Capture of Rome by Marius and Cinna

After Sulla left Italy to campaign against Mithridates, the consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna was expelled from Rome during conflict over citizenship and political control. He raised forces in Italy and joined the exiled Gaius Marius, while troops loyal to the consul Gnaeus Octavius defended the capital.

Cinna and Marius blockaded and captured Rome in 87 BC. Octavius was killed and a number of prominent opponents were executed or murdered during the subsequent reprisals. Marius entered his seventh consulship but died shortly afterwards, leaving Cinna dominant until Sulla’s return.

Wolf at the Gates follows Quintus Sertorius through exile, recruitment and the march back towards Rome. The event supports fiction about divided families, military loyalty, siege conditions, revenge and the difficulty of claiming to restore a republic while using the methods of civil war.