Marius and Sulla

1
Marius and Sulla
2
Post-Gracchi Roman Politics

• The troubles under the Gracchi brothers
  foreshadowed dangerous trends to come in the
  Roman government
• the lower classes were mobilized to depose civic
  leaders, with the threat of mob violence
• leaders began to disregard procedure and
  regulations when they knew they had the support
  of the people
• the Senate itself resorted to violent attacks,
  and used legal loopholes to execute enemies

3
Post-Gracchi Roman Politics

• After the death of Gaius Gracchus in 121 BC, the
  Roman aristocracy increased its stranglehold on
  the government and politics became more corrupt
  than before.
• The land reforms enacted by the Gracchi were
  reversed, and all of the small farms established
  by the reforms were again swallowed up into large
  latifundia.

4
Post-Gracchi Roman Politics

• Other problems began to emerge
• provincials were brutally taxed by the publicani,
  or tax collectors
• the latifundia, which had hundreds of slaves in
  the same place, made it possible for slaves to
  organize in large groups and revolt
• pirates were taking over the Mediterranean and
  trade was becoming very dangerous
• the Romans were having trouble defending their
  new enlarged borders from enemies.

5
(No Transcript)
6
Post-Gracchi Roman Politics

• All of these threats would become very important
  in the next century of events but the worst was
  the threat of one man becoming too powerful and
  undermining the stability of the state.
• The man who was elected Tribune in 119 BC, Gaius
  Marius, would become one such leader.

7
(No Transcript)
8
Gaius Marius

• Marius was Tribune of the Plebs in 119, Praetor
  in 114, and from there he took a position as
  Propraetor (governor) of one of the Spains for
  three years.
• He was not from a noble family, but had married
  into one.
• A man who had no consuls in his family was a new
  man (novus homo) it required exceptional skill
  for such a person to break into politics.

9
Jugurtha

• Marius rise to power begins with a small war in
  the client kingdom of Numidia.
• The Romans wanted to stop the warfare between the
  King of Numidia, Jugurtha, and his brother,
  because it was interfering with the equites
  business interests.
• However, whenever they sent ambassadors to try to
  settle the disputes, Jugurtha would bribe them.
  Roman politicians had become quite corruptible.

10
Jugurtha

• Jugurtha was even captured once and brought to
  Rome to stand trial, but when he was easily able
  to cancel the trial through bribes, he famously
  quipped,
• Rome is a vain city, ready to sell itself
  whenever it finds a buyer.

11
Gaius Marius

• Marius, after his governorship of Spain, had
  become the second-in-command of the Roman armies
  in Numidia, and because of his great military
  successes there he became quite popular in Rome.
• He was able to use this popularity to get elected
  consul in 107 BC, with a special mission to end
  the wars with Jugurtha.
• He ended this long war within a few months.

12
Gaius Marius

• In the same year, the Roman legions defending the
  province of Narbonensis in Southern France were
  defeated by two invading Germanic tribes called
  the Cimbri and Teutones.
• There was nothing standing between these tribes
  and Romethe people panicked, expecting another
  invasion like that of the Gauls in 390 BC.

13
Gaius Marius

• Therefore Marius was elected consul again in the
  year 104 BC (despite the laws against holding
  office twice within ten years) and sent to defeat
  the two Germanic tribes.
• From 104 to 101, Marius held four successive
  consulships in which he battled the Germans.
  During this time, he drastically reorganized and
  improved the army.

14
Army Reforms

• Originally the army had been organized according
  to wealthbecause each citizen provided his own
  equipment
• An army would be raised for a particular war and
  then disbanded afterwards
• Marius, however, established a professional
  standing army from all classes. The state paid
  for their equipment and paid them a salary.

15
Triumph of Marius

• With this strengthened army of paid volunteers,
  Marius was able to defeat the Teutones in 102 BC
  and the Cimbri in 101.
• He was awarded a massive double Triumph and
  hailed as another Romulus, the Savior of the
  Country.
• He used his huge popularity to be elected to a
  sixth consulshipthe fifth in a rowin 100 BC.

16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Marius Saturninus

• Marius had been elected consul so many times
  partially because of the efforts of one of the
  Tribunes, Saturninus, who had threatened mob
  violence every time Marius was elected.
• However, the Senates opposition was stronger
  during Marius sixth consulship, since there was
  no war justifying keeping him in office.

