Why did Sulla order Julius Caesar 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.

In 84 BCE, Julius Caesar publicly aligned himself with the radical faction of Roman politics by marrying Cornelia, the daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who had been a key associate of Gaius Marius during their revolution against the established order.1

When Lucius Cornelius Sulla returned to Italy in 83 BCE to lead a successful counter-revolution, he sought to purge the influence of his political enemies. As part of this effort to consolidate power and eliminate opposition, Sulla ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia, as she represented a direct familial link to the Marian-Cinnan party that Sulla had fought to displace. Caesar refused to comply with the order, a decision that nearly cost him his life and property, forcing him to flee Italy to perform military service abroad.1