ce with a
prediction that had been made to him in his youth. Shortly afterward,
when they were near to Minturnae, they descried a party of horsemen
galloping toward them. In great haste they hurried down to the sea, and
swam off to two merchant vessels, which received them on board. The
horsemen bade the crew bring the ship to land or throw Marius overboard;
but, moved by his tears and entreaties, they refused to surrender him.
The sailors soon changed their minds; and, fearing to keep Marius, they
cast anchor at the mouth of the Liris, where they persuaded him to
disembark, and rest himself from his fatigues till a wind should rise;
but they had no sooner landed him than they immediately sailed away.
Marius was now quite alone amid the swamps and marshes through which the
Liris flows. With difficulty he reached the hut of an old man, who
concealed him in a hole near the river, and covered him with reeds; but
hearing shortly afterward the noise of his pursuers, he crept out of his
hiding-place and threw himself into the marsh. He was discovered, and
dragged out of the water; and, covered with mud, and with a rope round
his neck, was delivered up to the authorities of Minturnae. The
magistrates then deliberated whether they should comply with the
instruction that had been sent from Rome to all the municipal towns to
put Marius to death as soon as they found him. After some consultation
they resolved to obey it, and sent a Cimbrian slave to carry out their
orders. The room in which the old general was confined was dark; and, to
the frightened barbarian, the eyes of Marius seemed to dart forth fire,
and from the darkness a terrible voice shouted out, "Man! durst thou
slay C. Marius?" The barbarian immediately threw down his sword, and
rushed out of the house, exclaiming, "I can not kill C. Marius!"
Straightway there was a revulsion of feeling among the inhabitants of
Minturnae. They repented of their ungrateful conduct toward a man who had
saved Rome and Italy. They got ready a ship for his departure, provided
him with every thing necessary for the voyage, and, with prayers and
wishes for his safety, placed him on board. The wind carried him to the
island of AEnaria (now Ischia), where he found the rest of his friends;
and from thence he set sail for Africa, which he reached in safety. He
landed near the site of Carthage, but he had scarcely put his foot on
shore before the Praetor Sextilius sent an officer to bid him leave