Germanic threat once and for all. While the Romans were busy getting their army together, the Volcae Tectosages had quarrelled with their Germanic guests, and had asked them to leave the area. When Caepio arrived he only found the local tribes and they sensibly decided not to fight the newly arrived legions. In 105 BC, Caepio's command was prorogued and a further six legions were raised in Rome by Gnaeus Mallius Maximus, one of the consuls of 105 BC. Mallius Maximus led them to reinforce Caepio who was near Arausio. Unfortunately for the Romans, Caepio who was a patrician, and Mallius Maximus, who was a 'new man', clashed with each other. Caepio refused to take orders from Mallius Maximus who as consul outranked him. All this led to a divided Roman force with the two armies so uncooperative that they were unwilling to support each other when the fighting started. Meanwhile, the Germanic tribes had combined their forces. First they attacked and defeated Caepio's army and then, with great confidence, took on Mallius Maximus's army and defeated it too. The Battle of Arausio was considered the greatest Roman defeat since the slaughter suffered at the Battle of Cannae during the Punic Wars. In 104 BC the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed to be heading for Italy. The Romans sent the senior consul of that year, Gaius Marius, a proven and capable general, at the head of another large army. The Germanic tribes never materialized so Marius subdued the Volcae Tectosages capturing their king Copillus. In 103 BC, Sulla, one of Marius's lieutenants, succeeded in persuading the Germanic Marsi tribe to become friends and allies of Rome; they detached themselves from the Germanic confederation and went back to Germania. In 102 BC Marius marched against the Teutones and Ambrones in Gaul. Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius's consular colleague, was tasked with keeping the Cimbri out of Italy. Catulus's army suffered some losses when the Cimbri attacked him near Tridentum, but he retreated and kept his army intact. Meanwhile, Marius had completely defeated the Ambrones and the Teutones in a battle near Aquae Sextiae in Transalpine Gaul. In 101 BC the armies of Marius and Catulus joined forces and faced the Germanic invaders in Galia Cisalpina (Italian Gaul). By July 101 BC the Cimbri were heading westwards along the banks of the Po River. Unfortunately for them, the armies of Marius and Catulus