Metell.
Oh thou God,
Deliverer of Rome, most blest of men!
See here the Fathers of thy bleeding Country
Prostrate for Refuge at thy feet: see there
The Terrour of our Freedome, and thy Foe,
The Persecuter of thy Friends, the Scourge
Of Truth and Justice, and the Plague of Rome.

Mar. sen.
What art Thou, that canst lend thy slavish ears
To flattering Hypocrisy?

Sylla.
My Name thou hast heard,
And fled from. I am the Friend of Rome,
The Terrour and the Bane of thee her Foe.

Mar. sen.
If th' art her Friend, why com'st thou here thus arm'd,
Slaughtering her Citizens, and laying waste her Walls?

Sylla.
To free her from a Tyrant's Power.

Mar. sen.
Who is that Tyrant?

Sylla.
Thou, who hast opprest
Her Senate, made thy self by force a Consul,
Set free her Slaves, and arm'd 'em 'gainst her Laws.

Mar. sen.
Hear this, ye Romans, and then judge my Wrongs.
Have I opprest you? have I forc'd your Laws?
Am I a Tyrant? I, whom ye have rais'd,
For my true Services, to what I am?
Remember th' Ambrons, Cimbri, and the Teutons;
Remember the Confederate War.

Sylla.
Where thou,
Cold and delaying, wert by Silo brav'd,
Scorn'd by thy Souldiers, and at last compell'd
Ingloriously to quit th' unwieldy Charge.
Remember too who banisht good Metellus,
The Friend and Parent of thy obscure Family,
That rais'd thee from a Peasant to a Lord.

Mar. sen.
Basely thou wrongst the Truth. My Actions rais'd me.
Hadst thou bin born a Peasant, still thou'dst bin so:
But I by Service to thy Country 'ave made
My Name renown'd in Peace, and fear'd in War.

Sylla.
In the Jugurthine War, whose King was taken
Pris'ner by me, and Marius triumpht for't.

Mar. sen.
Thou stol'st him basely, stol'st him at the price
Of his Wive's Lust: thou barterd'st his Betraying,
And in the Capitol hast Pageants set
In memory of thy Vanity and Shame.

Syll.
Thy Shame.

Mar. sen.
My Honour, proud presumptuous Boy,
Who wouldst be gaudy in an unfit Dress,
And wear my cast-off Glories after me.

Syll.
I'd rather wear some Beggar's rotten Rags,
By him left dangling on a high-way Hedge,
Then soil my Laurels with a Leaf of thine,
Thou scorn'd Plebeian.

Mar. sen.
Worst Perdition catch thee.

Syll.
Disband that Rout of Rebells at thy heels,
And yield thy self to Justice and the Senate.

Mar. sen.
Justice from Thee demanded on my Head?
First clear thy self, quit thy usurpt Command;
Approach and kneel to me, whom thou hast wrong'd.

Syll.
Upon thy Neck I would.

Mar. sen.
As soon thou'dst take

A Lion by the bread: thou dar'st not think on't.

Syll.
I dare, and more.

Mar. sen.
Then, Gods, I take your word;
If there be truth in you, I shall not fall
This day. My Friends and Fellow-souldiers, now
Fight as I've seen you: for the Life of Sylla,
Leave it to me; for much Revenge must go
Along with Death when such a Victim bleeds.

Syll.
My Lords, withdraw.

Metell.
No, trust the Gods, I'll see
My Country's Fate, and with her live or dy.

Mar. sen.
Now, Sylla.

Syll.
Now, my Veterans, consider
You fight for Laws, for Liberty, and Life.

Mar. sen.
Rebellion never wanted that Pretence.
Thou Shadow of what I have bin, thou Puppet
Of that great State and Honours I have born,
If thou'lt doe something worthy of thy place,
Let's join our Battel with a Force may glut
The Throat of Death, and choak him with himself;
As fiercely as destroying Whirlwinds rise,
Or as Clouds dash when Thunder shakes the Skies. [Trumpets sound a Charge: They fight. Re-enter Marius senior taken by Sylla's party.

