Though Jugurtha was not yet a fugitive in his own country, its more settled and eastern parts had certainly come to terms with the specter of the Romans, and accepted the inevitability of Roman dominance. However, Cirta, the capital, was situated in the center, so Marius decided it might be prudent to winter there himself, rather than in Utica. Cirta’s inhabitants had never demonstrated any great fondness for the King, but Marius knew Jugurtha well enough to understand that he was at his most dangerous—and his most charming—when pressed; it would not be politic to leave Cirta open to seduction by the King. Sulla was left in Utica to govern the Roman province, while Aulus Manlius was released from service and allowed to go home. With him to Rome Manlius took the two sons of Gaius Julius Caesar, neither of whom had wanted to leave Africa. But Rutilius’s letter had perturbed Marius; he had a feeling that it might be wise to give Caesar back his sons.
In January of the New Year, King Bocchus of Mauretania made up his mind at last; despite his blood and marital ties to Jugurtha, he would formally ally himself with Rome— if Rome would deign to have him. So he moved from Iol to Icosium, the place where he had interviewed Sulla and the seasick Manlius two months earlier, and sent a small embassage off from Icosium to treat with Marius. Unfortunately it did not occur to him that Marius would winter anywhere save in Utica; as a result, the little delegation made Utica its goal, thus passing well to the north of Cirta and Gaius Marius.
There were five Moorish ambassadors, including the King’s younger brother Bogud once again, and one of his sons as well, but the party traveled in very little state and without a military escort; Bocchus wished no difficulties with Marius, and no intimations of martial intentions. He also wanted to bypass attention from Jugurtha.
In consequence, the cavalcade looked exactly like a group of prosperous merchants heading home with the proceeds of a season’s good trading, and was irresistibly tempting to the gangs of armed bandits who had taken advantage of the fragmentation of Numidia and the impotence of its king by helping themselves to other people’s property. As the group crossed the river Ubus not far south of Hippo Regius, it was set upon by outlaws and robbed of everything save the clothes its members wore; even its retinue of slaves and servants was taken for resale in some distant market.
Quintus Sertorius and his exquisitely tuned cerebral apparatus were on duty with Marius, which meant that Sulla was served by less perceptive officers. Knowing this, however, he had made it his practice to keep an eye on what was happening at the gates of the governor’s palace in Utica; and, as luck would have it, he personally saw the raggle-taggle cluster of poor itinerants who stood trying fruitlessly to gain admission.
“But we must see Gaius Marius!” Prince Bogud was insisting. “We are the ambassadors of King Bocchus of Mauretania, I do assure you!”
Sulla recognized at least three of the group, and strolled over. “Bring them in, idiot,” he said to the duty tribune, then took Bogud’s arm to help him along, for he was clearly footsore. “No, the explanations can wait, Prince,” he said firmly. “You need a bath, fresh clothes, food, and a rest.”
Some hours later he heard Bogud’s story.
“We have been much longer getting here than we expected,” Bogud said in conclusion, “and I fear the King my brother will have despaired. May we see Gaius Marius?”
“Gaius Marius is in Cirta,” said Sulla easily. “I advise you to tell me what it is your king wants, and leave it to me to get word to Cirta. Otherwise, there will be more delays.”
“We are all blood relatives of the King, who asks Gaius Marius to send us onward to Rome, where we are to beg the Senate in person to reinstate the King in Rome’s service,” said Bogud.
“I see.” Sulla rose to his feet. “Prince Bogud, please make yourself comfortable and wait. I’ll send to Gaius Marius at once, but it will be some days before we hear.”
Said Marius’s letter, which turned up in Utica four days later:
Well, well, well! This could be quite useful, Lucius Cornelius. However, I must be extremely careful. The new senior consul, Publius Rutilius Rufus, tells me that our dear friend Metellus Numidicus Piggle-wiggle is going around informing anyone who will listen that he intends to prosecute me for extortion and corruption in my provincial administration. Therefore I can do nothing to give him ammunition. Luckily he’ll have to manufacture his evidence, as it has never been my practice to extort or corrupt—well, you know that better than most, I imagine. So here is what I want you to do.
I shall give audience to Prince Bogud in Cirta, which means you will have to bring the embassage here. However, before you start out, I want you to gather up every single Roman senator, tribune of the Treasury, official representative of the Senate or People of Rome, and important Roman citizen, in the whole of the Roman African province. Bring them all to Cirta with you. For I am going to interview Bogud with every single Roman notable I can find listening to every word I say, and approving in writing of whatever I decide to do.
Shouting with laughter, Sulla put the letter down. “Oh, superbly done, Gaius Marius!” he remarked to the four walls of his office, and went to scatter havoc among his tribunes and administrative officials by ordering them to scour the whole province for Roman notables.
Because of its importance to Rome as a supplier of grain, Africa Province was a place the more globe-trotting members of the Senate liked to visit. It was also exotic and beautiful, and at this early time of the year, the prevailing winds being from the northern quadrant, it was a safer sea route to the east than passage across the Adriatic Sea—for those who had the extra time. And though it was the rainy season, that did not mean that every day it rained; between rains the climate was deliciously balmy compared to winter-struck Europa, and cured the visitor’s chilblains immediately.
Thus Sulla was able to gather two globe-trotting senators and two visiting absentee landowners (including the biggest, Marcus Caelius Rufus), plus one senior Treasury official on winter vacation, and one plutocrat from Rome who had a huge business buying grain, and was currently in Utica to dabble a little in wheat futures.
“But the great coup,” he said to Gaius Marius the moment he arrived in Cirta fifteen days later, “was none other than Gaius Billienus, who fancied taking a look at Africa on his way to govern Asia Province. Thus I am able to offer you a praetor with proconsular imperium, no less! We also have a Treasury quaestor, Gnaeus Octavius Ruso, who fortunately happened to sail into Utica harbor just before I set out, bearing the army’s wages. So I dragooned him too.”