Daily Roman History:

In the death throes of the republic two men were in constant competition for power, Gaius Marius, and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Marius, wanting to claim his prophesied seven consulship, lead a coup while Sulla, the rightly elected consul for that year, was leading an army in the east. Upon hearing this Sulla turned the army around and marched back on Rome. As he neared the city Sulla did the unprecedented action of leading an army past the historic boundary of the city, an act tantamount to sacrilege. By this time Marius had already fled to the ruins of Carthage and died shortly after. Sulla went on to lead a bloody purge of Marian supporters. One such supporter was the nephew-in-law of the ousted Marius. Though supporters of the family were able to get leniency for the young man Sulla said of him "In that boy I see many a Marius." This 'boy' was the young Julius Ceasar, who would indeed outdo his uncle and essentially bring an end to the republic.

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