Mithridates the Great by Philip Matyszak Page B

88 BC provided dramatic support for the theory. Because much of what happened in Asia Minor and Greece over subsequent years was determined by events in the forum of Rome, it is worth considering these events in some depth.
    Although the war against the recalcitrant Italians was still a work in progress, Rome’s response to the victories of Mithridates had until this point been going as expected. Interestingly, for those uncertain of the extent to which Aquillius had been acting on orders from back home, it was only now that the senate formally declared war on Pontus. Given Rome’s straitened circumstances, raising money for war on this new front was very difficult. Eventually it was decided to sell off ancient treasures reserved for sacrifices to the gods. Since these treasures had been preserved from the very earliest years of Rome’s existence, the sale demonstrated, as Appian says, both ‘how limited were Rome’s resources at this time, and how unlimited Roman ambition’. 1 A very considerable army of six legions had been raised from these funds, and was waiting at Nola in Campania for a commander. This commander was presumably going to be Sulla who had been rewarded with the consulship for his outstanding performance against the Italian rebels in the preceding years, and who was in any case an obvious choice as he had campaigned in Asia Minor successfully in the past.
    However, Rome’s veteran commander, Marius, had long had an eye on the possibility of war in Asia Minor, and was desperately keen on getting the command for himself, despite the fact that he was going on seventy years old. Oblivious to the embarrassment it caused fellow Romans, he insisted on doing military exercises on the Campus Martius as a none-too-subtle hint that he was still up for the job. It did not help that he was frantically jealous of Sulla, and the supporters of each had nearly come to blows shortly before the Italian rebellion.
    Marius found an ally in Sulpicius Rufus, tribune and unofficial leader ofthose Italians who had made their peace with Rome. Sulpicius Rufus had a radical legislative programme that he wanted to push through despite a senate which opposed radical legislative programmes on principle. The political support of Marius, an ex-consul and a man who had proposed a number of sensible reforms when himself a tribune, went a long way toward reconciling the equestrians (those Romans of aristocratic rank who were not senators) to Sulpicius’ proposals. In return, Marius demanded that Sulpicius call an extraordinary meeting of the people, and transfer command of the war against Mithridates to himself. The move was not quite unconstitutional, for Rome was a democracy, and the will of the people trumped that of the senate. However, it was almost unprecedented that a senatorial appointment should be over-ruled in this way, not least because it would replace an eminently suitable candidate for the job with one less so.
    Sulla and his fellow consul responded, as they were entitled to do, by declaring a suspension of public business, which meant that Sulpicius could not immediately go ahead with his proposals. This gave Sulla and his allies a chance of talking the people round before they voted, and Sulpicius was determined to have none of it. He raised a riot (in which the son of Sulla’s fellow consul was killed) and brought about the lifting of the suspension of public business by force majeure . Sulla fled to his army and Sulpicius proceeded to push his proposals through, including the replacement of Sulla with Marius as commander of the war against Mithridates.
    It was the glory and the tragedy of the Roman people that they possessed no reverse gear. Just as backing down against a foreign enemy was inconceivable, so it never seems to have occurred to Sulla to accept the fait accompli . He was a consul of Rome who had been driven out of the city by a violent and subversive mob. It was his intention - nay, his duty - to return