Both sides suspended war operations over the particularly harsh winter of 83–82. When the spring of 82 arrived it brought with it the first anniversary of the Civil War. It is important to remember that despite what Sulla might tell you, he did not just land in Brundisium, march on Rome, and take it. There was a prolonged fight for the hearts, minds, and swords of Italy. Even now, after a year of conflict, the end result was still in doubt.30
With the dawn of the campaign of 82, the old Cinnan strategy to control armies and supplies in Gaul, Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Macedonia had come to naught, and the remaining anti-Sullan partisans were now hunkered in a final defensive crouch in northwest Italy. Carbo returned to the north to defend Etruria, Umbria, and Cisalpine Gaul from encroachment by Pompey. Meanwhile, Marius the Younger led eight legions down to Campania to face off against Sulla—proof enough against later Sullan propaganda that Italy simply melted into his hands the minute he arrived.31
With Marius on the way, Sulla advanced, forcing Marius to withdraw to an unknown site identified only as “Sacriportus.” Sulla ordered his men to pursue Marius, but after a chase lasting all day, Sulla’s legates convinced their general to order a halt and break camp for the night. Sulla reluctantly agreed. But just as his men were setting themselves to the task, Marius the Younger showed a little initiative: rather than sitting back on his heels waiting to be cornered, he ordered his men to attack Sulla’s legions as they pitched camp. It wasn’t a bad plan necessarily, but Sulla’s tired soldiers were enraged they were being forced to drop their shovel and pick up their swords. Carried by this rage, they rallied and sent Marius’s legions careening backward toward the city Praeneste (modern Palestrina).32
The citizens of Praeneste hated Sulla and were prepared to receive Marius, but not at fatal risk to themselves. With Sulla’s army on the way, the Praenestians refused to dismantle their fortifications and open the gates. Marius and a small group of officers were hoisted into the city by a rope and sling, but the vast majority of his men were left behind in the dusty plain at the base of the wall. When Sulla’s legions appeared, they commenced a bloody slaughter. As Marius the Younger watched from the ramparts, his men were pinned against the wall and attacked mercilessly. Only after a suitable venting of blood to satisfy their rage did Sulla’s troops allow the survivors to surrender.33
When Sulla himself arrived, he displayed calculated cruelty. He ordered the survivors rounded up and all captured Samnites herded off to one side. Once disarmed and surrounded, the Samnites were slaughtered upon Sulla’s orders. He then ordered his troops to begin a siege of Praeneste. By trapping Marius, Sulla could now survey all of southern Italy; he spied no enemy army standing between him and Rome. He decided it was finally time to go home.34
BACK IN ROME, the defeat of Marius the Younger cloaked the city in dread. Most of the Sullan partisans had long since departed the city, leaving behind only Sulla’s enemies or neutral leaders who still hoped to broker a peace. In this latter group were a small collection of prominent senators who had never been “Marian” or “Cinnan,” but who had remained in Rome for the duration of their regime. With Rome all but indefensible, Marius the Younger sent instructions for all remaining anti-Sullan partisans to vacate the city and join Carbo for a last stand in Etruria. But he also sent a list of men to be dealt with before the evacuation.35
With this list in hand one of the praetors convened the Senate under false pretenses and, as soon as everyone was inside, let loose a pack of assassins. Two senators were killed immediately, including Carbo’s cousin, who was now suspected of being in league with the Sullans. Another senator tried to run but was tackled at the door of the Senate house and stabbed to death. The big name on the list, though, nearly got away. Publius Mucius Scaevola was among the last of the old generation of optimates. A friend of Scaurus, Crassus, and Antonius, Scaevola had been present at Crassus’s house for the fateful discussion of the orators on the eve of the Social War. Scaevola had remained in Rome after Cinna captured the city, and was given a wide latitude as a potential ally to be cultivated. Now marked for death, Scaevola escaped the killing in the Senate house and sought shelter inside the Temple of Vesta. The temple was a sacred sanctuary, but the assassins barged in, located Scaevola, and murdered him. The bodies of the dead, as usual, were dumped in the Tiber.36
