Lucius Valerius Flaccus
The death of Flaccus's brother, Lucius, marks a turning point. Lucius Valerius Flaccus was the suffect consul who completed Marius's term after his death in 86. He was sent as governor to the Roman province of Asia, where he was murdered in 85 by the mutinous Gaius Flavius Fimbria, who then took command of the troops assigned to Lucius. The Cinnan government failed to take action against Fimbria, who had been a particularly partisan supporter of the Marian faction. Lucius's son, also named Lucius, fled Asia and sought refuge with his uncle in Massalia (present-day Marseille), then still an independent Greek city-state. This nephew was the Lucius Valerius Flaccus defended by Cicero in his speech "Pro Flacco" two decades later.