The duel between Marius and the Celtiberian: a new reading

Abstract

The duel of Gaius Marius with a Celtiber is one of the heroic episodes of the early biography of the future seven-time consul and commander. Plutarch’s information about this duel is fragmentary and does not allow us to fully clarify the circumstances under which it took place. In part, they are clarified by the archaeological data obtained by A. Schulten during excavations in the area of ancient Numantia. After analyzing the sources and literature, the author came to the conclusion that the episode with the duel became for Marius the starting point in his military career, from which his rise began. According to the author, in fact, the notorious duel could have been an ordinary skirmish, but later Marian propaganda turned it into a heroic deed of Marius, a brilliant military leader and an experienced «father commander». The author does not exclude the possibility that Plutarch himself became the culprit of the confusion, who did not distinguish between an individual duel and participation in a collective hand-to-hand combat.