Lucius Cornelius Sulla

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This page is about the Roman dictator Sulla. For the Brythonic goddess sometimes called Sulla, see Sul.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. 138 BC–78 BC) Roman General and Dictator, was usually known simply as Sulla. His agnomen Felix — the fortunate — was attained later in his life, due to his legendary luck as a general. Sulla's name is also seen as "Silla", presumably due to corruption of ancient writing "SVILLA" (Suilla), that went in the two directions of Sulla and Silla. It is also occasionally seen as "Sylla".

Image:Sullahead.jpg

1 Early years
2 The Social War
3 In the East, and The First Civil War
4 Dictator at Rome
5 Retirement
6 Sulla's marriages and children
7 Chronology
8 External links
9 Notes

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Early years

Sulla was born into an impoverished branch of the Cornelii gens, or family, of aristocratic patrician stock but without influence in the city. Without any money, Sulla's first years were spent in the backstage of Rome's political elite. The means by which Sulla attained the fortune that enabled him to ascend to senatorial rank are not clear, although some sources refer to family inheritances. Sulla was rumored to have been involved with prostitution as a youth, this is given further credence when he doesn't hide his lover Metrobius (a famous actor at the time) upon his retirement as the Dictator. Sulla was also romantically involved with his father's wife and another woman. Rumors of the time showed he may have murdered both his step-mother and his lover (both of whom he was living with at the time) for their money. This money he 'inherited' helped him make enough money to qualify for the census to be in the senate.

In 107 BC, Sulla was nominated quaestor to Gaius Marius, who was taking control of the Roman army in the war against King Jugurtha of Numidia. The Jugurthine war had started in 112 BC but Roman forces under Quintus Caecilius Metellus had been suffering humiliating results. Under the command of Marius, the Roman forces army ultimately defeated the enemy in 106 BC, thanks in part to Sulla's initiative to capture the Numidian king by persuading his family to betray him. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sulla's political career. Sulla continued to serve on Marius' staff until the campaign against the Germanic Teutones and Cimbri tribes in Gaul 104–103 BC. At this time, Sulla transferred to the army of Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius' rival consul. With Sulla's assistance, Marius and Catulus defeated the Cimbri in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC.

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The Social War

Returning to Rome, Sulla was elected 'Praetor urbanus' in 97 BC. According to rumour, this was done through massive bribery. The next year he was appointed pro consule to the province of Cilicia (in modern Turkey). While in the East, Sulla was the first Roman magistrate to meet a Parthian ambassador, and by taking the seat between the Parthian ambassador and the ambassador from Pontus (the place of honour), sealed the Parthian ambassador's fate, who was executed upon his return to Pontus for allowing Rome/Sulla to out-manoever him. In 92 BC Sulla left the East and returned to Rome, where he aligned himself with the Optimates in opposition to Gaius Marius. On the verge of the Social War (91–88 BC), the Roman aristocracy and Senate were starting to fear Marius' ambition, which had already given him five consulships in a row from 104 BC to 100 BC. In this last rebellion of the Italian allies, Sulla served with brilliance as a general. Awarded a "Grass Crown" for bravery, he outshone both Marius and the consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (the father of Pompey). For example, in 89 BC Sulla captured Aeclanum, the chief town of Hirpini, by setting the wooden breastwork which defended it on fire. As a result, he was elected consul for the first time in 88 BC, with Quintus Pompeius Rufus as his colleague.

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In the East, and The First Civil War

As the consul of Rome, Sulla prepared to depart once more for the East, in order to fight the first Mithridatic War, by the appointment of the Senate. But he would leave trouble behind him. Marius was now an old man, but he still had the ambition to lead the Roman armies against King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Marius convinced the tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus to call an assembly and revert the Senate's decision on Sulla's command. Sulpicius also used the assemblies to eject Senators from the Senate until there were not enough senators needed to form a quorum. As violence in the forum ensued and the efforts of the nobles to effect a public lynching similar to what had happened to the brothers Gracchi and Saturninus were smashed by the gladitatorial bodyguard of Sulpicius, Sulla went to the house of Marius and made a personal plea to stop the violence which was ignored.

Sulla fled Rome and went to the camp of his victorious "Italian war" veterans, in the South of Italy, ready to cross over to Greece. He incited them to stone the envoys of the assemblies who came to announce that Marius would be leading the Mithridatic war. Sulla than took six of his most loyal legions and prepared to march on Rome. This was an unprecedented event. No general before him had ever crossed the city limits, the 'pomerium', with his army. It was so unethical that most of his commanders refused to accompany him and Sulla hardly took measures against them. However Sulla justified his actions on the grounds that the senate had been neutered and the mos maiorum ("The way things were done" which as a reference amounted to a Roman constitution though none of it was codified as such) had been offended by the negation of the rights of the consuls of the year to fight the wars of that year. Armed gladiators were unable to resist Roman veterans so Marius and his followers fled the city.

