Gaius Marius was victorious in the Jugurthan War

One of Gaius Marius' biggest wins came from the prolonged struggle with Jugurtha, king of Numidia, which troubled the Romans. After taking a break from politics, Marius came back to Rome and ran for the consulship right away. Once this was accomplished, he started to alter the organization of his army and went back to Numidia to vanquish Jugurtha.

At the end of 107, he ambushed Jugurtha with a perilous desert march to Capsa in the extreme south, where, upon the town's surrender, he slaughtered all the adult males, captured the remaining survivors, sold them into slavery, and burned them to the ground before giving the spoils to his soldiers. He kept up the pressure and drove Jugurtha's men into Mauretania from the south and west.

Marius' strategy worked, as his troops took Jugurtha prisoner and transported him to Rome, where he would perish. Following their victory, Sulla and Marius debate over who deserves the honor of having taken Jugurtha. The credit belongs to Marius because, according to Roman custom, Sulla was acting as his subordinate. Sulla and his honorable allies, however, turned their attention back to Sulla's direct involvement in undermining Marius' victory.

According to Plutarch, this was the "first seed" of their "incurable hatred". An interesting fact about Gaius Marius is that this is considered one of the most important victories in Marius' life.