19
Marius Saturninus

• Saturninus power went to his headhe used the
  mob to get land rewards for Marius veterans, and
  the riots got out of control. Furthermore,
  Saturninus resorted to executing his political
  opponents.
• The Senate passed the consultum ultimum against
  him, and Mariusthough Saturninus had assisted
  him greatlydid his duty as a consul and had the
  Tribune killed.

20
Marius Saturninus

• Though Marius had served six consulships, he had
  no desire to establish himself as a permanent
  leader, and retired after his term in 100 BC.
• However, he had been told as a child by a certain
  fortune-teller that he would live to be consul
  seven times therefore he was waiting for the
  next opportunity to come out of retirement.

21
The Social War

• In 90 BC, the consul Marcus Livius Drusus
  proposed a law that would have given full
  citizenship rights to the Italian allies, making
  the Romans an entire nation and not just a
  city-state.
• Because both the Senate and the lower classes
  were against this idea, Drusus was assassinated.
• At this point the Italians revolted from Rome, in
  what is called the Social War.

22
The Social War

• The Italian cities did well against the Romans at
  first, but the tide turned when they were
  defeated in 89 BC by an ambitious general who had
  served under MariusLucius Cornelius Sulla.
• Though the Italians were defeated, they were
  eventually granted their full rights.

23
(No Transcript)
24
Lucius Cornelius Sulla

• Sulla promoted himself as having single-handedly
  won the War against the Italians.
• He had also gained great renown in the wars
  against Jugurtha and against the Cimbri.
• Because of his military fame, he was elected to
  the consulship of 88 BC, and then sent to defeat
  King Mithridates of Pontus.

25
Mithridates

• Mithridates had taken the opportunity of the wars
  with the Germanic tribes to expel the Romans from
  the eastern territories.
• In one night he killed 80,000 Roman citizens
  living in his province, an event known as the
  Asiatic Vespers.
• Sulla was appointed governor of Asia in 87 BC and
  sent to retaliate against this revolt before
  Mithridates invaded Greece.

26
Return of Marius

• Just as Sulla was about to sail for the east, one
  of the Tribunes proposed that Marius be given the
  command instead.
• Sulla was outraged when Marius was given his
  command therefore he persuaded his armies to
  march on Rome itself.
• This was the first time in history that a Roman
  army had marched on Rome itself.

27
Return of Marius

• In the ensuing civil war, Sulla took control of
  the city and forced Marius to flee with a ransom
  on his head.
• Sulla, after gaining control of the city, set out
  for Greece as planned.
• Marius returned to Rome. He was then granted his
  long-awaited 7th consulship, and began to execute
  the supporters of Sulla.

28
(No Transcript)
29
Return of Sulla

• Within a few weeks after he was elected, Marius
  died and left the city in the hands of one of his
  supporters, Cinna.
• It took Sulla three years to settle the situation
  with Mithridates in the east. When he returned,
  he marched on the city once again, with the
  support of three more legions enlisted by another
  young generalGnaeus Pompeius.

30
Sullas Dictatorship

• Pompeiusknown by historians as Pompeyassisted
  Sulla in taking the city a second time, and was
  granted the honorary cognomen Magnus (Pompey the
  Great).
• Because of the turmoil and civil strife, the
  Senate appointed Sulla as dictator, though not
  for six months onlythey made him dictator for
  life.

31
Sullas Dictatorship

• Sulla instituted a program of proscriptions to
  rid the Senate of his enemies, and restructured
  the government to strengthen the Senate and
  stabilize the state.
• In particular he enforced the cursus honorum and
  the laws on consecutive terms, and reorganized
  the court system.
• After he was satisfied with his reforms, he
  voluntarily retired in 79 BC.

32
Event
Date
Tribunate of Marius
119 BC
War against Jugurtha 1st Consulship of Marius
107
War against Cimbri 2nd Consulship of Marius
104
6th Consulship of Marius Saturninus removed
100
The Social War
90
War against Mithridates Sulla marches on Rome
88
7th Consulship of Marius Cinna rules Rome
87
Civil War Sulla marches on Rome again
83
Sulla appointed Perpetual Dictator
82
Sulla retires to his farm
79