He adopted a careful political stance during the civil wars of the 80s BC, but was murdered by partisans of Marius at a senate meeting for suspected sympathy to the opposing faction of Sulla.
[2] In 88 BC, Antistius was tribune of the plebs, in which capacity he successfully opposed the irregular candidacy of a senator, Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo, to the office of consul.
[6] In his dialogue Brutus (227), Cicero described Antistius's style of oratory as follows:[5] He sharply analyzed the issue, assembled his argument carefully, and had a powerful memory; his diction was neither elaborate nor commonplace; his agile speech ran along very easily, and he had a certain tone that was not unpolished; his delivery, however, was slightly impaired both by a vocal defect and silly mannerisms.The career of Antistius peaked between the civil wars of 87 and 83 BC, when the general Sulla was away from Italy and Sulla's enemies, Gaius Marius and then Cornelius Cinna, dominated politics in Rome.
Cicero described this as a time when law and dignity were lacking,[5] and Antistius's prominence in the courts would seem to implicate him in the judicial irregularities of the period.
[17] The whole affair has been variously interpreted, on the government's point of view, as a genuine attempt to prosecute a crime, a scheme to fill up the Roman treasury, a begrudging acquittal of a potential political opponent, or simply a state-managed farce.
[19] Generally, Antistius seems to have cooperated cautiously with the Marian and Cinnan regime during the peaceful years 86–83 BC, holding at some point the office of aedile but going no further up the cursus honorum.