He had not
the means to complete the conquest or completely to avenge the massacre
with which the Prince of Pontus had commenced the war. He left Mithridates
still in possession of his hereditary kingdom, but he left him bound, so
far as treaties could bind so ambitious a spirit, to remain thenceforward
within his own frontiers. He recovered Greece and the islands, and the
Roman provinces in Asia Minor. He extorted an indemnity of five millions,
and executed many of the wretches who had been active in the murders. He
raised a fleet in Egypt, with which he drove the pirates out of the
archipelago back into their own waters. He restored the shattered prestige
of Roman authority, and he won for himself a reputation which his later
cruelties might stain but could not efface.
The merit of Sylla shows in more striking colors when we look to what was
passing, during these four years of his absence, in the heart of the
Empire. He was no sooner out of Italy than the democratic party rose, with
Cinna at their head, to demand the restoration of the old constitution.
Cinna had been sworn to maintain Sylla's reforms, but no oath could be
held binding which was extorted at the sword's point. A fresh Sulpicius
was found in Carbo, a popular tribune. A more valuable supporter was found
in Quintus Sertorius, a soldier of fortune, but a man of real gifts, and
even of genius.
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