haha surely my hubris won't kill my cousin haha (don't worry it's not your hubris. it's your entire factio being abandoned by gods)
musings & source references below the cut
the driving force behind this was the bit from orosius where marius jr kills himself only after seeing the head of his unfortunate cousin marius gratidianus
Oros. V. 21. 8.
it made me think about their relationship, especially in the context of the election for the year 82. the comic is titled inter fratres, because a cousin is a frater too :-)
there's a Lot going on with marius(i)-iuppiter-scipio(nes) parallel that is brought up multiple times throughout the comic. how i see it, marius sr takes up a divine space in the factio, especially after the capitol burned down. on marius being divine-ish:
Plut. Mar. 27. 5.
on marius being linked with jupiter specifically:
since this coin is assumed (by crawford) to be minted in the year 86, it only makes sense that the triumphant jupiter is supposed to be a marius reference, because who else would be considered a triumphator hurling lighting bolts in the year of cinna and marius?
and there's also the whole thing about the marian eagle. don't forget the marian eagle.
as for a scipio being a frame of reference for a marius as in the conversation, elder marius seemingly used younger scipio's precedent while depriving metellus of his command. some scholars (like kathryn l. seidl steed my beloved) even say that marius sr largely modeled his career on that of scipio aemilianus :-)
another big theme is the capitolium fire of the year 83. in here, it serves as a rebuke to marius jr drawing a parallel between scipio africanus and himself. teenager scipio sitting in the capitol temple of jupiter optimus maximus and conversing with his supposed divine father jupiter is a well-known story, after all.
Gell. VI. 1. 6.
but none of this is relevant in the case of marius jr, because the capitolium quite literally burned down on the eve of his election. speak of being abandoned by gods and such...
to highlight this feeling of impending doom, i put the interlocutors in a portico-like space. the orange-yellow lighting can be treated as setting sun or something of the sort, but it's also the echo of said fire. also, the colonnade invokes a cage, a trap of sorts. praeneste, anyone? :-)
that's most of it! hope you'll have fun untangling the rest of parallels and references! <3