An outline, era by era

Marius and Sulla Civil War (88 - 82 BCE)

Classical Antiquity · ~500 BCE – ~500 CE

The Marius and Sulla civil war (88 to 82 BCE) was a struggle between two Roman generals, Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and the factions that gathered around them. It began when Sulla marched his army on Rome itself in 88 BCE, something no Roman commander had done before. Fighting and political killing then swung back and forth between Rome, Italy and the provinces for six years.

It ended when Sulla returned from war in the East, defeated his opponents in Italy and took Rome again in 82 BCE. He had himself made dictator, published lists of men to be killed, and rewrote the constitution to strengthen the Senate. Marius died in 86 BCE, but his supporters fought on. The war matters because it showed that soldiers loyal to a general could decide Roman politics, a pattern that later helped bring down the Republic.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Marius, Jugurtha and the Numidian command

    Event

    What happened

    Gaius Marius is elected consul in 107 BCE and is sent to finish the war against Jugurtha of Numidia. Ancient writers report that he recruited volunteers from among the poor, who lacked the usual property qualification. He goes on to hold consulships in 104 to 100 BCE while defeating the Cimbri and Teutones. His quaestor in Numidia, Sulla, helps end the Numidian war when Jugurtha is handed over to him in 105 BCE.

    The rest is history

    Historians debate how far Marius departed from existing practice, since recruiting the landless had happened before and there was probably no single deliberate reform. Some scholars argue that over the longer term soldiers from poor families came to look to their commanders for pay and for land after service, though this is an interpretation and not a uniform result. The affair also began the rivalry between Marius and Sulla over who deserved credit for Jugurtha's capture, which lasted until the civil war.

    Sources

    1. PrimarySallust. Bellum Iugurthinum (The War with Jugurtha). Latin history, c. 40 BCE.
    2. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Marius. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Plutarch: Lives, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    3. BookKeaveney, Arthur. Sulla: The Last Republican. London: Croom Helm, 1982.

  2. The Social War in Italy

    Event

    What happened

    In 91 BCE the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus is murdered after proposing to give citizenship to Rome's Italian allies. Many Italian peoples then revolt, and the Social War lasts from 91 to 88 BCE. Rome wins on the battlefield, with Marius and Sulla both commanding, but passes laws such as the Lex Julia of 90 BCE and the Lex Plautia Papiria of 89 BCE that extend citizenship.

    The rest is history

    The war left Rome with a large, battle-hardened army and many ambitious commanders. It also raised the question of how the new citizens would be enrolled in the voting tribes. This question fed straight into the quarrel of 88 BCE. Sulla, elected consul for that year, was due to take command against King Mithridates of Pontus.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAppian. Civil Wars, Book 1. Greek history, 2nd century CE. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookMouritsen, Henrik. Italian Unification: A Study in Ancient and Modern Historiography. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 1998.

  3. Mithridates and the Asian massacre

    Event

    What happened

    In 89 BCE Mithridates VI of Pontus moves against Rome's neighbouring allies in Cappadocia and Bithynia. In 88 BCE he overruns the Roman province of Asia and, according to ancient writers, orders the killing of Romans and Italians across the cities of western Anatolia, and large numbers are killed. Athens and much of Greece then join him.

    The rest is history

    The crisis made the eastern command very valuable, as it promised glory and wealth. The Senate gave it to Sulla. The tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus, allied with Marius, pushed through a law transferring it to Marius. Historians debate the numbers killed in Asia, which ancient sources put very high, but the massacre itself is well attested. The dispute over the command led directly to Sulla's march on Rome.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAppian. Mithridatic Wars. Greek history, 2nd century CE. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookMayor, Adrienne. The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithridates. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.

  4. Sulla marches on Rome

    Event

    What happened

    In 88 BCE, after the assembly votes to give his command to Marius, Sulla goes to his army at Nola. Most of his officers refuse to follow him, but his soldiers march on Rome and take it. Sulpicius is killed, Marius flees to Africa, and Sulla has the laws of Sulpicius annulled before he leaves for the war against Mithridates in 87 BCE.

