[116] Publius Sulpicius Rufus was tribune B.C. 88 in the first consulship of Sulla. Cicero had heard many of the speeches of Sulpicius. "He was," says Cicero, "of all the orators that ever I heard, the most dignified, and if one may use the expression, the most tragic: his voice was powerful, sweet, and clear; his gesture and every movement graceful; and yet he seemed as if he were trained for the Forum and not for the stage; his language was rapid and flowery, and yet not redundant or diffuse." (Brutus, c. 55.) Yet this great orator was no writer, and Cicero had heard him say that he was not accustomed to write and could not write. The fact of his inability to write is sufficiently explained by the fact that he did not try. Cicero has made Sulpicius one of the speakers in his Book on the Orator, where (iii. 3) he admits that he was a rash man. (See Penny Cyclopædia, "P. Sulpicius Rufus," by the author of this note; and as to his end, see Sulla, c. 10.)
[117] Baiæ on the north side of the Bay of Naples, and near Puteoli (Pozzuoli), was a favourite residence of the wealthy Romans, who came for pleasure and to use the warm baths. The promontory of Misenum is near Baiæ.
[118] Plutarch means drachmæ. (See Tiberius Gracchus, c. 2.)
[119] The history of this affair is given somewhat more clearly by Appian (Civil Wars, i. 55). Marius gave the Italians who had lately obtained the franchise, hopes that they would be distributed among the other tribes, and thus they would have a preponderance, for they were more numerous than the old citizens. Sulpicius accordingly proposed a law to this effect, which was followed by a great disturbance, upon which the consuls Pompeius and Sulla proclaimed a Justitium such as was usual on festivals. A Justitium signifies a stopping of all legal proceedings: during a Justitium nothing could be done; and the consuls adopted this measure to prevent the proposed law of Sulpicius from being carried. Appian says that Sulpicius carried this law, and the tribes in which the new citizens now had the majority appointed Marius to the command in the war against Mithridates. But Sulla and Pompeius afterwards got all the laws of Sulpicius repealed on the ground of being earned by unconstitutional means. (Appian, Civil Wars, i. 59).
[120] This act is sufficient to stamp Marius with infamy; and it is not the only time that he did it. Octavius, an honest man, refused to arm the slave against his master. (Marius, c. 42). The last British governor of Virginia closed his inglorious career by the same unsuccessful act of cowardice. (November, 1775). "In November Lord Dunmore proclaimed martial law in the colony, and executed his long-threatened plan of giving freedom to all slaves who could bear arms and would flock to his standard. But these measures, though partially annoying, had the effect of irritating and rousing the people rather than breaking their spirit." (Tucker's Life of Jefferson, vol. i. p. 78). Before the middle of the next year Dunmore made his escape from Virginia, after setting fire to the town of Norfolk.
[121] The site of this place is unknown. Cramer (Ancient Italy, ii. 31) says that the place is only mentioned by Dionysius (ii. 37).
[122] Appian calls this Marius the adopted son of Caius Marius.
[123] The port of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber.
[124] Circeii is a promontory which contains a solitary elevation, now Monte Circello. Terracina or Anxur is about twelve miles east of it, and the Pomptine marshes lie between. This tract is now very thinly inhabited, being used for pasturage, and it was apparently in the same state in the time of Marius. Yet this desolate tract where a house is now rarely seen was once full of Latin towns, in the earlier period of Rome.
[125] This is the older Greek poet of the name. It is unknown when he lived, but he belongs to a period earlier than that of authentic history. Aristotle (Hist. of Animals, vi. 5) quotes this line, and in Bekker's edition the last word is ἀλεγίζει, which I have translated. Sintenis reads ἀλυβάζει, and Kaltwasser says that ἀλεγίζει cannot have the meaning which I and others have given to it.