| Battle: Mt Tifata | Cornelius (32) Sulla/Norbanus (1) | 11.83 |
| Siege: Capua | v. Cornelius (32) Sulla (failed) | 83/2 |
| Battle: Aesis River | Caecilius (11) Metellus/Carrinas | 03.82 |
| Battle: Sacriportus | Cornelius (32) Sulla/Marius (4) | 04.82 |
| Siege: Praeneste | v. Lucretius (2) Ofella (succeeded) | 82 |
| Battle: Sena Gallica | Pompeius (5)/Marcius (10) | 04.82 |
| Battle: Glanis River | Cornelius (32) Sulla/Papirius (8) | 82 |
| Battle: Saturnia | Cornelius (32)/Papirius (8) Carbo | 82 |
| Battle: Clusium | Cornelius (32)/Papirius (8) | 06.82 |
| Battle: Spoletium | Licinius (13)+Pompeius (5)/Carrinas | 82 |
| Battle: Faventia | Caecilius (11)/Norbanus (1) | 09.82 |
| Battle: Placentia | Terentius (4) Varro/Lucius Quincius | 09.82 |
| Battle: Colline Gate | Cornelius (32) Sulla/Pontius (3) | 11.82 |
After 33Cornelius Cinna’s occupation of Rome, 11Caecilius Metellus abandoned Rome and headed for North Africa. By early 86 BC Metellus was raising an army from his private clients, with the intention of joining Sulla. In 84 BC Metellus was driven out by the Marian governor 14Fabius Hadrianus and by late 84 or early 83 BC he was back in Italy.
In spring 83 BC Sulla with forty thousand troops sailed to Brundisium in Apulia and the town surrendered. He was soon joined by Metellus and then avoiding Samnite territory crossed the Apennines into Campania. At Mt Tifata he met an army of the popular party under the consul Norbanus (1), whom he defeated and drove into Capua. Probably leaving a force to watch him, Sulla moved on towards Rome and met Norbanus’ colleague 35Cornelius Scipio at Teanum. While they discussed peace terms Sulla’s troops fraternised with the enemy and Scipio’s entire army went soon over to Sulla.
Sulla returned to Capua and after failing to draw Norbanus into negotiations, set up winter quarters in Central Italy. During the winter Sulla assured the peoples of Italy (except the Samnites) that he would leave untouched their citizenship and voting rights, thereby eliminating an incentive to fight him.
There was no serious fighting in Italy during the winter, but in Africa the Marian propraetor Fabius (14) was killed during an uprising, and on Sardinia the Marian praetor 02Antonius Balbus was killed by the pro-Sullan 09Marcius Philippus. In Picenum where his family estates were located, the pro-Sullan Gnaeus 05Pompeius Magnus (=Pompey), son of 03Pompeius Strabo, raised an illegal army of about eighteen thousand men. His officers included three men who were to serve him well: Lucius Afranius (fl.75-46 BC), Aulus Gabinius (2) (fl.67-48 BC) and Titus Labienus (1) (c.55; fl.63-45 BC).
In 82 BC Sulla sent Metellus to confront the consul 08Papirius Carbo who was based at Clusium in Etruria, where the Marian cause was strongly supported. Metellus was joined by Pompey and together near the Aesis or Asio (=Esino) River, inland from Ancona in Marche, they met a loyalist army led by Carbo’s officer Carrinas. After a battle that lasted several hours, the whole district went over to the Sullan side.
In the south the consul 04Marius the Younger (c.27; fl.88-82 BC), son of Marius (1), was guarding Rome. In the vicinity of Sacriportus he was defeated by Sulla and fled to the strongly defended town of Praeneste east of Rome. Sulla put the city under siege and leaving 02Lucretius Ofella in charge continued his northward march towards Rome.
Marius sent orders to Rome to kill his personal enemies before Sulla could prevent it from happening. 09Junius Brutus Damasippus, after killing 04Mucius Scaevola and others, made an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Marius at Praeneste.
