March on Rome (88 BC)

The March on Rome of 88 BC was a coup d'état in the Roman Republic by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a consul, who seized power against his enemies Marius and Sulpicius who had previously ousted him from Rome. It was the first time in Roman history that a general ordered his army to march against the Republic.

In 88 BC, Sulla was elected consul and given the command of the war against the king of Pontus Mithridates, who had recently invaded the Roman province of Asia. The same year, Sulla and his colleague Quintus Pompeius Rufus opposed the attempt of the tribune of the plebs Publius Sulpicius to enrol the Italians who received the Roman citizenship at the end of the Social War (91–87 BC). To bypass the consuls' opposition, Sulpicius sought the support of the popular Gaius Marius, who had already been consul six times. Marius demanded for his help that Sulpicius pass a law transferring Sulla's command to him. Using armed gangs to intimidate the tribal assembly, Sulpicius removed Pompeius' consulship and forced Sulla to flee from Rome, after which he enrolled the Italians and gave the Mithridatic command to Marius.

Meanwhile, Sulla had returned to the legions he had assembled for the expedition against Mithridates. He convinced his soldiers to follow him in an operation against Marius and Sulpicius. Joined by Pompeius, Sulla marched against Rome and easily defeated the militia recruited by his enemies. Sulla immediately passed a law declaring Sulpicius, Marius, and ten other leaders, as public enemies, therefore encouraging their murder. Only Sulpicius was caught, Marius and the others could escape to Africa and Spain. With Rome secured, Sulla started an overhaul of the Roman constitution according to his firm conservative beliefs. He passed several laws that weakened the powers of the tribunes of the plebs, while enhancing those of the curule magistrates and the senate, whose membership was also doubled.

Sulla's settlement was nevertheless short-lived. First, his candidates lost the elections for 87 BC. Then, as soon as he left to fight Mithridates, his enemies coalesced around the consul for 87 BC Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who likewise marched on Rome against the other consul during the Bellum Octavianum. Cinna recalled the outlaws, including Marius, then cancelled all Sulla's laws and assumed Sulpicius' program. The inevitable confrontation between the two factions took place in 83 BC, when Sulla came back from the East, in a civil war, won by Sulla, who thereafter became dictator and re-enacted his previous laws.