So it's the second century BC: Rome is ascendant, Carthage is gone, Marius is off fighting the Jugurthine War in North Africa and 100,000 Germans are on the move, having migrated all the way from balls-freezing Jutland to the sunny beaches of the Mediterranean, much like it happens nowadays, actually, except that back then the Italian government wasn't much of a fan of tourism, so they went with their time-tested strategy of underestimating the enemy and sending small armies to be destroyed one by one, before sending two putzes witha big army that's lost nearly to a man.
So, after the disaster at Arausio in 105 BC (Cannae 2: Fuck up harder), the Cimbri and Teutones took the novel approach of not moving into an unprotected Italian peninsula and putzing around for years as marauding invaders and rebelling gladiators traditionally do, but rather moved into Hispania, giving Rome enough time to catch its breath, recall Marius, reorganize the army and keep Italian beaches free of sausage and sauerkraut. What followed was the beginning of the end of the Republic, as we know.
But what if the unified horde of 120,000 invaders had descended upon Italy after Arausio? They could not have taken Rome, of course, but what of the effects of having to once again lock themselves behind the city walls while rampaging, invading barbarians sack and pillage the countryside, interrupting the grain supply, terrorizing the countryside and crushing whatever little legion is sent while awaiting for Marius? What does this do for the late Republic and Marius' career?
So, after the disaster at Arausio in 105 BC (Cannae 2: Fuck up harder), the Cimbri and Teutones took the novel approach of not moving into an unprotected Italian peninsula and putzing around for years as marauding invaders and rebelling gladiators traditionally do, but rather moved into Hispania, giving Rome enough time to catch its breath, recall Marius, reorganize the army and keep Italian beaches free of sausage and sauerkraut. What followed was the beginning of the end of the Republic, as we know.
But what if the unified horde of 120,000 invaders had descended upon Italy after Arausio? They could not have taken Rome, of course, but what of the effects of having to once again lock themselves behind the city walls while rampaging, invading barbarians sack and pillage the countryside, interrupting the grain supply, terrorizing the countryside and crushing whatever little legion is sent while awaiting for Marius? What does this do for the late Republic and Marius' career?