[7] Two powerful parties were contending at Rome for the supremacy;
Sylla being at the head of the faction of the nobles, while Marius
espoused the cause of the people. Sylla suspected Julius Caesar of
belonging to the Marian party, because Marius had married his aunt Julia.

[8] He wandered about for some time in the Sabine territory.

[9] Bithynia, in Asia Minor, was bounded on the south by Phrygia, on the
west by the Bosphorus and Propontis; and on the north by the Euxine sea.
Its boundaries towards the east are not clearly ascertained, Strabo,
Pliny, and Ptolemy differing from each other on the subject.

[10] Mitylene was a city in the island of Lesbos, famous for the study
of philosophy and eloquence. According to Pliny, it remained a free city
and in power one thousand five hundred years. It suffered much in the
Peloponnesian war from the Athenians, and in the Mithridatic from the
Romans, by whom it was taken and destroyed. But it soon rose again,
having recovered its ancient liberty by the favour of Pomnpey; and was
afterwards much embellished by Trajan, who added to it the splendour of
his own name. This was the country of Pittacus, one of the seven wise
men of Greece, as well as of Alcaeus and Sappho. The natives showed a
particular taste for poetry, and had, as Plutarch informs us, stated
times for the celebration of poetical contests.

[11] The civic crown was made of oak-leaves, and given to him who had
saved the life of a citizen. The person thus decorated, wore it at
public spectacles, and sat next the senators. When he entered, the
audience rose up, as a mark of respect.