He seized my property, deprived me of my priesthood,[125] finally let loose his pack of assassins upon me.

I almost became their victim.

But my uncle, Aurelius Cotta, and some good friends of mine among the Vestal Virgins pleaded my cause.

I escaped.

Sulla said he was over-persuaded in sparing me; 'In me were many Mariuses.' But did I regret the loss, the danger, the check for the time being to my career?
Quintus Drusus, I counted them as of little importance, not to be weighed beside the pure love that mastered me.