That night the watchfires of the legions blazed in the great market-place of the capital.
First Sullan Restoration Death of Sulpicius Flight of Marius The first military intervention in civil feuds had made it quite evident, not only that the political struggles had reached the point at which nothing save open and direct force proves decisive, but also that the power of the bludgeon was of no avail against the power of the sword.

It was the conservative party which first drew the sword, and which accordingly in due time experienced the truth of the ominous words of the Gospel as to those who first have recourse to it.

For the present it triumphed completely and might put the victory into formal shape at its pleasure.

As a matter of course, the Sulpician laws were characterized as legally null.

Their author and his most notable adherents had fled; they were, twelve in number, proscribed by the senate for arrest and execution as enemies of their country.