This news of the change in command would have been impossible to contain. Restless shockwaves rippled through the camps at Nola. What happened next? Was Sulla still their commander? Were they still going east? Then the notice went around that Sulla planned to address his troops. Throughout Roman history, generals had addressed their troops only to discuss military business—usually matters of pay, discipline, and strategy. Now for the first time, a Roman general delivered a political speech to his men. Sulla described what had happened back in Rome, told them about his maltreatment at the hands of Marius and Sulpicius, and then revealed the latest outrage: he had been stripped of the eastern command. The soldiers were outraged—not only at the treatment of their chief, but also out of fear that they would be left behind. Marius had his own vast recruiting network of veterans, friends, and clients to draw on. The troops under Sulla’s command were likely to be left in Italy and miss out on the riches they had already spent in their minds.30
Believing he had successfully euthanized Sulla’s political career, Marius began the process of taking over the legions and sent two military tribunes to Nola with orders to remove Sulla from command. These two guys—whose names are unrecorded—became unfortunate early casualties of the Civil War. Assuming command of the army was supposed to be a matter of routine paperwork, but when the two officers arrived they were seized by Sulla’s inflamed legions and stoned to death.31
With his men ready to follow him anywhere, Sulla took a conference with his senior officers and made his audacious proposal. If Sulpicius and Marius were going to run roughshod over consular authority, then they were going to have to live with the consequences. Sulla told them he was going to lead his six legions back to Rome. Almost to a man his officers refused to participate in any such march. Never before had a Roman general marched legionaries against Rome itself. So left with only a quaestor and some centurions, Sulla led his legions onto the Via Appia and began a slow march on Rome.32
SULLA WAS NOT in any great hurry. He hoped the very fact of his approach would have the intended effect of forcing Marius and Sulpicius to back down. Unlike Marius, whose entire career was built on careful planning, Sulla was likely improvising each step and trusting himself to the goddess Fortuna. He later said, “Of the undertakings which men thought well-advised, those upon which he had boldly ventured, not after deliberation, but on the spur of the moment, turned out for the better.” For now it was enough that his army was moving toward Rome—what he would do when he got there was anyone’s guess. Including Sulla himself.33
Sulla’s march triggered a flurry of activity in Rome. Sulpicius used his own considerable powers as tribune, combined with Marius’s new military authority, to seize control of the situation. Partisans of Sulla were identified and assassinated, while the Senate was cowed into submission by Sulpicius’s Anti-Senate. Those who managed to dodge the assassins, including the consul Pompeius, slipped out of Rome for the safety of Sulla’s army. On the other side, many soldiers—either for personal or patriotic reasons—refused to help Sulla conquer Rome. They deserted the march and raced ahead to Rome. This created a whirlwind of movement, as families coming to and from Rome jammed the streets, both sides carrying exaggerated rumors and reports about the situation in the old camp. Marius is murdering everyone! Sulla wants to raze Rome! Needless to say, it was not a time for careful contemplation.34
The old guard in the Senate found themselves adrift in this chaotic storm. Certainly not friends with Marius and Sulpicius, they were now equally horrified that Sulla was marching six legions against Rome. So a moderate faction of senators attempted to find a way to broker a peace. They dispatched two praetors to Sulla’s approaching army, but with both linked to the Marians, Sulla scoffed at their demands. The praetors themselves were then severely maltreated. Though they got out alive, Sulla’s men smashed their symbols of office and tore off their togas. They returned to the Senate in a pitiful state. The Senate then sent another group of envoys who asked Sulla why he was marching his army against his own country, to which Sulla responded: “To deliver her from tyrants.”35
When Sulla arrived at the outskirts of Rome he invited the Senate to further talks. The Senate’s representatives revealed that they had already decreed Sulla be given his command back. But everyone knew their decree was useless if Sulpicius controlled the Assembly. To bridge the impasse, Sulla said he was prepared to meet Marius and Sulpicius out on the Campus Martius and would pitch camp until a summit could be arranged.36
