Ancient Rome: Sulla and Gaius Marius [Seven days of history]
After the suppression of the Gracchus movement, the position of the ruling group strengthened. Roman political life was controlled by a small number of noble families; the exclusiveness of their position gave rise to unprecedented corruption that engulfed the entire state organism. The Roman political elite divided into the so-called Populares and Optimates. Their confrontation led at the beginning to the Social War (91-87 BC) with the Italic allies, and after it to the Civil war (83-82 BC) in Rome itself. And Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla became central figures in this confrontation.