One of his most intimate companions was CICERO, who was six years his senior.
Marius had seen in his nephew the materials which make great men, and determined to help him to promotion.

He made him, when scarcely fifteen, a priest of Jupiter (_flamen dialis_), which sacred office carried with it a handsome income.
Shortly after the death of his father, in 84, Caesar married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna.

By this marriage he was connected more closely with the popular party, whose champion he remained.
When Sulla returned to Rome from his Eastern campaign, Caesar was but eighteen.

In the wholesale murders that followed, his party was ruined, his nearest friends dispersed or killed.

He himself was yet free from proscription, for Sulla wished to win such a promising young man to his own side.