page_title: Ancient Rome
section_title: Marius and Sulla
hierarchical_section_title: Ancient Rome / Late Republic / Marius and Sulla
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: So genannter «Sulla», freie Kopie (wohl augusteischer Zeit) von Bildnissen bedeutender Römer des 2. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Wegen der zahlreichen Übereinstimmungen mit dem so genannten «Marius» (Maße, jähe Kopfwendung, geöffneter Mund, große Augen), sind diese zwei Statuen wohl als Paar (Bruder, Gegenspieler?) konzipiert und zusammen — etwa in einer Porträtgalerie — aufgestellt gewesen. English: So-called “Sulla”, free copy (probably from the time of Augustus) after a portrait of an important Roman from the 2nd century BC. Because of many details this bust has in common with the so-called «Marius» (proportions, open mouth, large eyes), it has been suggested that both statues (brothers, adversaries?) were conceived and exhibited together. Français&#160;: Pseudo-«Sylla», copie libre (sans doute époque augustéenne) d'un portrait de Romain important du IIe siècle av. J.-C. En raison des nombreux points communs avec le pseudo-«Marius» (proportions, tour de tête raide, bouche ouverte et gros yeux), on estime que ces deux statues (frères, adversaires&#160;?) ont pu être conçues et exposées ensemble dans une galerie de portraits.
context_page_description: In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire.
  The civilisation began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, traditionally dated to 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The civilization was led and ruled by the Romans, alternately considered an ethnic group or a nationality. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.
  In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from an elective monarchy to a democratic classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic semi-elective military dictatorship during the Empire.
context_section_description: Gaius Marius, a novus homo, who started his political career with the help of the powerful Metelli family soon become a leader of the Republic, holding the first of his seven consulships (an unprecedented number) in 107 BC by arguing that his former patron Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was not able to defeat and capture the Numidian king Jugurtha. Marius then started his military reform: in his recruitment to fight Jugurtha, he levied the very poor (an innovation), and many landless men entered the army; this was the seed of securing loyalty of the army to the General in command.
  Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born into a poor family that used to be a patrician family. He had a good education but became poor when his father died and left none of his will. Sulla joined the theater and found many friends there, prior to becoming a general in the Jugurthine war.
  At this time, Marius began his quarrel with Sulla: Marius, who wanted to capture Jugurtha, asked Bocchus, son-in-law of Jugurtha, to hand him over. As Marius failed, Sulla, a general of Marius at that time, in a dangerous enterprise, went himself to Bocchus and convinced Bocchus to hand Jugurtha over to him. This was very provocative to Marius, since many of his enemies were encouraging Sulla to oppose Marius. Despite this, Marius was elected for five consecutive consulships from 104 to 100 BC, as Rome needed a military leader to defeat the Cimbri and the Teutones, who were threatening Rome.
  After Marius's retirement, Rome had a brief peace, during which the Italian socii ("allies" in Latin) requested Roman citizenship and voting rights. The reformist Marcus Livius Drusus supported their legal process but was assassinated, and the socii revolted against the Romans in the Social War. At one point both consuls were killed; Marius was appointed to command the army together with Lucius Julius Caesar and Sulla.
  By the end of the Social War, Marius and Sulla were the premier military men in Rome and their partisans were in conflict, both sides jostling for power. In 88 BC, Sulla was elected for his first consulship and his first assignment was to defeat Mithridates VI of Pontus, whose intentions were to conquer the Eastern part of the Roman territories. However, Marius's partisans managed his installation to the military command, defying Sulla and the Senate, and this caused Sulla's wrath. To consolidate his own power, Sulla conducted a surprising and illegal action: he marched to Rome with his legions, killing all those who showed support to Marius's cause and impaling their heads in the Roman Forum. In the following year, 87 BC, Marius, who had fled at Sulla's march, returned to Rome while Sulla was campaigning in Greece. He seized power along with the consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna and killed the other consul, Gnaeus Octavius, achieving his seventh consulship. In an attempt to raise Sulla's anger, Marius and Cinna revenged their partisans by conducting a massacre.
  Marius died in 86 BC, due to age and poor health, just a few months after seizing power. Cinna exercised absolute power until his death in 84 BC. Sulla after returning from his Eastern campaigns, had a free path to reestablish his own power. In 83 BC he made his second march in Rome and began a time of terror: thousands of nobles, knights and senators were executed. Sulla also held two dictatorships and one more consulship, which began the crisis and decline of Roman Republic.
caption: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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