FIRST CIVIL WAR. B.C. 88-86.
One reason which induced the Senate to bring the Social War to a
conclusion was the necessity of attacking Mithridates, king of Pontus,
one of the ablest monarchs with whom Rome ever came into contact. The
origin and history of this war will be narrated in the following
chapter. The dispute between Marias and Sulla for the command against
Mithridates was the occasion of the first Civil War. The ability which
Sulla had displayed in the Social War, and his well-known attachment to
the Senatorial party, naturally marked him out as the man to whom this
important dignity was to be granted. He was accordingly elected Consul
for the year 88 B.C., with Q. Pompeius Rufus as his colleague; and he
forthwith received the command of the Mithridatic War. But Marius had
long coveted this distinction; he quitted the magnificent villa which he
had built at Misenum, and took up his residence at Rome; and in order to
show that neither his age nor his corpulency had destroyed his vigor, he
repaired daily to the Campus Martius, and went through the usual
exercises with the young men. He was determined not to yield without a
struggle to his hated rival. As he had formerly employed the Tribune
Saturninus to carry out his designs, so now he found an able instrument
for his purpose in the Tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus. Sulpicius was one of
the greatest orators of the age, and had acquired great influence by his
splendid talents. He was an intimate friend of the Tribune M. Livius
Drusus, and had been himself elected Tribune for B.C. 88, through the
influence of the Senatorial party, who placed great hopes in him; but,
being overwhelmed with debt, he now sold himself to Marius, who promised
him a liberal share of the spoils of the Mithridatic War. Accordingly,
Sulpicius brought forward a law by which the Italians were to be
distributed among the thirty-five tribes. As they far outnumbered the
old Roman citizens, they would have an overwhelming majority in each
tribe, and would certainly confer upon Marius the command of the
Mithridatic War. To prevent the Tribune from putting these rogations to
the vote, the Consuls declared a justitium, during which no business
could be legally transacted. But Sulpicius was resolved to carry his
point; with an armed band of followers he entered the forum and called
upon the Consuls to withdraw the justitium; and upon their refusal to
comply with his demand he ordered his satellites to draw their swords
and fall upon them. Pompeius escaped, but his son Quintus, who was also
the son-in-law of Sulla, was killed. Sulla himself took refuge in the
house of Marius, which was close to the forum, and in order to save his
life he was obliged to remove the justitium.
Sulla quitted Rome and hastened to his army, then besieging Nola, which
was still held by the Samnites (see p. 180)(Fifth paragraph of Chapter
XXV.--Transcriber). The city was now in the hands of Sulpicius and
Marius, and the rogations passed into law without opposition, as well as
a third, conferring upon Marius the command of the Mithridatic War.
Marius lost no time in sending some Tribunes to assume on his behalf the
command of the army at Nola; but the soldiers, who loved Sulla, and who
feared that Marius might lead another army to Asia, and thus deprive
them of their anticipated plunder, stoned his deputies to death. Sulla
found his soldiers ready to respond to his wishes; they called upon him
to lead them to Rome, and deliver the city from the tyrants. He
therefore hesitated no longer, but at the head of six legions broke up
from his encampment at Nola, and marched toward the city. His officers,
however, refused to serve against their country, and all quitted him,
with the exception of one Quæstor. This was the first time that a Roman
had ever marched at the head of Roman troops against the city. Marius
was taken by surprise. Such was the reverence that the Romans
entertained for law, that it seems never to have occurred to him or to
his party that Sulla would venture to draw his sword against the state.
Marius attempted to gain time for preparations by forbidding Sulla, in
the name of the Republic, to advance any farther; but the Prætors who
carried the command narrowly escaped being murdered by the soldiers; and
Marius, as a last resource, offered liberty to the slaves who would join
him. But it was all in vain. Sulla forced his way into the city, and
Marius took to flight with his son and a few followers. Sulla used his
victory with moderation. He protected the city from plunder; and only
Marius, Sulpicius, and ten others of his bitterest enemies, were
declared public enemies by the Senate. Sulpicius was betrayed by one of
his slaves and put to death, but Marius and his son succeeded in making
their escape. Marius himself embarked on board a ship at Ostia, with a
few companions, and then sailed southward along the coast of Italy. At
Circeii he and his companions were obliged to land on account of the
violence of the wind and the want of provisions. After wandering about
for a long time, they learned from some peasants that a number of
horsemen had been in search of them; and they accordingly turned aside
from the road, and passed the night in a deep wood in great want. But
the indomitable spirit of the old man did not fail him; and he consoled
himself and encouraged his companions by the assurance that he should
still live to see his seventh Consulship, in accordance with a
prediction that had been made to him in his youth. Shortly afterward,
when they were near to Minturnæ, they descried a party of horsemen
galloping toward them. In great haste they hurried down to the sea, and
swam off to two merchant vessels, which received them on board. The
horsemen bade the crew bring the ship to land or throw Marius overboard;
but, moved by his tears and entreaties, they refused to surrender him.
The sailors soon changed their minds; and, fearing to keep Marius, they
cast anchor at the mouth of the Liris, where they persuaded him to
disembark, and rest himself from his fatigues till a wind should rise;
but they had no sooner landed him than they immediately sailed away.
