Such was the third civil strife (that of Apuleius) which succeeded those of the two Gracchi, and such the results it brought to the Romans. 34 While they were thus occupied the so‑called Social War, in which many Italian peoples were engaged, broke out. It began unexpectedly, grew rapidly to great proportions and extinguished the Roman sedition for a long time by a new terror. When it was ended it also gave rise to new seditions under more powerful leaders, who did not work by introducing new laws, or by the tricks of the demagogue, but by matching whole armies against each other. I have treated it in this history because it had its origin in the sedition in Rome and resulted in another much worse. It began in this way.

Fulvius Flaccus in his consulship first and foremost openly excited among the Italians the desire for Roman citizenship, so as to be partners in the empire instead of subjects. When he introduced this idea and strenuously persisted in it, the Senate, for that reason, sent him away to take command in a war, in the course of which his consulship expired; but he obtained the tribuneship after that and contrived to have the younger Gracchus for a colleague, with whose co-operation he brought forward other measures in favour of the Italians. When they were both killed, as I have previously related, the Italians were still more excited. They could not bear to be considered subjects instead of equals, or to think that Flaccus and Gracchus should have suffered such calamities while working for their political advantage.

35 After them the tribune Livius Drusus, a man of most illustrious birth, promised the Italians, at their urgent request, that he would bring forward a new law to give them citizenship. They especially desired this because by that one step they would become rulers instead of subjects. In order to conciliate the plebeians to this measure he led out to Italy and Sicily several colonies which had been voted some time before, but not yet planted. He endeavoured to bring together by an agreement the Senate and the equestrian order, who were then in sharp antagonism to each other, in reference to the law courts. As he was not able to restore the courts to the Senate openly, he tried the following artifice to reconcile them. As the senators had been reduced by the seditions to scarcely 300 in number, he brought forward a law that an equal number, chosen according to merit, should be added to their enrolment from the knights, and that the courts of justice should be made up thereafter from the whole number. He added a clause in the law that they should make investigations about bribery, as accusations of that kind were almost unknown, since the custom of bribe-taking prevailed without restraint.

This was the plan that he contrived for both of them, but it turned out contrary to his expectations, for the senators were indignant that so large a number should be added to their enrolment at one time and be transferred from knighthood to the highest rank. They thought it not unlikely that they would form a faction in the Senate by themselves and contend against the old senators more powerfully than ever. The knights, on the other hand, suspected that, by this doctoring, the courts of justice would be transferred from their order to the Senate exclusively. Having acquired a relish for the great gains and power of the judicial office, this suspicion disturbed them. Most of them, too, fell into doubt and distrust toward each other, discussing which of them seemed more worthy than others to be enrolled among the 300; and envy against their betters filled the breasts of the remainder. Above all the knights were angry at the revival of the charge of bribery, which they thought had been ere this entirely suppressed, so far as they were concerned.

36 Thus it came to pass that both the Senate and the knights, although opposed to each other, were united in hating Drusus. Only the plebeians were gratified with the colonies. Even the Italians, in whose especial interest Drusus was devising these plans, were apprehensive about the law providing for the colonies, because they thought that the Roman public domain (which was still undivided and which they were cultivating, some by force and others clandestinely) would at once be taken away from them, and that in many cases they might even be disturbed in their private holdings. The Etruscans and the Umbrians had the same fears as the Italians,​ and when they were summoned to the city, as was thought, by the consuls, for the ostensible purpose of complaining against the law of Drusus, but actually to kill him, they cried down the law publicly and waited for the day of the comitia. Drusus learned of the plot against him and did not go out frequently, but transacted business from day to day in the atrium of his house, which was poorly lighted. One evening as he was sending the crowd away he exclaimed suddenly that he was wounded, and fell down while uttering the words. A shoemaker's knife was found thrust into his hip.

37 Thus was Drusus also slain while serving as tribune. The knights, in order to make his policy a ground of vexatious accusation against their enemies, persuaded the tribune Quintus Varius to bring forward a law to prosecute those who should, either openly or secretly, aid the Italians to acquire citizenship, hoping thus to bring all the senators under an odious indictment, and themselves to sit in judgment on them, and that when they were out of the way they themselves would be more powerful than ever in the government of Rome. When the other tribunes interposed their veto the knights surrounded them with drawn daggers and enacted the measure, whereupon accusers at once brought actions against the most illustrious of the senators. Of these Bestia did not respond, but went into exile voluntarily rather than surrender himself into the hands of his enemies. After him Cotta went before the court, made an impressive defence of his administration of public affairs, and openly reviled the knights. He, too, departed from the city before the vote of the judges was taken. Mummius, the conqueror of Greece, was basely ensnared by the knights, who promised to acquit him, but condemned him to banishment. He passed the remainder of his life at Delos.

38 As this malice against the aristocracy grew more and more, the people were grieved because they were deprived all at once of so many distinguished men who had rendered such great services. When the Italians learned of the murder of Drusus and of the reasons alleged for banishing the others, they considered it no longer tolerable that those who were labouring for their political advancement should suffer such outrages, and as they saw no other means of acquiring citizenship they decided to revolt from the Romans altogether, and to make war against them with might and main. They sent envoys secretly to each other, and formed a league, and exchanged hostages as a pledge of good faith.

The Romans were in ignorance of these facts for a long time, being busy with the trials and the seditions in the city. When they heard what was going on they sent men round to the towns, choosing those who were best acquainted with each, to collect information quietly. One of these agents saw a young man who was being taken as a hostage from the town of Asculum to another town, and informed Servilius, the praetor, who was in those parts. (It appears that there were praetors with consular power at that time governing the various parts of Italy; the emperor Hadrian revived the custom a long time afterward, but it did not long survive him.) Servilius hastened to Asculum and indulged in very menacing language to the people, who were celebrating a festival, and they, supposing that the plot was discovered, put him to death. They also killed Fonteius, his legate (for so they call those of the senatorial order who accompany the governors of provinces as assistants). After these were slain none of the other Romans in Asculum were spared. The inhabitants fell upon them, slaughtered them all, and plundered their goods.

