Editing Julius Caesar (section)

=== Life under Sulla and military service ===
[[File:Q. Pompeius Rufus, denarius, 54 BC, RRC 434-1 (Sulla only).jpg|thumb|Sulla, depicted on a coin minted by [[Quintus Pompeius Rufus (grandson of Sulla)|Quintus Pompeius Rufus]] in 54&nbsp;BC. Sulla took the city in 82&nbsp;BC, purged his political enemies, and instituted [[Constitutional reforms of Sulla|new constitutional reforms]].]]

Caesar's father did not seek a consulship during the domination of [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna]] and instead chose retirement.{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=16}} During Cinna's dominance, Caesar was named as ''[[flamen Dialis]]'' (a priest of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]) which led to his marriage to Cinna's daughter, [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]]. The religious taboos of the priesthood would have forced Caesar to forgo a political career; the appointment – one of the highest non-political honours – indicates that there were few expectations of a major career for Caesar.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=16|ps=. Badian cites {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=1.2}} arguing that Caesar was actually appointed; because a divorced man could not be ''flamen Dialis'', the assertion that Caesar married one Cossutia then divorced her to marry Cornelia and become ''flamen'' in {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=5.3}} is incorrect.}}</ref> In early 84&nbsp;BC, Caesar's father died suddenly.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=34}} After [[Sulla]]'s victory in the [[Sulla's civil war|civil war]] (82&nbsp;BC), Cinna's ''acta'' were annulled. Sulla consequently ordered Caesar to abdicate and divorce Cinna's daughter. Caesar refused, implicitly questioning the legitimacy of Sulla's annulment. Sulla may have put Caesar on the [[Proscription of Sulla|proscription lists]], though scholars are mixed.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|pp=16–17}}, stating Caesar was placed on the lists. Cf, stating Caesar was only summoned for interrogation, {{cite book |last=Hinard |first=François |title=Les proscriptions de la Rome républicaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3UaAAAAIAAJ |publisher=Ecole française de Rome |date=1985 |pages=64 |isbn=978-2-7283-0094-5 |oclc=1006100534 |language=fr}}</ref> Caesar then went into hiding before his relatives and contacts among the [[Vestal Virgins]] were able to intercede on his behalf.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|pp=16–17|ps=, also rejecting claims that Caesar hid by bribing his pursuers: "this is an example of how the [Caesar myth] pervades our accounts and makes it difficult to get at the facts... [that he bribed his pursuers] cannot be true, since confiscation of his fortune went with his proscription".}}</ref> They then reached a compromise where Caesar would resign his priesthood but keep his wife and chattels; Sulla's alleged remark he saw "in [Caesar] many Mariuses"<ref>{{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=1.4}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=1.3}}.</ref> is apocryphal.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=17|ps=, noting also that Sulla never killed any fellow patricians.}}</ref>

[[File:Augustus Bevilacqua Glyptothek Munich 317.jpg|thumb|Bust, from the imperial period, of a man – in this case [[Augustus]] – wearing the [[civic crown]] ({{langx|la|corona civica}}). Caesar won the civic crown for his bravery at the [[Siege of Mytilene (81 BC)|Siege of Mytilene]] in 81&nbsp;BC.]]

Caesar then left Italy to serve in the staff of the governor of Asia, [[Marcus Minucius Thermus]]. While there, he travelled to Bithynia to collect naval reinforcements and stayed some time as a guest of the king, [[Nicomedes IV of Bithynia|Nicomedes IV]], though [[Queen of Bithynia|later invective]] connected Caesar to a homosexual relation with the monarch.{{sfn|Badian|2009|pp=17–18}}<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=2–3}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=2–3}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=43.20}}.</ref> He then served at the [[Siege of Mytilene (81 BC)|Siege of Mytilene]] where he won the [[civic crown]] for saving the life of a fellow citizen in battle. The privileges of the crown – the Senate was supposed to stand on a holder's entrance and holders were permitted to wear the crown at public occasions – whetted Caesar's appetite for honours. After the capture of Mytilene, Caesar transferred to the staff of [[Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus|Publius Servilius Vatia]] in Cilicia before learning of Sulla's death in 78&nbsp;BC and returning home immediately.{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=17}} He was alleged to have wanted to join in on the consul [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)|Lepidus]]' revolt that year<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=18}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=3}}.</ref> but this is likely literary embellishment of Caesar's desire for tyranny from a young age.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=35}}

Afterward, Caesar attacked some of the Sullan aristocracy in the courts but was unsuccessful in his attempted prosecution of [[Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella]] in 77&nbsp;BC, who had recently returned from a proconsulship in Macedonia. Going after a less well-connected senator, he was successful the next year in prosecuting [[Gaius Antonius Hybrida]] (later consul in 63&nbsp;BC) for profiteering from the proscriptions but was forestalled when a tribune interceded on Antonius' behalf.<ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|1990|p=71}} (Trial 140) noting also that Tac. ''Dial.'', 34.7 wrongly places the trial in 79&nbsp;BC; {{harvnb|Alexander|1990|pp=71–72}} (Trial 141).</ref> After these oratorical attempts, Caesar left Rome for Rhodes seeking the tutelage of the rhetorician [[Apollonius Molon]].{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=18}} While travelling, he was intercepted and ransomed by pirates in a story that was later much embellished. According to Plutarch and Suetonius, he was freed after paying a ransom of fifty [[Talent (measurement)|talent]]s and responded by returning with a fleet to capture and execute the pirates. The recorded sum for the ransom is literary embellishment and it is more likely that the pirates were sold into slavery per [[Velleius Paterculus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pelling |first=C B R |title=Plutarch: Caesar |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814904-0 |location=Oxford |oclc=772240772 |pages=139–41}} {{harvnb|Vell. Pat.|loc=2.42.3}} reports that the governor wanted to enslave and sell the pirates but that Caesar returned quickly and had them executed. Pelling believes the second part of Vell. Pat.'s narrative – along with other sources ({{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=1.8–2.7}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=4}}) – are literary embellishment and that the pirates were enslaved and sold.</ref> His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the [[Third Mithridatic War]] over the winter of 75 and 74&nbsp;BC; Caesar is alleged to have gone around collecting troops in the province at the locals' expense and leading them successfully against Mithridates' forces.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=19|ps=, calling the story in {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=4.2}} that Caesar called up auxiliaries and with them drove Mithridates' prefect from the province of Asia, "a striking example of the Caesar myth... [that is] difficult to believe".}}</ref>