e number of 300,000 fighting men, upon the more southern countries.
In the course of their wanderings they came upon the Roman province of
Norica, which they laid waste with fire and sword, and where they
defeated the consul, Papirius Carbon, with great loss. Without taking
advantage of this opportunity to enter Italy, which now lay open to
their attack, they entered the country of the Helvetii, where they were
joined by the tribes of that people, the Ambrones, the Tigurines, and
the Teutones; descending now upon Gaul like a devastating torrent, they
wasted it as far as the Belgian frontier; here, however, the resistance
of the inhabitants prevented them from advancing further. Turning now
upon the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, they defeated three Roman
armies under Silanus, Cassius, and Scaurus; and here they were joined by
that portion of the Tectosages who had formerly returned from the
disastrous invasion of Greece. The Roman generals, Cepio and Manlius,
who had advanced against them, were utterly routed, and great part of
the province laid waste. From hence the Kimry penetrated into Spain,
where they remained for two years, pillaging and wasting the country,
till, having received a check from the Celtiberians, they repassed the
Pyrenees, and united with their confederated in the plains of Gaul. The
united bands now prepared to march upon Italy; this they did in two
divisions: one, consisting of the Kimry and the Tigurines, directed its
steps through Helvetia and Norica and by the Tridentine Alps; while the
other, consisting of the Ambrones and the Teutones, moved on the route
which leads to Italy by the Maritime Alps: both divisions had appointed
a common rendezvous on the banks of the Po.

Rome was not unprepared for this invasion; to meet it, Marius had been
recalled from his command in Africa, and invested with the consular
power. When the division of the Ambrones and the Teutones reached the
Maritime Alps, they found that general encamped in a position which lay
directly in their line of march. Assaulted for three successive days,
the Romans maintained themselves in their intrenchments: at last the
Gauls, giving up the attempt to force them, passed on and soon reached
Aquae Sextiae, whither they were followed by Marius. Marius encamped on a
hill opposite the quarter of the Ambrones; between them flowed a river.
The sutlers of the Roman army having descended to obtain water,
encountered, in the bed of the t