39 When the revolt broke out all the neighbouring peoples declared war at the same time, the Marsi, the Peligni, the Vestini, the Marrucini; and after them the Picentines, the Frentani, the Hirpini, the Pompeiians, the Venusini, the Apulians, the Lucanians, and the Samnites, all of whom had been hostile to the Romans before; also all the rest extending from the river Liris (which is now, I think, the Liternus) to the extremity of the Adriatic gulf, both inland and on the sea coast.​ They sent ambassadors to Rome to complain that although they had co-operated in all ways with the Romans in building up the empire, the latter had not been willing to admit their helpers to citizenship. The Senate answered sternly that if they repented of what they had done they could send ambassadors, otherwise not. The Italians, in despair of any other remedy, went on with their mobilization. Besides the soldiers which were kept for guards at each town, they had forces in common amounting to about 100,000 foot and horse. The Romans sent an equal force against them, made up of their own citizens and of the Italian peoples who were still in alliance with them.

40 The Romans were led by the consuls Sextus Julius Caesar and Publius Rutilius Lupus, for in this great civil war both consuls marched forth at once, leaving the gates and walls in charge of others, as was customary in cases of danger arising at home and very near by. When the war was found to be complex and many-sided, they sent their most renowned men as lieutenant-generals to aid the consuls: to Rutilius, Gnaeus Pompeius, the father of Pompey the Great, Quintus Caepio, Gaius Perpenna, Gaius Marius, and Valerius Messala; to Sextus Caesar, Publius Lentulus, a brother of Caesar himself, as well as Titus Didius, Licinius Crassus, Cornelius Sulla, and Marcellus. All these served under the consuls and the country was divided among them. The consuls visited all parts of the field of operations, and the Romans sent them additional forces continually, realizing that it was a serious conflict. The Italians had generals for their united forces besides those of the separate towns. The chief commanders were Titus Lafrenius, Gaius Pontilius, Marius Egnatius, Quintus Pompaedius, Gaius Papius, Marcus Lamponius, Gaius Vidacilius, Herius Asinius, and Vettius Scaton. They divided their army in equal parts, took their positions against the Roman generals, performed many notable exploits, and suffered many disasters. The most memorable events of either kind I shall here summarize.

41 Vettius Scaton defeated Sextus Julius, killed 200 of his men, and marched against Aesernia, which adhered to Rome. L. Scipio and L. Acilius, who were in command here, escaped in the disguise of slaves. The enemy, after a considerable time, reduced it by famine. Marius Egnatius captured Venafrum by treachery and slew two Roman cohorts there. Publius Presentaeus defeated Perpenna, who had 10,000 men under his command, killed 4000 and captured the arms of the greater part of the others, for which reason the consul Rutilius deprived Perpenna of his command and gave his division of the army to Gaius Marius. Marcus Lamponius destroyed some 800 of the forces under Licinius Crassus and drove the remainder into the town of Grumentum.

42 Gaius Papius captured Nola by treachery and offered to the 2000 Roman soldiers in it the privilege of serving under him if they would change their allegiance. They did so, but their officers refusing the proposal were taken prisoners and starved to death by Papius. He also captured Stabiae,º Minervium​ and Salernum, which was a Roman colony. The prisoners and the slaves from these places were taken into the military service. But when he also plundered the entire country around Nuceria, the towns in the vicinity were struck with terror and submitted to him, and when he demanded military assistance they furnished him about 10,000 foot and 1000 horse. With these Papius laid siege to Acerrae. When Sextus Caesar, with 10,000 Gallic foot and Numidian and Mauretanian horse and foot, advanced towards Acerrae, Papius took a son of Jugurtha, formerly king of Numidia, named Oxynta, who was under charge of a Roman guard at Venusia, led him out of that place, clothed him in royal purple, and showed him frequently to the Numidians who were in Caesar's army. Many of them deserted, as if to their own king, so that Caesar was obliged to send the rest back to Africa, as they were not trustworthy. But when Papius attacked him contemptuously, and had already made a breach in his palisaded camp, Caesar debouched with his horse through the other gates and slew about 6000 of his men, after which Caesar withdrew from Acerrae. Canusia and Venusia and many other towns in Apulia sided with Vidacilius. Some that did not submit he besieged, and he put to death the principal Roman citizens in them, but the common people and the slaves he enrolled in his army.

43 The consul Rutilius and Gaius Marius built bridges over the river Liris​ at no great distance from each other. Vettius Scaton pitched his camp opposite them, but nearer to the bridge of Marius, and placed an ambush by night in some ravines near the bridge of Rutilius, Early in the morning, after he had allowed Rutilius to cross the bridge, he started up from ambush and killed a large number of the enemy on the dry land and drove many into the river. In this fight Rutilius himself was wounded in the head by a missile and died soon afterward. Marius was on the other bridge and when he guessed, from the bodies floating down stream, what had happened, he drove back those in his front, crossed the river, and captured the camp of Scaton, which was guarded by only a small force, so that Scaton was obliged to spend the night where he had won his victory, and to retreat in the morning for want of provisions. The body of Rutilius and those of many other patricians were brought to Rome for burial. The corpses of the consul and his numerous comrades made a piteous spectacle and the mourning lasted many days. The Senate decreed from this time on that those who were killed in war should be buried where they fell, lest others should be deterred by the spectacle from entering the army. When the enemy heard of this they made a similar decree for themselves.