    The rest is history

    This was the first time a Roman army entered the city in arms against fellow citizens. Once Sulla was gone, the consul Cinna fell out with his colleague, was driven out of Rome, and joined Marius. Together they took the city in 87 BCE, and many opponents were killed. Marius was consul for a seventh time in 86 BCE but died within about two weeks. Cinna then ruled until his death in 84 BCE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAppian. Civil Wars, Book 1. Greek history, 2nd century CE. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Sulla. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Plutarch: Lives, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    3. BookKeaveney, Arthur. Sulla: The Last Republican. London: Croom Helm, 1982.

  5. Sulla's return, proscriptions and dictatorship

    Event

    What happened

    After making peace with Mithridates in 85 BCE, Sulla lands in Italy in 83 BCE. He defeats the forces of Cinna's successors and wins the Battle of the Colline Gate outside Rome in November 82 BCE. He is then named dictator with no time limit, posts proscription lists of men who may be killed for reward, and confiscates their property.

    The rest is history

    Sulla's reforms of 81 BCE strengthened the Senate, limited the powers of the tribunes and raised the number of magistrates. He resigned the dictatorship in 79 BCE and died in 78 BCE. His constitution did not last, and it was largely undone within about a decade. His example mattered more, because it showed that an army could take Rome, and later commanders such as Pompey and Caesar followed it.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryAppian. Civil Wars, Book 1. Greek history, 2nd century CE. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookKeaveney, Arthur. Sulla: The Last Republican. London: Croom Helm, 1982.
    3. BookHurlet, Frédéric. La dictature de Sylla: monarchie ou magistrature républicaine? Brussels: Institut historique belge de Rome, 1993.

  6. Marius among the ruins of Carthage

    Folk tale

    The legend

    Driven out of Rome in 88 BCE, Marius escapes to Africa and sits among the ruins of Carthage. The Roman governor sends an officer to order him to leave. Marius answers, "Tell him you have seen Gaius Marius a fugitive, sitting on the ruins of Carthage."

    The rest is history

    The story comes from Plutarch, writing about two centuries later, and it is part of a long tradition that compared the fallen Carthage with the fallen Marius. The wider outline is sound. Marius did flee, was hunted in the marshes at Minturnae, reached Africa, and returned to Italy in 87 BCE. The exact words are probably a later literary touch. Marius was killed by no one, and died of illness in January 86 BCE, within days of his seventh consulship.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Marius. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Plutarch: Lives, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookCarney, T. F. A Biography of C. Marius. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1961.

  7. Marius and the seven eagles

    Origin story

    The legend

    In Plutarch's account, a young Marius catches in his cloak an eagle's nest holding seven chicks. Seers say the sign means he will hold the highest office seven times. A later tale says he remembered the omen when he sought a seventh consulship in old age.

    The rest is history

    The tale is reported by Plutarch and probably reflects a tradition told after his death, since Marius's real record was already extraordinary. Marius held an unprecedented seven consulships, with the last in 86 BCE, which is a documented fact. He held five in a row from 104 to 100 BCE. Whether the omen played any part in his ambition cannot be known, and ancient writers often gave great men such omens to explain their rise.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Marius. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Plutarch: Lives, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookCarney, T. F. A Biography of C. Marius. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1961.

  8. Sulla the fox and the lion

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Sulla is said to have been both a fox and a lion, and to have been so lucky that he took the surname Felix, the fortunate. He is also said to have died of a loathsome disease in which his body was eaten by lice.

    The rest is history

    The fox and lion saying was attributed to Sulla by Plutarch, and the surname Felix is documented, as he used it officially after his victory. The story of the lice appears in Plutarch and Appian, but ancient writers often gave tyrants such deaths, and modern doctors have suggested liver disease or other causes. Sulla died in 78 BCE after retiring from public life, and was given a state funeral in Rome.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Sulla. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. In Plutarch: Lives, Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    2. BookKeaveney, Arthur. Sulla: The Last Republican. London: Croom Helm, 1982.

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