Rome's public opinion was seething with rage after the repeated unsuccessful attempts to pacify
Numidia and bring Jugurtha to Roman justice. After the defeat of a whole roman army at the
hands of the Numidian King, though, there was no more room for half measures.
The tribunes of the plebs proposed a bill of legal proceedings against anyone responsible
for the debacle in Africa. Rumours of corruption and bribery were rampant, and
someone needed to pay for Rome's wounded pride. It was especially revealing the era's volatile
atmosphere that even the powerful aristocratic families didn't dare to oppose such bills publicly
but instead resorted to concealed action by using third parties
and even Italian allies from Latin cities. The plebeians eventually passed the bill,
reportedly not because of love for their country but rather from hatred towards the nobles…
In the spring of 109BC, the new Consul, Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was preparing
to unleash the full military might of the Roman Empire against the slippery Jugurtha.
Despite being from an aristocratic family himself and an opponent of the populares, Metellus was
renowned for his stark and incorruptible character. Thus, his unblemished reputation
made him popular with both factions in Rome. Together with his Legate, Gaius Marius,
Metellus was meticulously building a sizeable expeditionary force along with the supplies and
provisions that would be necessary. Nothing was left to chance
in a typical display of Roman professionalism. When everything was ready, the large armada
embarked for Numidia, accompanied by the high hopes of Roman citizens
eager to get back at Jugurtha in the face of recent humiliating events.
Both Marius and Metellus were held in high regard by the public,
and thus hopes were high for their joined efforts.
But the two of them had history. [Ma3] During his term as tribune of the Plebs,
Marius had publicly threatened to imprison one of Metellus's relatives.
It could have potentially been a point of friction between them during the upcoming campaign,
but Metellus probably had long term political considerations in mind.
Marius could prove a valuable political ally with strong
equestrian ties and a major military post. Of course, Marius also served along with
Jugurtha in Numantia, which would have undoubtedly been known to Metellus.
Considering his experience in suppressing illusive bandits in Iberia and his
knowledge of the Numidian King, the campaign against Jugurtha was tailored for Marius.
When the army arrived in Africa, Metellus was shocked by the dreadful condition
of the Legions that Jugurtha had previously forced under the Yoke…
Sallust paints a rather dismal image of the men that Metellus found in Africa.
"The army was weak, cowardly and incapable of facing either danger or hardship,
readier of tongue than of hand, a plunderer of our allies and itself a prey to the enemy,
subject to no discipline or restraint." Fearing that the African legions' bad habits
and dishevelled outlook would afflict their new conscripts, Metellus lost
no time in enforcing strict discipline and order on the unhinged legionaries.
With the help of Marius, Metellus instilled discipline
by relentlessly drilling and reconditioning the soldiers,
leading by example rather than by harshness and punishment[Ma4] .
While the Roman commander was drilling and whipping his force into shape,
Jugurtha was informed through his spy network about the arrival of the consular army.
Metellus' reputation of incorruptibility drove Jugurtha into despair. Despite that,
he still tried to come to terms with the Roman Consul sending a series of envoys with peace
offers accompanied by hefty bribes. When these tactics failed,
he offered his submission and everything else apart from his life and that of his children.
Jugurtha should have been aware of Marius' presence
and probably hoped that he would be treated leniently if he surrendered on good terms.
But Metellus' would not badge. Unable to trust the cunning Numidian King,
he turned his old tactics against him by persuading his emissaries to turn
traitors ordering them to capture and deliver Jugurtha into his hands, "Dead or alive".
The ploy failed due to Jugurtha's craftiness since he was able to learn about the betrayal
of his emissaries, who he promptly executed. After the collapse of communications between the
two sides, Metellus, alongside his Legate, Marius, began their invasion of Numidia.
Initially, they found the Kingdom in a state of peace, seemingly unprepared for conflict.
Farmers were still in their fields, and the townspeople greeted the Roman army
offering provisions and their services. However, the cautious Metellus would not
let his guard down. He adopted a defensive marching formation that was protected on all
sides while sending scouts for miles ahead to reconnoitre the area that was about to cross.
Eventually, the Roman army captured the vital trading centre of Vaga
that Metellus garrisoned with a small contingent of legionaries and used as a supply depot.
The loss of Vaga prompted Jugurtha to attempt again to offer terms of surrender to the Romans,
but the situation was unchanged. Metellus pretended to initiate talks
but would neither refuse nor promise peace, biding his time and tightening his grip around Numidia.
It soon became obvious to Jugurtha that Metellus had again turned his tactics against him.
No amount of gold could alleviate the Consul's resolve. His only remaining option was to meet
Metellus and Marius on the battlefield… Taking advantage of the vast manpower that
was available to him, Jugurtha soon assembled a large army of both infantry and cavalry.
First, by scouting the column of marching Romans, he could deduce their path. Then,
using his superior knowledge of Numidia's countryside, he bypassed them and positioned
his troops in a handpicked location on top of some hills near the River Muthul.
There he laid his ambush, waiting patiently for the arrival of the slow marching legions.
Having served for years with the Romans, Jugurtha was well aware of their military valour,
understanding that his Numidians were no match against disciplined heavy Roman
legionaries in hand to hand combat, thus employing a strategy of engaging the Romans
only when he was at a decisive topographic or numerical advantage.
The battle site was a barren valley in southeast Numida that ran across a range of low hills
near the River Muthul. The area was mostly unpopulated apart from a few farmers that we're
able to cultivate crops near the river. Jugurtha had placed his entire army across the
northern hills attempting to conceal them behind the scarce and low bushes that littered the area.
