In 102 B.C. its neighbourhood was the scene of the defeat inflicted on the Cimbri and Teutones by Marius.
By this time Marius was generally recognized as the ablest general of the day, and was appointed to the chief command against the Cimbri and Teutones.
Caesar was born in the year of Marius's first great victory over the Teutones, and as he grew up, inspired by the traditions of the great soldier's career, attached himself to his party and its fortunes.
Pomponius Mela says that the Cimbri and Teutones dwelt on the Sinus Codanus, the latter also in Scandinavia (or Sweden).
The Romans believed that these Cimbri and Teutones were the same as those who invaded Gaul and Italy at the end of the 2nd century B.C. The Cimbri may probably be traced in the province of Aalborg, formerly known as Himmerland; the Teutones, with less certainty, may be placed in Thyth or Thyland, north of the Limfjord.