As his first important military appointment, Sulla was ordered to command an army and defeat King Mithridates of Pontus in 88 B.C. after the king had overrun Athens and killed many Italians. Before leaving, however, his command was superseded by one of the Tribunes, Sulpicius, who had dangled Sulla’s command in front of Marius to pull him out of retirement. When Sulla and his followers tried to intervene, an armed clash took place and Sulla was forced to go into hiding.
After recovering from this political embarrassment, Sulla joined the army he was to lead in the East, turned it around, and attacked Rome. Sulpicius was hunted down and killed. Sulla then took the steps he thought necessary to stabilize the Republic including allowing the consular elections to be held. He left for war against Mithridates, after a promise from the consuls to move forward with his programs.