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). 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.