in The Wounds of Civil War, or Marius and Scilla — Lodge, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Wounds of Civil War, or Marius and Scilla
Author
Lodge, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1594
First performance
1588
Decade
1590s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Admiral's (Nottingham's) Men
Speech prefix(es)
Fuluia: | Ful: | Fulu:
Words
265
Characters
1486
Typicality
0.58 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A06184
BritDrama no.
802
Cluster
Cluster 10 — Mourners, mothers & doleful voices
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
And this is Fulvia Scillas daughter too. So gracious (famous Consul) are thy words, That Room and we shall celebrate thy worth, And Scylla shall confess himself overcome. o tedious and unhappy chance for me. Gone is the flower that did adorn our fields, Fled are those sweet reflections of delight, Dead is my Father, Fulvia dead is he In whom thy life, for whom thy death must be. And Fulvia clad in black & mournful pale Will weight upon her father's funeral. Poor Fulvia, now thy happy days are done, In steed of marriage pomp, the fatal lights Of funerals must mask about thy bed. Nor shall thy father's arms with kind embrace Hem in thy shoulders trembling now for fear. I see in Marius looks such tragedies, As fear my heart, and fountains fills mine eyes. As ready as at first for to displease. For full confirmed that we shall surely die, We wait our ends with Roman constancy. What other fruit may spring from tyrants hands! Madam confirmed as well to die as live, Fulvia awaiteth nothing but her death. Yet had my father known the course of change, Or seen our lose by lucky augury, This tyrant nor his followers had lived, To joy the ruin of fierce Scillas house. Marius I doubt not but our constant ends, Shall make thee wail thy tyrants government. Let fevers first afflict thy feeble age, Let palsies make thy stubborn fingers faint, Let humours streaming from thy moistened brains With clouds of dymnes choke thy fretful eyes, Before these monstrous harms assail my sire,
Plot summary
Plot — The Wounds of Civil War, or Marius and Scilla
King Mithridates has defied Roman power in Asia Minor, and the consul Sulla has been selected by lot to take reprisals. But Sulla lingers with the army in Capua, and the Senate votes to transfer the command to Marius, a more experienced soldier. Sulla invades the Senate with his troops and threatens to uphold his rights with violence. The senators take sides, and a civil war follows. Sulla is victorious; Marius takes refuge at Minturnum. Sulla proscribes Marius and his allies as traitors, and leads the army to Asia Minor. Marius is warned that his hosts plot his murder, but accepts his fate and goes to sleep. The assassin, Pedro, is unable to go through with the killing, so the magistrates simply ask Marius to leave town. He flees to Africa, and lives in the mountains on a diet of roots. Marius’ son comes to recall him to Rome: the new consul, Cinna, is sympathetic to him. But Sulla returns victorious from the east, and attempts to prevent his rival from entering Italy. Nevertheless Marius reaches Rome, and begins to settle old scores with violence. Cinna deposes and murders his fellow consul Octavius, Marius’ enemy, and Marius is appointed to fill the vacancy. Sulla is proscribed and his property confiscated, and Marius sends his son to engage Sulla’s army in battle. Sulla’s wife and daughter are arrested as they attempt to leave Rome; Marius threatens them with death, but then sends them honourably back to Sulla. Marius dies in office. After a bloody battle, Sulla enters Rome victorious and compiles an extensive death-list of his enemies. Young Marius holes up in Praeneste, the last stronghold of resistance, but after a siege he concedes the inevitable and commits suicide; Sulla’s forces conquer the city and put the inhabitants to the sword. Sulla is proclaimed dictator, and insists that the appointment be made perpetual; but he soon finds that supreme power brings with it a troubled mind, and resigns the office. He plans to retire to the country, but a spirit appears with a prophecy of his death. He takes his leave of his family, and is buried with great pomp.