CHAPTER XXV.

MARIUS AND SULLA.-CINNA.


With the name of MARIUS is usually coupled that of LUCIUS CORNELIUS
SULLA (138-78). "He was a patrician of the purest blood, had inherited
a moderate fortune, and had spent it, like other young men of rank,
lounging in theatres and amusing himself with dinner parties. He was a
poet, an artist, and a wit. Although apparently indolent, he was
naturally a soldier, statesman, and diplomatist. As Quaestor under
Marius in the Jugurthine War, he had proved a most active and useful
officer." In these African campaigns he showed that he knew how to win
the hearts and confidence of his soldiers; and through his whole
subsequent career, the secret of his brilliant successes seems to have
been the enthusiastic devotion of his troops, whom he always held well
under control, even when they were allowed to indulge in plunder and
license. It was to Sulla's combined adroitness and courage that Marius
owed the final capture of Jugurtha. He served again under Marius in
the campaigns against the Cimbri and Teutones, and gave efficient help
towards the victory. But the Consul became jealous of his rising
power, and all friendly feeling between the two ceased.

After this campaign Sulla lived at Rome for some years, taking no part
in politics, and during this time his name and that of his rival are
almost unheard. He appeared before the public again in 93, when he was
elected Praetor, and increased his popularity by an exhibition of a
hundred lions in the arena, matched against Numidian archers. In 92 he
went as Propraetor to govern the province of Asia, and here he first