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Lucullus was born into one of the noblest families in Rome and he was related to some of the most powerful clans in the Republic. His He received the traditional education of a young member of the elite and as expected, of someone from his class, he began a public career. Lucullus was a member of the optimates, which supported the traditional Senatorial class against the Populists, who sought the support of the common people. This was a very unstable period in Roman history and there was political violence in the city and the Republic descended into near civil war. Lucullus served with the Optimate general Sulla and it appears that he served fought with him during the Social War<ref>Plutarch. Life of Lucullus, 5. 4</ref>. Lucullus seemed to have been highly rated by Sulla and he was later elected as Quaestor of Rome (88 BC). Sulla had made himself absolute ruler of the Republic and he wanted to reform Rome and end its endemic political instability. However, a crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean forced him to leave Italy. This was the beginning of a great conflict with, Mithridates IV of Pontus, in ways as formidable as the great Carthaginian Hannibal.