But his cavalry was unable to hide properly due to the low height of the surrounding vegetation.
He then made a small speech of encouragement to his men "They were to fight, he said,
with men whom they had already vanquished and sent under the yoke, their leader was changed,
but their spirit was not" The marching columns of Roman legionaries
entered the valley in battle formation, cautious of their surroundings.
Still unaware of the ambush, Metellus made out suspicious movement upon the hills that
flanked his line of march and quickly ordered his men to reform accordingly.
His single rank of marching legionaries created a triple line facing the Numidian occupied hill.
The cavalry that during the march formed the vanguard and the rear were now occupying
the flanks of a battle formation. Marius was now conveniently placed in
the frontline of the formation, ready to give orders once hostilities commenced.
But the Numidians remained stuck upon their hill with no apparent
intentions of engaging in combat. The ever-cautious Metellus was alarmed by
this hiatus, thinking that the Numidians were planning to trap them within the dry valley,
thus depriving them of access to water. Losing no time, Metellus ordered one of his
lieutenants named Rutilius to take a contingent of cavalry and infantry, march rapidly ahead of
the central column and occupy a position for an encampment to secure access to the Muthul River.
Then as the situation demanded, he slowly advanced, retaining the same formation
himself being with the cavalry on the left wing that had become the vanguard.
As soon as Jugurtha saw this, he prepared for his attack. When Metellus' rear passed
the first of his men, he detached a force of about two thousand troops to occupy and block
the point from which the Romans had just entered the valley to deny them
a way of retreat and finally gave the order for a general assault.
The Numidian cavalry charged across the whole field, throwing their deadly javelins from every
possible angle at the bewildered legionaries who were not accustomed to this kind of fighting.
Whenever a squadron of Roman cavalry assaulted them, Jugurthas' horsemen
scattered in all directions denying a specific target to the attacking Romans.
The Numidian cavalry was undeterred by the rugged terrain, which they could use at will either
for launching assaults or retreating whenever they seemed fit. At the same time, the Romans
struggled to give chase on uneven ground. Marius and Metellus were struggling
to command the army while it was essentially fighting on the march.
The Battle devolved into a contest of endurance since the actual engagement was
more of a skirmish than a proper full-scale affair that the Romans traditionally excelled in.
The constant fighting while marching took a toll on both sides and eventually
caused a lull in hostilities. [Ma8] Marius and Metellus took advantage
of the situation by reforming and uniting their disturbed formation,
barking orders left and right and imploring the men to push themselves to victory.
The reformed and reinvigorated legionaries charged up the hill in perfect order taking
the Numidians by surprise, not expecting a general Roman charge against their favourable position.
The fighting was brief and decisive.
The exhausted but determined and disciplined Romans made short work of the Numidians.
Finally, they were forced to retreat and abandon their position,
the loss of which caused them to flee the battlefield altogether.
Meanwhile, Rutilius, with his detachment, was able to occupy and fortify an advanced position
near the precious water source. But Jugurtha had noticed this move and sent Bomilcar,
one of his trusted lieutenants, put in command of the elephants and a part of the infantry.
When Rutilius passed his position, Bomilcar slowly led his forces down into the plain
and quietly drew up his soldiers into a linear formation shadowing Rutilius' movement.
Hearing the battle cries in the distance, Bomilcar feared that Rutilius might decide to abandon his
position and attempt to help his struggling comrades, so he immediately engaged him.
The encamped Romans soon became aware of the approaching dust cloud,
which initially perplexed and caused them to think that a wind gust caused it.
But they soon realized that the ever-growing dust cloud was caused by Bomilcars fast approaching
Numidians and prepared to defend themselves. The Numidians mainly relied on their elephants,
thinking that the shock value of their attack would provide enough protection to their soldiers.
Still, due to the thickly vegetated area, some of them became entangled in the branches
of trees and the thorny bushes, leaving them vulnerable to counter-attack.
The Romans were able to kill most of the beasts and even capture four of them,
which prompted the rest of the Numidian army to lose heart drop their arms and flee, covered by
the onset of darkness since, by that point of the Battle, it was late in the afternoon.
Rutilius' men were triumphant but in no position to know what happened to their comrades who were
fighting against the main Numidian force. The sound of approaching soldiers in the
distance could have been the enemy. Fearing that his Consul might be in danger,
Rutilius sent scouts ahead to clarify the situation.
Little did they know that the triumphant Metellus and Marius
were simultaneously marching toward them. Eventually, their cavalries met,
and worry was replaced with euphoric jubilation. The Romans were triumphant.
We are not aware of casualty figures for the Battle of the Muthul river,
but losses must have been few on both sides, given the nature of the engagement.
Metellus and Marius were victorious, but the Numidians were largely unscathed.
The Roman army remained encamped near Muthul for a few days while Metellus was trying
to figure out what happened to Jugurthas' army and where his defeated force went.
It soon became clear that the Numidian army was no more. The Numidians were not ashamed
to abandon their King after defeat. Such was their "customs", Sallust informs us.
Despite the loss of a whole army, Jugurtha was quickly able to replace it by conscripting a new
and even larger one taking advantage of the large population of his Kingdom.
Metellus was facing an elusive enemy that would be very difficult to beat
using conventional methods and pitched battles. He soon decided to completely change his strategy
and grind down Jugurthas' resolve by ravaging his Kingdom and conquering his supply depots.
In the midst of all of this, Metellus would shortly realize that his most
formidable enemy was not the Numidian King but his Legate, Gaius Marius,
whose political ambitions would eventually spark a bitter rivalry between them.