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First march on Rome

With Sulpicius able to enact legislation without consular opposition, Sulla discovered that Marius had tricked him, for the first piece of legislation Sulpicius brought was a law transferring the command against Mithridates to Marius. Thus,

Sulla was presented with a choice. He could acknowledge the law as valid. To do so would mean total humiliation at the hands of his opponents, the end of his political career, and perhaps even further danger to his life. Or he could attempt to reverse it and regain his command. He can hardly have been in any doubt. Like Caesar, he was an outsider in politics, totally self-centred in pursuit of his ambitions, always ready to break the rules of the political game to achieve his objective... If Sulla hesitated it can only have been because he was not sure how his army would react.

Speaking to the men, Sulla complained to them of the outrageous behaviour of Marius and Sulpicius. He hinted to them that Marius would find other men to fight Mithridates, forcing them to give up opportunities to plunder the East, claims which were "surely false". The troops were willing to follow Sulla to Rome; his officers, however, realised Sulla's plans and deserted him (except his quaestor and kinsman, almost certainly Lucius Licinius Lucullus). They then killed Marcus Gratidius, one of Marius' legates, when Gratidius attempted to effect the transfer of command.

When the march on Rome started, the Senate and people were appalled. The Senate immediately sent an embassy demanding an explanation for his seeming march on the fatherland, to which Sulla responded boldly, saying that he was freeing it from tyrants. Rome having no troops to defend itself, Sulla entered the city; once there, however, his men were pelted with stones from the rooftops by common people. Almost breaking before Marius' makeshift forces, Sulla then stationed troops all over the city before summoning the Senate and inducing it to outlaw Marius, Marius' son, Sulpicius, and nine others. He then reinforced this decision by legislation, retroactively justifying his illegal march on the city and stripping the twelve outlaws of their Roman citizenship. Of the twelve outlaws, only Sulpicius was killed after being betrayed by a slave. Marius and his son, along with some others, escaped to Africa.