to the rank of commander; but he exhibited wonderful feats of courage, and exposed himself without any reserve to danger, whereby he lost one of his eyes through a wound.  But he always prided himself on this.  He used to say that others did not always carry about with them the proofs of their valour, but put them aside, at times, as chains and spears, and crowns, while the proofs of his valour always abided with him, and those who saw what he had lost saw at the same time the evidences of his courage.  The people also showed him appropriate marks of respect; for, on his entering the theatre, they received him with clapping of hands and expressions of their good wishes—­testimonials which even those who were far advanced in age, and high in rank, could with difficulty obtain.  However, when he was a candidate for the tribuneship, Sulla raised a party against him, and he failed; and this was, apparently, the reason why he hated Sulla.  But when Marius was overpowered by Sulla and fled from Rome, and Sulla had set out to fight with Mithridates, and the consul Octavius adhered to the party of Sulla, while his colleague Cinna, who aimed at a revolution, revived the drooping faction of Marius, Sertorius attached himself to Cinna, especially as he saw that Octavius was deficient in activity, and he distrusted the friends of Marius.  A great battle was fought in the Forum between the consuls, in which Octavius got the victory, and Cinna and Sertorius took to flight, having lost nearly ten thousand men.  However, they persuaded most of the troops, which were still scattered about Italy, to come over to their side, and they were soon a match for Octavius.

V. When Marius had returned from Libya, and was proposing to join Cinna, himself in a mere private capacity and Cinna as consul, all the rest thought it politic to receive him; but Sertorius was against it:  whether it was because he thought that Cinna would pay less respect to him when a general of higher reputation was present, or because he feared the ferocious temper of Marius, and that he would put all in confusion in his passion, which knew no bounds, transgressing the limits of justice in the midst of victory.  However this may be, Sertorius observed that there remained little for them to do, as they were now triumphant; but if they received the proposal of Marius, he would appropriate to himself all the glory and all the troops, being a man who could endure no partner in power, and who was devoid of good faith.  Cinna replied that what Sertorius suggested was true, but he felt ashamed and had a difficulty about refusing to receive Marius, after having invited him to join their party; whereupon Sertorius rejoined:  “For my part, I thought that Marius had come to Italy on his own adventure, and I was merely considering what was best; but it was not honourable in you to make the thing a matter of deliberation at all after the arrival of the man whom you had thought proper to invite, but you ought to have employed him and received him;