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)
C. Granius: | Granius: | Gra: | Gran:
Words
304
Characters
1660
Typicality
0.26 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A06184
BritDrama no.
802
Cluster
Cluster 7 — Pedants, satyrs & Latin wit
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Honour and victory follow Marius steps, For him does Granius wish to fight for Room. Scylla my years hath taught me to discern, Betwixt ambitious pride and Princely zeal, And from thy youth these Pee es of Room have marked, A rash revenging hammer in thy brain, Thy tongue adorned with flowing eloquence, And yet I see imprinted in thy brows, A fortunate but froward governance. And though thy rival Marius mated late, By backward working of his wretched fate Is fallen, yet Scylla mark what I have seen Even here in Room the Fencer Spectacus, Hath been as fortunate as thou thy self: But when that Crassus sword assayed his crest, The fear of death did make him droop for woe. No Scylla my discourse is resolute, Not coined to please thy found and cursed thoughts: For were my tongue betrayed with pleasing words, To feed the humours of thy haughty mind: I rather wish the rot should root it out. Is this the guerdon then of good advise? Why Scylla I am armed the worst to try. Oh whence proceeds these fowl ambitious thoughts, That fires men's hearts and makes them thirst for Rule: Hath sovereignty so much be witched the minds Of Romans: that their former busied cares Which erst did tire in seeking Cities good, Must now be changed to ruin of her walls? Must they that eared her stately Temples up, Deface the sacred places of their Gods? Then may we wail and wring our wretched hands, Sith both our Gods, our temples and our walls, Ambition makes fell Fortune's spiteful to nalls. Ex: all. And general against the king of Pontus. As he that bides a thrall to thee and fate, Living in hope as I and others do, To catch good fortune, and to cross thee too.
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.