As General
In the war against the Cimbri and Teutones Catulus was sent to defend the passage of the Alps but found himself compelled to retreat across the Po River, his troops having been reduced to a state of panic. But the Cimbri were defeated on the Raudine plain, near Vercellae, by the united armies of Catulus and Marius. Despite their joint success, the two commanders regarded each other as bitter rivals and after the war built competing temples to demonstrate divine favor.
When the chief honour for victory over the Cimbri was given to Marius, Catulus turned vehemently against his former co-commander and sided with Sulla to expel Marius, Cornelius Cinna, and their supporters from Rome. When Cinna and Marius regained control of the city in 87, Catulus was prosecuted by Marius's nephew, M. Marius Gratidianus. Rather than accept the inevitable guilty verdict, he committed suicide.
Read more about this topic: Quintus Lutatius Catulus
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