With yet another of its armies wiped out, the Roman state was both exhausted and defenceless. All that saved Italy from invasion and sack that year was the fact that it was late in the campaigning season, and the Cimbri did not fancy tackling the Alps in autumn. Instead, they turned off towards Iberia, giving the Romans valuable time in which to regroup before the enemy returned. Once Rome had mustered enough of an army to have a sporting chance of fighting off the Cimbri, it surprised no one that the Roman people were vehemently opposed to putting a Roman noble in charge of it. In fact, now
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