The Marian-Sullan Civil Wars

It was one of the numerous conflicts that occurred in Rome between 88 and 87 B.C. and is also referred to as Sulla's first civil war which is one of the Civil Wars that transformed Rome. One of the first battles that eventually brought about the demise of the Roman Republic was this internal dispute. Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the two opposing rulers of Rome, had a terrible rivalry that led to war.

A brutal power struggle between the politician-generals Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla led to Rome's first civil war. Years of animosity between the two men culminated in war in 88 B.C. when Marius outsmarted Sulla to gain control of the Roman troops in a battle with King Mithridates of Pontus. Marius had earlier claimed credit for one of Sulla's military victories. Sulla gathered his men and led them on a march on Rome, furious at having missed his chance at glory. No army had ever entered the city armed before, thus it was a contentious act, but Sulla quickly swept aside Marius' supporters and drove his competitor to flee to Africa.

Sulla assembled his soldiers and set off after King Mithridates after consolidating his hold on Rome. After he left the city, the civil war broke out once more. Sulla's upper class "Optimates" and the plebian "Populares" group engaged in a bloody conflict, and Marius emerged from hiding to retake the city and govern it as a tyrant.

Sulla was compelled to march his 40,000 men back toward Rome. He established himself as dictator and murdered hundreds of opposition politicians and aristocrats after routing an army led by Marius' son (Marius having since passed away from old age). Sulla eventually resigned and entered retirement voluntarily in 79 B.C., but his short-lived power grab damaged the Roman Republic's foundations. Only a few more decades would pass before they started to fall apart.