The struggle between Marius and Sulla, decided as it was by the sword, marks a stage in the decline of the Roman Republic. The careers of these two men showed how easily the state could be ruled by a successful commander who had his soldiers behind him. After Sulla's death his friend Pompey became the leading figure in Roman politics. Pompey's first service was in Spain, where the adherents of Marius sought to humble the Senate and the aristocratic party by encouraging the Spaniards to rise against Roman rule. Having crushed this rebellion, Pompey returned to Italy in time to take part in putting down a formidable insurrection of slaves, outlaws, and ruined peasants. He was next intrusted with the war against the pirates, who swarmed in the Mediterranean, preyed on commerce, and plundered wealthy cities near the coast. Brilliant success in clearing the seas of these marauders led to his being sent to the East to end the war with Mithradates, who was once more in arms against Rome. Pompey drove the Pontic monarch from his kingdom and then annexed Syria to the Roman dominions. When Pompey returned to Rome in 62 B.C., he brought with him a reputation as the most successful general of his time. [Illustration: GNAEUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS (Spada Palace, Rome)] MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO We have seen how steadily since the days of the Gracchi the Roman state had been moving toward the rule of one man. Marius, Sulla, and Pompey each represent a step in the direction of monarchy. Yet there were still able and patriotic leaders at Rome who believed in the old order of things and tried their best to uphold the fast-perishing republic. No republican statesman was more devoted to the constitution than Cicero. A native of Arpinum, the same Italian town which had already given birth to Marius, Cicero came to Rome a youth without wealth or family influence. He made his way into Roman society by his social and conversational powers and by his capacity for friendship. His mind had been carefully trained under the influence of Hellenic culture; he had traveled and studied in Greece; and throughout life he loved to steal away from the tumult of the Forum and the law courts and enjoy the companionship of his books. Though the proud nobles were inclined to look down on him as a "new man," Cicero's splendid eloquence soon gave him prominence in politics. He ranks in fame as the second orator of antiquity, inferior only to Demosthenes. [Illustration: MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO (Vatican Museum, Rome)] IMPEACHMENT OF VERRES, 70 B.C.