According to later tradition, he was a blacksmith by trade, which earned him the nickname Mamurius Veturius, a legendary metalworker in the time of Numa.

[3] He was part of the army that revolted at Moguntiacum (Mainz) after the Emperor Postumus refused to allow them to sack the city.

[7] His reign lasted no more than two or three months before Postumus' praetorian prefect Victorinus had Marius killed in mid-269, most likely at Augusta Treverorum.

[8] According to ancient written sources, Marius' reign lasted only two or three days before he was killed by a sword of his own manufacture.

It is said that he was chosen because his name was reminiscent of two great Romans of the past, Marcus Aurelius and Gaius Marius.