 Cicero was also active in the courts, defending Gaius Rabirius from accusations of participating in the unlawful killing of plebeian tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in 100 BC.The prosecution occurred before the "comita centuriata" and threatened to reopen conflict between the Marian and Sullan factions at Rome.Cicero defended the use of force as being authorised by a "senatus consultum ultimum", which would prove similar to his own use of force under such conditions.