Mar. sen.
Forsaken, and a Pris'ner? Is this all
That's left of Marius? the old naked Trunk
Of that tall Pine that was? Away, ye Shrubs,
Ye clinging Brambles; do not clog me thus,
But let me run into the Jaws of Death,
And finish my ill Fate. Or must I be
Preserv'd a publick Spectacle, expos'd
To Scorn, and make a Holyday for Slaves?
Oh! that Thought's Hell. Sure I should know thy Face.
Thou hast born Office under me. If e're
In my best Fortune I deserv'd thy Friendship,
Give me a Roman's Death, and set me free,
That no Dishonour in my Age o'retake me.

Officer.
I've serv'd and lov'd you well: nor would I see
Your Fall.... My Orders were, to save your Life.

Mar. sen.
Thou'rt a Time-server, that canst flatter Misery. Enter Marius junior, Granius and Sulpitius, Prisoners.
My Sons in Bonds too and Sulpitius?

Sulpit.
Yes, the Rat-catchers have trapt me. Now must I
Be food for Crows, and stink upon a Tree,
Whilst Coxcombs strowl abroad on Holydays,
To take the Air, and see me rot. A pox
On Fortune, and a pox on that first Fool
That taught the world Ambition. Enter Quint. Pompeius, four Lictors before him.

Q. Pomp.
Draw near,
Ye men of Rome, and hear the Law pronounc'd.
Thou Marius, whose Ambition and whose Pride
Has cost so many Lives, the first that e're
Wag'd Civil Wars in Rome, Thee and thy Sons,
Thy Family and Kin, with that vile Slave
And Minister of all thy Outrages,
The curst Sulpitius, Banishment's thy lot;
After to morrow's Dawn if found i'th' City,
Death be thy Doom: so hath the Senate said.
So flourish Peace and Liberty in Rome. Ex. Quint. Pompeius, Lictors crying Liberty.

Mar. sen.
I thank ye, Gods, upon my knees I thank ye,
For plaguing me above all other men.
Come, ye young Hero's kneel and praise the Heav'ns,
For crowning thus your youthfull Hopes. Ha, ha, ha!
What pleasant Game hath Fortune play'd to day?
Oh! I could burst with Laughter. Why, now Rome's
At Peace. But may it be as short and vain,
As Joys but dreamt of, or as Sick mens Slumbers.
Now let's take hands, and bending to the Earth,
To all th'Infernall Powers let us swear.

All.
We swear.

Mar. sen.
That's well: By all the Destinies,
By all the Furies, and the Fiends that wait
About the Throne of Hell, and by Hell's King,
We'll bring Destruction to this cursed City;
Let not one Stone of all her Tow'rs stand safe.

Mar. jun.
Let not her Temples nor her Gods escape.

Gran.
Let Husbands in their Wives Embraces perish.

Mar. sen.
Her Young men massacred,

Sulpit.
Her Virgins ravisht.

Mar. jun.
And let her Lovers all my Torments feel,
Doating like me, and like me banished.
Thus let 'em Curse, thus raving tear their Hair,
And fall upon the ground as I do now.

Mar. sen.
Rise then, and to Lavinia go. This Night's
Thy own.

Mar. jun.
And ever after Pain and Sorrow.
But go thou, find Lavinia's Woman out.... [To his servant.
Tell her I'll come and bid her chear my Love,
For I'll not fail, but in this Night enjoy
Whole Life, and forgive Nature what's to come.

Mar. sen.
Thus then let's part; each take his several way,
As to a Task of Darkness: when we meet
In hated Exile, we'll compute Accompts,
And see what Mischief each has gather'd then.
For, Rome, I shall be yet once more thy Lord,
If Oracles have truth, and Augurs ly not.
For yet a Child, and in my Father's Fields
Playing, I seven young Eagles chanc'd to find;
Which gathering up I to my Parents bore.
The Gods were sought: who promis'd me from thence
As many times the Consulate in Rome.
  Six times already I've that Office bore,
  And so far has the Prophecy prov'd true.
  But if I've manag'd ill the time that's past,
  And too remiss six elder Fortunes lost,
  The youngest Darling Fate is yet to come,
  And Thou shalt feel me then, Ungratefull Rome. [Exeunt. The end of the Third ACT.

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