Sulla's civil wars

Bust of Sulla in the Munich Glyptothek.

Date	Between 88 BC and 80 BC
Location	Italy; Rome
Result	Establishment of Lucius Cornelius Sulla as Roman dictator.

Belligerents

Supporters of Sulla

Supporters of Marius and Cinna

Commanders and leaders

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Gaius Marius
Lucius Cornelius Cinna

Sulla's civil wars were a series of civil wars in which Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a Roman statesman and general, attempted to take control of the Roman Republic.

The Roman general and longtime consul Gaius Marius had gained great prominence during the 2nd century BC, particularly as a result of his campaign against the rebelling African king Jugurtha. The campaign was successful, and Marius was rewarded with re-election as consul and a triumph. However, to his disappointment, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, one of his officers, was given credit for Jugurtha's capture.

In Asia, Mithradates, king of Pontus, began to attack regions that had been annexed by Rome. He also infiltrated his agents into Roman-held cities, which caused popular uprisings and vicious riots that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Romans. The Roman governors, however, had few soldiers to stop him with, for Rome was embroiled in the Social War against Italian city-states in the south.

Both Marius and Sulla distinguished themselves commanding legionaries in this conflict, and, when it was concluded, the Senate was forced to choose one of them to command the army that would be sent against Mithradates. In light of Sulla's recent election as consul, the Senate appointed him to the command, and Marius, now nearing seventy, was furious. He appealed to the mob, which turned out in his support and eventually marched on the Senate, threatening to kill Sulla.

Sulla fled, sailing to Greece, where the Mithradatic War veterans had maintained their loyalty to him. The army was transported to Italy, and, with Sulla at its head, marched on Rome. Marius, with a hastily formed army, attempted to defend the city, but, after a few hours of street-fighting, Marius was driven out and Sulla installed as sole Roman ruler.

Sulla sailed across the Mediterranean yet again and pursued the campaign against Mithradates, restoring Roman rule to the eastern provinces.

However, the senators in Rome, now in complete control of the city, turned against Sulla in 87 BC. They invited Marius to return, and he hurried back, beginning a brief period of terror. Marius became so powerful that, if he failed to nod to one who spoke to him, his soldiers would kill the unfortunate man. Marius was an old man, though, and seventeen days into his seventh consulship, he died.

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