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The Roman Revolution
L. Cornelius Sulla
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| Lucius Cornelius Sulla |
Sulla refused to cooperate or to compromise with the Senatorial forces. He made peace with Mithradates in 85, freeing him to pursue his political ambitions. It also freed the Senate to move against him.
The Senate outlawed him in 83, a step that certainly meant civil war. If he submitted to the law, his enemies would at the least exile him if not actually have him executed. This, for Cornelius Sulla, was not an option. It was time to fight or die.
He returned, with his army, to Italy. The Senate raised an army of 100,000, leavened by Marius' veterans. But it was commanded by Senators who lacked real skill, and Sulla was a talented field commander.
Sulla landed unopposed and marched across Italy gaining easy
victories. The real test came under the very walls of Rome. The Senatorial
army met Sulla at the 
Colline Gate in 82 BC and Sulla won a complete
victory.
His cruelty and his calculation can both be seen in his actions in what came next. Once the Senatorial army surrendered, Sulla ordered that all the Marian veterans be killed on the spot. He knew these veterans were the core of any future resistance, and the most efficient way to deal with them was to execute them.
Sulla now stood in something of the position that Marius had in 99. He was at the gates of Rome with an army and no one to oppose him. His actions, however, were quite different.