have lost . He went first to Epirus, then to At'ti-ca, and laid siege to Athens . The Athenians defended their city valiantly ; but Sulla had built a stockade about it , and the time soon came when there was no food for even the soldiers . They boiled the hides of oxen , and with the little nour ishment that ( It was used in besieging cities , and could throw stones weighing 500 to 600 lbs.) they could get from these, they tottered feebly to the walls and tried to resist the enemy. It was in vain. One midnight Sulla's forces burst into the city. Horns and trumpets sounded , soldiers shouted and yelled and ran through the streets with drawn swords, for they had been commanded to cut down all whom they met, men, women, and children ; and then they were free to plunder as they would.
The forces of Mithridates were driven back into Asia , and before long he was begging for peace on the ground that he had once been a friend of Sulla's father ! Sulla re plied that the king had not recalled the friendship till he had lost one hundred and sixty thousand of his troops . At
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132 STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE
length , however, peace was made. Cities had been torn down , people had been sold as slaves, and many thou sands slain . The king was obliged to give up all the terri tory that he had seized and to pay a great sum to the Ro mians .
Sulla was now ready to return to Rome. He sent in ad vance a long letter to the senate , recounting what he had done for the Roman people . And in return , he said, " my house has been de stroyed , my friends put to death , and my wife and children have barely es caped to me. I shall soon be in Rome to take ven geance upon the guilty . The Romans were terri fied , but the senators tried their best to main tain their dignity and sent ( A huge bow for throwing sharpened beams, messengers to say to Sulla that he need have no fear, and if he wanted any protection , he might write to the sen ate at once. Sulla replied , I have a devoted army, and I can protect the senate better than it can protect me . ' Then the Romans knew that he meant to bring his army into the city , and they were more frightened than ever. Their alarm increased , for the Capitol caught fire and burned , and with it the famous Sibylline Books . They had been stored away with the utmost care and fifteen keepers
darts , etc. )
# CATAPULT
appointed to guard them . In times of great danger, the Romans consulted them . They felt sure now that their destruction foretold the overthrow of the city .
They had reason to fear. Sulla landed with his army . The people who had favored Marius opposed him , and the Samnites did likewise, for they thought that this was a good opportunity to revenge themselves for the battles lost in former days to the insolent Romans. There was a great contest just without the city walls. Sulla was vic torious and master of Rome. He called the people together and told them that the government would soon go as it ought. His plan for making it go as it ought was to kill every one who opposed him . He sold the property of his enemies or gave it to his friends. He slew tens of thou sands of Italians who had been of the party of Marius. In Rome itself he had so many persons put to death that a young senator ventured to say to him in the senate, We do not ask you to spare those whom you have marked out for punishment, but we do beg that you will free from anxiety those whom you have decided to save . I do not yet
MARBLE HEAD , SUPPOSED know whom I shall save, Sulla replied .
( In the Vatican )
Then let us know whom you intend to destroy, besought the senator . Sulla graciously yielded and published a list of eighty names at once . Each day he added to the number. Then he said , That is all I re
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member now ; the rest must come into some future pro scription . These lists were put up in the forum and sent to all the Italian cities . Whoever killed a proscribed man received a reward . It is said that forty -seven hundred citi zens of Rome were slain .
Some of the men whom Sulla put to death were enemies of him and his party ; some were wealthy, and either he or some of his friends wanted their riches . One young man of eighteen was put on the list because his aunt had been the wife of Marius, and his own wife was the daughter of Cinna . Friends interceded for him, and finally Sulla agreed to spare him if he would divorce his wife. It is said that Sulla spared him unwillingly, saying , In that boy there is many a Marius. The boy would not divorce his wife, but he left Rome for a while. This was Caius Ju'li - us Cæ' sar , who afterward became the most famous of all the Romans .
Sulla meant to rule Rome as he would , but he pre ferred to have it appear that the Romans had chosen him as ruler. Therefore he went out of the city for a few days , and sent back a letter saying that it seemed to him wise for a dictator to be chosen for an indefinite time until the gov ernment should be well established again . He made it clear that he expected to be the choice of the people , and they did not dare to refuse him . Then he set to work to make new laws that should give the senate more authority. He feasted the people for many days , and he gave them a great show of gladiators .
Suddenly he resigned the dictatorship , no one knows
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