Vix quidquam in Sullae operibus clarius duxerim, quam quod cum per triennium Cinnanae Marianaeque partes Italiam obsiderent, neque inlaturum se bellum iis dissimulavit nec quod erat in manibus omisit, existimavitque ante frangendum hostem quam ulciscendum civem, repulsoque externo metu, ubi quod alienum esset vicisset, superaret quod erat domesticum.
Of all the exploits of Sulla there is nothing that I should consider more noteworthy than that, during the three years in which the party of Marius and Cinna were continuously masters of Italy, he never hid from them his intention to wage war on them, but at the same time he did not interrupt the war which he then had on his hands. He considered that his duty was to crush the enemy before taking vengeance upon citizens, and that after he had repelled the menace of the foreigner and won a victory in this war abroad, he should then prove himself the master in a war at home.
final_alignments\Velleius_Paterculus_Compendium.json