roman force had also witnessed the complete destruction of their colleagues. In other circumstances the army might have fled, but the poor positioning of the camp left them with their backs to the river. Many tried to escape in that direction, but legionaries of the time were not known for their prowess at swimming, and certainly not when encumbered with armor. Certainly, the number of Romans who managed to escape were very few. This includes the servants and camp followers, who usually numbered at least half as many again as the actual troops. Though the actual casualty figure remains debated, Livy claims that the total number of Roman casualties (not including camp followers or other non-combatants) amounted to 80,000. Mommsen claims that besides the 80,000 Roman soldiers, half as many of the auxiliaries and camp-followers perished.

One can only speculate as to what might have happened, had Rutilius rather than Maximus taken command - whether Caepio would have been willing to defer to Rutilius's military record and accept him as the senior commander, or still insisted that his aristocratic birth gave him the right to keep his army separate (and commit the same blunders as before and have his army annihilated). It would however seem unlikely that Rutilius would have committed the strategic, tactical and positional errors that Mallius Maximus did, but would at least have kept his army alive, or possibly even won the battle. As things were, the catastrophic scale of the loss inspired the Roman senate and people to set aside the current legal peacetime constraints, that no man could be consul a second time until ten years had passed since his first consulship: and instead, Gaius Marius was immediately proposed (in his absence) and elected as consul, only three years after his first consulship, and then for a further four successive years after that.
Rome was a war-faring nation and was accustomed to setbacks. However, the recent string of defeats ending in the calamity at Arausio was alarming for all the people of Rome. The defeat left them with a critical shortage of manpower but also with a terrifying enemy camped on the other side of the now-undefended Alpine passes. In Rome, it was widely thought that the defeat was due to the arrogance of Caepio rather than to a deficiency in the Roman Army, and popular dissatisfaction with the ruling classes grew.

As it turned out, the Cimbri next clashed with the Averni tribe, and after a hard struggle set out for the Pyrenees instead of immediately marching into Italy. This gave the Romans time to re-organise and elect the man who would become known as the savior of Rome, Gaius Marius.

Plutarch, in his "Life of Marius", mentions that the soil of the fields the battle had been fought upon were made so fertile by human remains that they were able to produce "magna copia" (a great quantity) of yield for many years.


View attachment 23317 [video=youtube;gaEcx06B-e0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaEcx06B-e0[/video]​
 
Last edited:
Nighty night,

A wee sad song (which I sang in the Leng Medal many moons ago:o) and is one of my favourites - I sometimes still sing it to myself when it's late and no-ones about. Might help you sleep. Normal service hopefully resumed tomorrow, thanks for stepping I Uncle Kelly.
[video=youtube;PaYVNbIGkLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYVNbIGkLo[/video]
 
like lightning, straight to the floor. unky gasboot is neglecting his duties as of late, was wondering if him and brother/uncle bob have fallen out/ones still tied to a tree. Too much Scotch spirit. Well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.


[VIDEO=youtube;xdQnlapI4ls]www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdQnlapI4ls[/VIDEO]
 
Last edited:
petrochemicals said:
like lightning, straight to the floor. unky gasboot is neglecting his duties as of late, was wondering if him and brother/uncle bob have fallen out/ones still tied to a tree. Too much Scotch spirit. Well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Click to expand...
That sounds like sedition, neglecting poor old Pa, no I've been testing to see if the family pulled together like the well lubricated device I know it to be - and to seek out the squeaky cogs! No-one was tied to a tree - zip-ties maybe but tied no. They'd burnt all the rope you see. Anyways what happens in Wooplaw stays in Wooplaw as you said though you can read a bit of the ramblings HERE
 
Biker, Happy Smash Hits Day Mate!

On this day in 1978 - British pop magazine "Smash Hits," 1st published.
Smash Hits was a pop music magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time. The name survives as a brand for a related spin-off digital television channel, and website which have survived the demise of the printed magazine. A digital radio station was also available but shut on 5 August 2013.
Smash Hits was founded in 1978 by Nick Logan, who had previously edited the New Musical Express during one of its most creative periods and went on to create '80s fashion bible The Face.
After releasing a test issue in October 1978, with Plastic Bertrand on the front and a centre spread of Sham 69, the first issue was published in November 1978 and featured Blondie on the cover. The publication was initially monthly but switched to fortnightly after only four issues, which it remained until its demise. The backbone of the magazine in its early years, and one of its major early selling points, was the publication of Top 20 song lyrics.
The magazine was at its peak in the 1980s, launching the career of many journalists including Heat's editor Mark Frith. Other well-known writers have included Dave Rimmer, Ian Birch, Mark Ellen (who went on to launch Q, Mojo and Word), Steve Beebee, Peter Martin, Chris Heath, Sylvia Patterson, Sian Pattenden, Tom Hibbert, and Miranda Sawyer. Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys also worked as a writer and assistant editor, and once claimed that had he not become a pop star, he would likely have pursued his ambition to become editor.

Today's competition is ... "Name the POP Star!"


​
 
The meet looks good goat boy, who was the fella doing the woodwork, and what whas he making ?

part of the furniture;

1) thinks he'll steal a

2)has distroyed a

3)the new sofa doesn't match any

4)a tatty cheap

5)there's woodworm in every

6)the movers lost a

7) the cats scratched

8)i don't like any

9)shouldn't have gone to Ikea for any

10)should really clean every

11)i ran out of firewood and burned every

12)no one wants any

13) theres no tasteful

14)the best

15)I'm modest but I made that

16)I'm not selling that

17)dog hair all over every

18)wore out this

19)the comfyist

20)the most highly prized
 
petrochemicals said:
The meet looks good goat boy, who was the fella doing the woodwork, and what whas he making ?
Click to expand...

To my eternal shame I've not retained his name - Brother Bob may remember, he got the name memory part of the brain. I didn't take enough pics, I kind've forgot through enjoying it, was very good fun. Sort of a "MOOT LITE".

And wow Pa popped his bonce 'round the door there! He must be busy at the lab to stay away that long. But like they say the devil comes when you mention his name. How's the new place coming along Pa? Got any pics of the work in progress?

Meant to say earlier today yes Uncle Kelly and Dark Horse Dave were correct in the pop picker quiz with Aneka. (We can blame Bob and his Radio 2 ways whilst we were away - I usually never listen to music radio (R4 for me) but there were some good tunes and an interview on the wireless on Saturday night - I was impressed. May even sway my ways as to listening habits.

By the way Cousin Pete, like the list of things to put before "the furniture" unfortunately as I'm not paying subs I cant change mine. But when I do I'll keep it in mind - most inventive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Goatboy
BIKER, Happy Longest Day
Replies
5
Views
2K
Other Chatter
Biker
Biker

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE
Top Bottom