Marius's career from Numantia to civil war

Marius's career ran from service under Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia through the tribunate, praetorship, a Spanish governorship, and command in the Jugurthine War. Marriage to Julia connected him to the family of Julius Caesar, while victory and repeated consulships made him the dominant emergency commander after Arausio. Later success brought him recognition as Rome's third founder, but he struggled in domestic politics and returned to command during the Social War. Conflict with his former legate Sulla then drew Marius into the violence that accompanied Rome's civil wars. This career explains why he was both the obvious rescuer after Arausio and part of the political-military crisis that followed.