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How did Julius Caesar respond to Sulla’s order to divorce Cornelia?

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Statue of Julius Caesar in Roman military attire stands in front of a domed building in Rome, Italy, with a clear blue sky in the background. — Julius Caesar Julius Caesar, bronze sculpture in Rome.

When Lucius Cornelius Sulla ordered Julius Caesar to divorce his wife, Cornelia—the daughter of Sulla’s political enemy Lucius Cornelius Cinna—Caesar steadfastly refused to comply.1

This act of defiance placed Caesar in significant danger, as he risked losing both his property and his life. To escape the immediate threat posed by Sulla’s counter-revolution, Caesar found it necessary to leave Italy and serve in the military, first in the province of Asia and later in Cilicia.1