Marius was now quite alone amid the swamps and marshes through which the
Liris flows. With difficulty he reached the hut of an old man, who
concealed him in a hole near the river, and covered him with reeds; but
hearing shortly afterward the noise of his pursuers, he crept out of his
hiding-place and threw himself into the marsh. He was discovered, and
dragged out of the water; and, covered with mud, and with a rope round
his neck, was delivered up to the authorities of Minturnæ. The
magistrates then deliberated whether they should comply with the
instruction that had been sent from Rome to all the municipal towns to
put Marius to death as soon as they found him. After some consultation
they resolved to obey it, and sent a Cimbrian slave to carry out their
orders. The room in which the old general was confined was dark; and, to
the frightened barbarian, the eyes of Marius seemed to dart forth fire,
and from the darkness a terrible voice shouted out, "Man! durst thou
slay C. Marius?" The barbarian immediately threw down his sword, and
rushed out of the house, exclaiming, "I can not kill C. Marius!"
Straightway there was a revulsion of feeling among the inhabitants of
Minturnæ. They repented of their ungrateful conduct toward a man who had
saved Rome and Italy. They got ready a ship for his departure, provided
him with every thing necessary for the voyage, and, with prayers and
wishes for his safety, placed him on board. The wind carried him to the
island of Ænaria (now Ischia), where he found the rest of his friends;
and from thence he set sail for Africa, which he reached in safety. He
landed near the site of Carthage, but he had scarcely put his foot on
shore before the Prætor Sextilius sent an officer to bid him leave the
country, or else he would carry into execution the decree of the Senate.
This last blow almost unmanned Marius: grief and indignation for a time
deprived him of speech, and his only reply was, "Tell the Prætor that
you have seen C. Marius a fugitive sitting on the ruins of Carthage."
Shortly afterward Marius was joined by his son, and they crossed over to
the island of Cercina, where they remained unmolested.
Meantime a revolution had taken place at Rome, which prepared the way
for the return of Marius to Italy. Sulla's soldiers were impatient for
the plunder of Asia, and he therefore contented himself with repealing
the Sulpician laws. He then sent forward his legions to Capua, that they
might be ready to embark for Greece, but he himself remained in Rome
till the Consuls were elected for the following year. The candidates
whom he recommended were rejected, and the choice fell on Cn. Octavius,
who belonged to the aristocratical party, but was a weak and irresolute
man, and on L. Cinna, a professed champion of the popular side. Sulla
did not attempt to oppose their election: to have recalled his legions
to Rome would have been a dangerous experiment when the soldiers were so
eager for the spoils of the East; and he only took the vain precaution
of making Cinna promise that he would make no attempt to disturb the
existing order of things. But as soon as Sulla had quitted Italy, Cinna
brought forward again the law of Sulpicius for incorporating the new
Italian citizens among the thirty-five tribes. The two Consuls had
recourse to arms, Octavius to oppose and Cinna to carry the law. A
dreadful conflict took place in the forum. The party of Octavius
obtained the victory, and Cinna was driven out of the city with great
slaughter. But Cinna, by means of the new citizens, whose cause he
espoused, was soon at the head of a formidable army. As soon as Marius
heard of these changes he set sail from Africa, and offered to serve
under Cinna, who gladly accepted his proposal, and named him Proconsul;
but Marius refused all marks of honor. The sufferings and privations he
had endured had exasperated his proud and haughty spirit almost to
madness, and nothing but the blood of his enemies could appease his
resentment. He continued to wear a mean and humble dress, and his hair
and beard had remained unshorn from the day he had been driven out of
Rome. After joining Cinna, Marius prosecuted the war with great vigor.
He first captured the corn-ships, and thus cut off Rome from its usual
supply of food. He next took Ostia and the other towns on the sea-coast,
and, moving down the Tiber, encamped on the Janiculum. Famine began to
rage in the city, and the Senate was obliged to yield. They sent a
deputation to Cinna and Marius, inviting them into the city, but
entreating them to spare the citizens. Cinna received the deputies
sitting in his chair of office, and gave them a kind answer. Marius
stood in silence by the side of the Consul, but his actions spoke louder
than words. After the audience was over they entered the city. The most
frightful scenes followed. The Consul Octavius was slain while seated in
his curule chair. The streets ran with the noblest blood of Rome. Every
one whom Marius hated or feared was hunted out and put to death; and no
consideration, either of rank, talent, or former friendship, induced him
to spare the victims of his vengeance. The great orator M. Antonius fell
by the hands of his assassins; and his former colleague, Q. Catulus, who
had triumphed with him over the Cimbri, was obliged to put an end to his
own life. Cinna was soon tired of the butchery; but the appetite of
Marius seemed only whetted by the slaughter, and daily required fresh
victims for its gratification. Without going through the form of an
election, Marius and Cinna named themselves Consuls for the following
year (B.C. 86), and thus was fulfilled the prediction that Marius should
be seven times Consul. But he did not long enjoy the honor: he was now
in his seventy-first year; his body was worn out by the fatigues and
sufferings he had recently undergone; and on the eighteenth day of his
Consulship he died of an attack of pleurisy, after a few days' illness.
[Illustration: Mount Argæus in Cappadocia.]