Marius' Downward Slide
End of the Republic
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Timeline of Events in Gaius Marius' Life
Agrarian Laws
To ensure a 6th term as consul, in 100 B.C., Marius bribed the voters and made an alliance with tribune Saturninus who had passed a series of agrarian laws which provided land for veteran soldiers from Marius' armies. Saturninus and the senators had come into conflict because of the agrarian laws' provision that the senators must take an oath to uphold it, within 5 days of the passage of the law. Some honest senators, like Metellus (now, Numidicus), refused to take the oath and left Rome.When Saturninus was returned as tribune in 100 with his colleague, a spurious member of the Gracchi, Marius had him arrested for reasons we don't know, but possibly to ingratiate himself with the senators. If that was the reason, it failed. Furthermore, Saturninus' supporters freed him.
Saturninus supported his associate C. Servilius Glaucia in the consular elections for 99 by being involved in the murder of the other candidates. Glaucia and Saturninus were supported by the rural plebs, but not by the urban. While the pair and their adherents seized the Capitol, Marius persuaded the senate to pass an emergency decree to prevent the senate from being harmed. The urban plebs were given arms, Saturninus' supporters were removed, and the water pipes were cut -- to make a hot day intolerable. When Saturninus and Glaucia surrendered, Marius assured them they would not be harmed.
We can't say for sure that Marius meant them any harm, but Saturninus, Glaucia, and their followers were killed by the mob.
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Primary Source
Plutarch's Life of Marius
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