Meanwhile, young Marius had reached the King of Numidia, and was treated by him with kindness. But each time that he proposed to go back to his father, Hiempsal had some polite reason for not allowing him to leave his court. The king, indeed, was hesitating as to whether or not he would send the exiles back to Sulla, and so win the favour of Rome. But young Marius grew impatient of these delays, and one day he made his escape and went back to his father. It was plain that the King of Numidia could not be trusted, and that there was no safety for the exiles in Africa. So father and son hastened to the coast, and hiring a little fishing-boat, they sailed to an island named Cercina, which was not far from the continent. It was well that they had not lingered in Carthage, for soon after they had embarked in their little boat, horsemen, sent by the King of Numidia, reached the shore, expecting to capture both Marius and his son. CHAPTER XCV MARIUS RETURNS TO ROME Sulla, you remember, entered the city with his troops as Marius fled from Rome. He at once revoked the laws of Sulpicius, and ruled in his own way. But he was impatient to go to war against Mithridates, and so, in the summer of 87 B.C., he set out with his army for Greece. No sooner was he gone than Cinna, one of the Consuls, proposed that Marius and his friends should be recalled. But Octavius, his colleague, was greatly opposed to this, and determined to frustrate Cinna’s schemes. The Consul soon gave Octavius the opportunity he wished. For when the citizens assembled to vote for or against the return of the exile, Cinna led a band of armed men to the Forum, that they might be too frightened to vote save as he wished. He drove away, too, the tribunes who attempted to speak against him. This was against all laws of justice, and Octavius did not hesitate to go to the Forum at the head of an armed force to punish Cinna’s men. In the struggle many of the rioters were killed, while Cinna himself was forced to flee. The Senate then declared that he was no longer Consul, but had become a public enemy. When Cinna heard of the Senate’s decree he was very angry, and determined to gather together troops to fight against Octavius. He was speedily joined by Marius, who was no sooner told what had happened in Rome than he hastened back to the city. [Illustration: Gaius Marius sitting in exile among the ruins of Carthage.] When he arrived Cinna received the exile with great honour, and urged him to wear the robes of a pro-Consul. But Marius pretended to be too humble to don such garments, and he persisted in wearing old and shabby clothes. His hair, which had not been cut since his banishment, he left still untouched, although it now reached to his shoulders, while he walked as though bent with the weight of his seventy years. It did not seem, to judge from his pitiable appearance, as if the old man could be of much use to Cinna.