When Sulla reached Rome, the frightened populace opened the gates. After installing a garrison Sulla marched for Etruria, where Carbo had put Metellus under siege and was preventing his further progress. When Carbo heard the bad news from the south he retreated to Ariminum in coastal Umbria.
Renewing his advance, Metellus defeated another of Carbo’s officers 10Marcius Censorinus, whose retreating troops were again defeated and their base destroyed when they were overtaken near Sena Gallica by the cavalry led by Pompey.
Carbo had received Celtiberian cavalry reinforcements from Spain but during a battle at the Glanis River some of them defected to Sulla; Carbo, doubting their loyalty, killed the rest. Sulla then overcame an enemy detachment at Saturnia, and Metellus sailed around the heavily fortified town of Ariminum and established himself at Ravenna.
Sulla continued his advance on Clusium where Carbo was rallying his troops. Not far from the city a battle was joined, which lasted all day until the armies separated at nightfall. Sulla now heard that Ofella was being threatened by a force of Samnites and Lucanians who had decided to back the Cinnans. Sulla placed Pompey in overall command in the north and hurried south.
When Publius 10Licinius Crassus died in 87 BC, his son Marcus 13Licinius Crassus (=Crassus; c.62; 86-53 BC) fled to Spain. After Cinna’s death in 84 BC Crassus returned to Italy, met with Pompey in Umbria and together they defeated Carrinas at Spoletium and besieged the town. During his march southwards Sulla defeated a force sent by Carbo to help Carrinas at Spoletium. Upon his arrival at Praeneste he took up a position that intercepted the route of the relieving army.
In the north Carbo and Norbanus advanced to attack Metellus near Faventia near nightfall. In the darkness their soldiers became entangled in a vineyard and presented an easy target to Metellus who slaughtered a great number of them. The now familiar spectacle of desertion followed when a legion of Lucanians went over to Metellus. Their chief, Tullius 02Albinovanus, invited Norbanus’ officers to a banquet, treacherously murdered them all and then fled to Sulla. Norbanus, who had been invited to the banquet but had wisely stayed away, despairing of his cause, sailed off to find refuge in Rhodes.
In September Metellus’ legate 04Terentius Varro (c.60; fl.83-56 BC) had to retreat into Placentia; but after Metellus defeated Norbanus, Lucullus broke the siege and defeated a detachment left behind under Carbo’s legate Lucius Quincius. Gallia Cisalpina now surrendered to the Sullans and Carbo, abandoning his still large army, fled to Africa.
Carrinas, Damasippus and Censorinus headed south to join their Italian allies in a final attempt on Sulla’s position. When this failed they decided to march on Rome. In November led by the Samnite leader 03Pontius Telesinus they encamped outside the Colline Gate at the north end of the Servian Wall, threatening but not entering Rome and thus drawing Sulla away from Praeneste to a fight on level ground.
Sulla arrived about noon and decided to attack immediately. In the battle that followed, Sulla himself with the west wing was defeated; but Crassus on the other wing fought on into the night and won the battle. The Samnites and Lucanians not killed in battle were brought to the Villa Publica in the Campus Martius, but three days later Sulla sent in soldiers and massacred them all. The younger Marius, hearing the news at Praeneste, killed himself. The siege of Praeneste by Ofella ended with a massacre of the inhabitants.
It took Sulla two more years to subdue the handful of towns within Italy that still resisted him (Nola held out until 80 BC, and Volaterrae withstood a two years’ siege), but a more serious threat was the continued resistance of Marians in Sicily, Africa and Spain. Sulla sent Pompey to recover Sicily where Carbo had joined forces with the governor, 02Perperna Vento. Though Perperna escaped to Spain, Carbo was captured and killed. The Senate then ordered Pompey to Africa, where Hiarbas (r.84-82 BC), the king of Numidia, was assisting the Marian forces led by 04Domitius Ahenobarbus. In a forty-day campaign Pompey defeated his enemies, put Ahenobarbus to death and restored Hiempsal II (46; r.88*60 BC) to the Numidian throne.
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