Sulla crossed to Campania where matters came to the crunch, for the consul Norbanus moved to block the progress of Sulla’s army with one of his own. Until now, Sulla had been an obstreperous ex-consul who had taken some legally dubious actions. Anyway, the killing of Octavius and the persecution of Sulla’s friends, not to mention the excesses of Marius before his death, all meant that the government could hardly claim the moral, legal or constitutional high ground. Ideally, it would be best if the events of the past decade could be, if not forgotten, at least left in disreputable obscurity.
