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His safety did not improve when his father died (85) and the victorious Sulla returned from Asia (82). After all, he was the son of the brother of Marius' wife. The so-called "Sulla"įrom now on, Caesar's life was in danger. Two relatives of Caesar's father, Lucius Julius Caesar and Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo, were killed. During Sulla's absence, Marius returned, massacred all his enemies, had himself elected consul (86), but died a few days later of natural causes. Marius was forced to flee to Africa, and Sulla went to Asia Minor again, where he defeated Mithridates. This was the beginning of the First Civil War. After his departure, Marius was given the same command by the People's Assembly. The Romans wanted revenge, and the Senate appointed Sulla as a general in this First Mithridatic War (88-84). It is unknown where Caesar's family was in those days (it is certain that Caesar's father was no longer Asia's governor). The inhabitants of this province welcomed him as their liberator, and murdered many Italians and Romans. While the Romans were fighting at home, an old enemy saw his chance: king Mithridates VI of Pontus (ruled 121-63 BCE) attacked the Roman possessions in Asia Minor in 88. By diplomatic ways, Rome divided the rebels: in 90, Lucius Julius Caesar (an uncle) promised Roman citizenship to those Italians who had remained faithful, and in 89 a similar law promised citizenship to those who gave up fighting. Marius was appointed general and had some success more important, however, were the victories of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a man who was considered to be one of the optimates. The Italians had fought to conquer the Mediterranean world, but thought that they had not reaped the benefits of it. This war originated in the fact that the Roman allies in Italy felt that they had never received a fair share in the spoils of the Roman empire, which in those days included Andalusia, southern Castile, Catalonia, the Provence, Italy, the Dalmatian coast, Greece and Macedonia, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Crete, and modern Tunisia. During the subsequent year, he served as a governor in Asia Minor it is likely, therefore, that the young Caesar was outside Italy when the Social War started.

But the Marii and Julii were still influential, and in 92, Caesar's father was elected praetor (a magistrate whose most important function was the administration of justice).

When Caesar was still an infant, Marius lost much of his earlier popularity, and eventually left Rome to travel in Greece and Asia Minor, hoping for some new command. The opposite group, the optimates, played the political game in the Senate. It is unclear what this label means (for some speculations, see below), but modern historians tend to believe that it means that Marius tried to reach his political aims through the People's Assembly. His contemporaries called Marius a popularis. So, Caesar belonged to an influential family. The connections between the Marius and the Julius families were very close: Marius was married to a sister of Caesar's father, Julia.

When Gaius Julius Caesar was born, the leading man in Rome was Gaius Marius, who had saved the Roman republic several years before by defeating two Germanic tribes, the Teutones (102) and the Cimbri (101).