Editing Sulla (section)

=== Cimbrian War (104–101 BC) ===
{{Main|Cimbrian War}}
[[File:Mario vincitore dei Cimbri.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Marius as victor over the invading [[Cimbri]]. ]]

In 104&nbsp;BC, the [[Cimbri]] and the [[Teutones]], two Germanic tribes who had bested the Roman legions on several occasions, seemed again to be heading for Italy. Marius, in the midst of this military crisis, sought and won repeated consulships, which upset aristocrats in the Senate; it is likely however that they acknowledged the indispensability of Marius' military capabilities in defeating the Germanic invaders.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=23}} Amid a reorganisation of political alliances, the traditionalists in the Senate raised up Sulla – a patrician, even if a poor one – as a counterweight against the newcomer Marius.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=24}}

Starting in 104&nbsp;BC, Marius moved to reform the defeated Roman armies in southern Gaul. Sulla then served as legate under his former commander and, in that stead, successfully subdued a Gallic tribe which revolted in the aftermath of a previous Roman defeat.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=25}} The next year, Sulla was elected [[military tribune]] and served under Marius,{{sfn|Broughton|1951|p=564}} and assigned to treat with the Marsi, part of the Germanic invaders, he was able to negotiate their defection from the Cimbri and Teutones.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}} His prospects for advancement under Marius being stalled, however, Sulla started to complain "most unfairly" that Marius was withholding opportunities from him. Demanding transfer to Catulus' (Marius' consular colleague) army, he received it.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}}

In 102&nbsp;BC, the invaders returned and moved to force the Alps. Catulus, with Sulla, moved to block their advance; the two men likely cooperated well.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}} But Catulus' army was defeated in the eastern Alps and withdrew from Venetia and thence to the southern side of the [[river Po]]. At the same time, Marius had annihilated the Cimbri's allies, the Teutones, at the [[Battle of Aquae Sextiae]]. Marius, elected again to the consulship of 101, came to Catulus' aid; Sulla, in charge of supporting army provisioning, did so competently and was able to feed both armies. The two armies then crossed the Po and attacked the Cimbri.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=27}} After the failure of negotiations, the Romans and Cimbri engaged in the [[Battle of the Raudian Field]] in which the Cimbri were routed and destroyed.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=27–28}}

Victorious, Marius and Catulus were both granted [[Roman triumph|triumphs]] as the commanding generals.{{sfn|Broughton|1951|pp=570–572}} Refusing to stand for an aedileship (which, due to its involvement in hosting public games, was extremely expensive), Sulla became a candidate for the praetorship in 99&nbsp;BC. He was, however, defeated. In memoirs related via Plutarch, he claimed this was because the people demanded that he first stand for the aedilate so – due to his friendship with Bocchus, a rich foreign monarch, – he might spend money on games.{{sfnm|Tatum|2003|1p=206, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Sull.''|loc=5.1}}|Keaveney|2005|2pp=28–29}} Whether this story of Sulla's defeat is true is unclear.{{sfn|Tatum|2003|p=206, calling it "revisionary nonsense"}} Regardless, Sulla stood for the praetorship again the next year and, promising he would pay for good shows, was elected praetor for 97&nbsp;BC; he was assigned by lot to the urban praetorship.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=28–29}}