The writer Plutarch, wrote with the purpose of portraying character to reveal the moral implications of his subjects" actions. His comments are often disparaged by historians because his personal opinions were the crux's of his writings and he placed little value on real historical fact, hence opinions are irrelevant to the study of history. As said in the quote, "Plutarch refers to Marius as being "devoted to war" yet when in power "incapable of controlling his passions." He describes Sulla as "eloquent and shrewd" and behaving later in a manner "I could not speak without feelings of shame and disgust." .
The words Plutarch uses to describe both Marius and Sulla shows that he is not concerned with the success of either man. He writes about Marius's devotion to something and his passion, and he uses language that is used to describe Sulla's demeanour. This is an indication of the lack of value Plutarch placed on historical fact, which is largely concerned with political and technological advancement rather than social conduct. .
Although Plutarch describes Marius as being devoted to war, it is much easier to put forward the argument that he was obsessed with power. It seems that Plutarch's argument is based on the fact that Marius was a successful general and was a talented military man. However, when considering all the underlying evidence, it seems that Marius used war as a means to gain political power. His real devotion was to become powerful in the Roman political scene rather than becoming successful in the military. However, Marius was not born into a noble family and hence did not have much access to politics in Rome, so gaining power through the army was the next best idea. For example, during the Jugurthine war he recruited landless proletarians to fight in the army. Previously, those who did not own land were not allowed to fight and so he had won the favour of the landless people.
