r. Marius fled.

[Illustration: SULLA from a coin]

Of the sudden rise of Sulla, Plutarch gives the following account:

_Sulla Felix_

In the long Social War, with all its vicissitudes and disasters,
and dangers that threatened the safety of Rome, Marius could
achieve nothing great, and merely proved that military excellence
demands physical strength and vigour, while Sulla by many notable
victories gained the reputation of a great general with the
people, of the greatest of generals with his friends, and of the
most fortunate with his enemies. Yet he was not sensitive about
this last judgement as Timotheus the son of Conon was; for when
his enemies attributed all his successes to fortune, and painted
pictures in which he was represented asleep with Fortune casting a
net over the cities, Timotheus was rude to them and angry, feeling
that they deprived him of the credit due to his deeds. Sulla, on
the other hand, not only accepted without annoyance the 'felicity'
thus assigned to him, but even magnifying it and recognizing it as
divine, he made fortune responsible for his exploits, either in a
spirit of ostentation or from a genuine belief in providential
guidance. For example, he has written in his memoirs that of all
his decisions which were justified by results the happiest were
not reached by deliberation, but adopted in the hurry of the
moment. Moreover, when he says that he was born for fortune rather
than for war, he seems to have more respect for fortune than for
merit and to accept the control of an unseen power; insomuch that
he makes a divine good luck the cause of his harmony with
Metellus, his kinsman and colleague in the consulship; for he
expected to have much trouble with him, but found him a most
agreeable partner in office. Again, in the memoirs, which he has
dedicated to Lucullus, he bids him place most reliance on any
warning given him by a vision in the night. He tells us, too, that
when he was leaving the city with an army to fight in the Social
War, the earth opened near Laverna and a great fire gushed out,
shooting up a bright flame to the sky. The prophets interpreted
this to mean that a man of genius, who was of unusual and
remarkable appearance, would take the command and free the country
from its present disorders. Sulla declares that he was the man;
for his golden hair was the peculiarity in his appearance, and h