In 88 BC war broke out with Mithradates, and Sulla was appointed by the senate to the chief command. Marius then had the command transferred to himself. Sulla marched upon Rome and defeated Marius, who fled. Sulla proclaimed that Marius, when captured, be put to death. Marius made his way to Carthage, but was forbidden to land, so he told the messenger to inform the governor that he had seen Marius sitting as a fugitive among the ruins of Carthage. Gaius Marius (157-86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul seven times during his career. He is remembered for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the structure of the legions into separate cohorts. Marius defeated the invading Germanic tribes (the Teutones, Ambrones, and the Cimbri), for which he was called "the third founder of Rome." He played a critical role in the destruction of the Roman Republic, and the birth of the Roman Empire. Marius died just seventeen days into his seventh consulship.
