Downfall of Boiorix, king of the Cimbri, chromolithograph, published 1888 - stock illustration

The Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC and the downfall of Boiorix - a king of the Cimbri tribe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic people (or Gaulish), Germanic people, or even Cimmerian. Together with the Teutones and the Ambrones, they fought the Roman Republic between 113 and 101 BC during the Cimbrian War. The Cimbri were initially successful, particularly at the Battle of Arausio, in which a large Roman army was routed. In 101 BC, during an attempted invasion of the Italian peninsula, the Cimbri were decisively defeated at the Battle of Vercellae by Gaius Marius, and their king, Boiorix, was killed. Chromolithograph based on a drawing by Richard Knötel (German painter and author, 1857 - 1914), published in 1888.