With Norbanus now cooped up behind the walls of Capua, Asiaticus approached Sulla from the north. But where Sulla’s men had just proved their invincible loyalty, Asiaticus’s men were getting mighty ambivalent about following the consul into battle. Sulla’s promise to respect Italian citizenship had already made the rounds, and this, combined with word of Sulla’s victory at Tifata, made fighting seem as pointless as it was dangerous. Asiaticus was aware that the commitment of his men was wavering, so after camping a short distance from Sulla’s army, Asiaticus proposed negotiations. Sulla naturally agreed, and the two leaders declared a cease-fire and exchanged hostages. Then each designated three men to carry the negotiation: Asiaticus was almost certainly accompanied by his chief legate Sertorius, while Metellus Pius accompanied Sulla.20
Ostensibly the talks were supposed to settle the political dispute and avoid open war. But Sulla’s negotiators entered talks “not because they hoped or desired to come to an agreement, but because they expected to create dissensions in Asiaticus’s army, which was in a state of dejection.” While he stalled in the negotiating tent, Sulla sent his men to mingle with the soldiers in Asiaticus’s camp to spread the word that Sulla was great, his promises would be kept, that this was really only about settling business with a few personal enemies. Sulla was the enemy of neither Rome nor Italy. Sulla’s troops also recalled that Norbanus’s army had just been trounced. Not without cause, Asiaticus’s men fell under the seductive influence of Sulla’s veterans.21
Sertortius disapproved of letting the men anywhere near each other and likely divined Sulla’s real intentions. So when Asiaticus dispatched Sertortius to inform Norbanus of the developing talks and solicit his colleague’s opinion, Sertorius made a calculated detour on the way to Capua. The town of Suessa had recently declared loyalty to Sulla, but Sertorius entered the town and occupied it by force—a clear violation of the cease-fire. When Sulla found out about the breach of peace, he declared an end to negotiations. Both sides retuned their hostages and prepared for battle—just as Sertorius likely intended.22
But by then it was too late. After the breakdown of negotiations, Asiaticus ordered his men to prepare for war, but instead they prepared to surrender. When Sulla’s army marched on Asiaticus’s position, Asiaticus’s men dutifully suited up to meet them. But as the two sides lined up on the plains, Sulla gave the signal and Asiaticus’s troops crossed over to the welcome embrace of their new commander. Unable to do anything about this mass defection, Asiaticus was found in his command tent and taken prisoner. Trying to display benevolence with every step, Sulla interviewed Asiaticus and then let the consul go free. When Carbo received word that Sulla had successfully induced the defection of an entire consular army, he said “that in making war upon the fox and the lion in Sulla, he was more annoyed by the fox.”23
Sulla’s newly combined force then turned its attention to Norbanus in Capua. Sulla sent envoys to the other consul requesting talks, but Norbanus was well informed of what had befallen his colleague and sent the envoys away without a response. Norbanus then extracted himself from Capua before Sulla’s legions arrived, and spent the rest of the war trying to avoid contact so his men would not defect.24
The confrontations with Norbanus and Asiaticus marked a turning point in Sulla’s conduct toward his enemies. Until now, he had welcomed all former enemies into his camp and avoided punitive sacking of the countryside. The limits of his magnanimity were now reached with the grand defection of Asiaticus’s army, which clearly demonstrated the gods favored Sulla. Anyone left on the other side was now beyond hope and would be treated as enemies to be exterminated rather than potential allies to be won over.