Sulla consolidated his position, ordered death for Marius and a few of his allies and addressed the Senate in harsh tones, portraying himself as a victim, presumably to justify his violent entrance into the city. In this time of civil war some Italian cities were destroyed: for instance, Forlì was destroyed in 88 BC and later rebuilt by the praetor Livius Clodius. After some major restructuring of the city's political trends and with the Senate's power strengthened, Sulla returned to his camp and proceeded with the original plan of fighting Mithridates in Pontus.

But Marius was not dead, he had fled to safety in Tunisia. With Sulla out of Rome, Marius began to recover control of the situation. By the end of 87 BC Marius returned to Rome with the support of Lucius Cornelius Cinna (Julius Caesar's father in law). Now back in power, Marius declared Sulla's reforms and laws invalid and Sulla officially exiled. Marius ordered the deaths of many supporters of Sulla, in revenge for the small group of men Sulla had killed. Some of Marius's soldiers went through the streets of Rome looking for supporters of Sulla to kill. The heads of the murdered were displayed in the Forum. After five days, Cinna ordered his own soldiers to kill the maurauding bands and so the terror came to an end. All told, some 100 supporters of Sulla were killed during this time. Marius and Cinna were elected consuls for the year of 86 BC. However, Marius died a few days after the election. Cinna was the effective ruler of Rome, being elected consul without opposition, in the following years.

Meanwhile, Sulla defeated Mithridates in the East and in 86 BC captured Athens and then defeated Archelaus at the Chaeronea, (employing the first known use of strategic battlefield entrenchments, later copied by Julius Caesar) and again in 85 BC at the Orchomenus; battles that confimed his status as a general of the first rank. He left the East in 84 BC upon hearing the news of Cinna's death.

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Dictator at Rome

Determined to regain control of Rome, Sulla marched back to Italy. After a period of idleness, Sulla's army defeated the Samnite forces of Pontius Telesinus in November, 82 BC at the battle of Colline Gate. The strength of the right wing, commanded by Marcus Licinius Crassus, proved crucial in securing victory. Sulla also had the aid of the young Pompey, who defeated Cinnan supporters in Sicily and Africa.

in 82 BC Sulla marched into Rome — for the second time — at the head of an army and was almost immediately appointed dictator by the Senate, with no limit on time in office. Sulla had total control of the city and empire of Rome. This unusual honour (used hitherto only in times of extreme danger to the city, such as the Second Punic War, and only for six month periods), represented an exception to Rome's policy of not giving total power to a single individual. Sulla set the precedent for Julius Caesar's dictatorship, which later resulted in the end of the Republic.

In total control of the city and its affairs, Sulla instituted a reign of terror, the likes of which had never been seen in Rome before. Proscribing or outlawing every one of his political opponents, Sulla ordered some 1,500 Roman nobles (Senator and Equites) executed. The blood bath went on for months. Romans were executed for any reason or none at all. Helping or sheltering a person who was proscribed was also punishable by death. The state confiscated the wealth of the outlawed, making Sulla (and his supporters) vastly rich. The women and children of the outlawed who weren't killed outright were barred from future political office, a restriction not removed for over 30 years. The young Caesar, as Cinna's son-in-law, was one of Sulla's targets and fled the city. He was saved through the efforts of his supporters, but Sulla noted in his memoirs that he regretted sparing Caesar's life because of the young man's notorious ambition. The historian Suetonius records that when agreeing to spare Caesar Sulla warned those who were pleading his case that he would become a danger to them in the future, saying "In this Caesar there is many a Marius".

Only Sertorius, the last Marius supporter, held out against Sulla's armies in distant Hispania.

Without any political obstacle, Sulla enacted a series of reforms to put control of the state firmly in the hands of a larger Senate, but also arranged that the number of senators was doubled from 300 to 600 and that membership was automatic on election to the office of quaestor instead of at the decision of the censors. He also reduced the tribune's political power, and limited the Assembly's ability to pass laws or veto them without the Senate's approval. His goal was to return the Republic to a time before the Gracchi. In this he was too late, Rome's politics had moved on, in an ominous direction

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Retirement

Image:Sulla.jpg Despite a lifetime dictatorship in his hands, Sulla resigned the dictatorship and in accordance with his own rules stood for the consulship, he was elected consul for the second time in 80 BC, but within a year he took the decision of stepping out of every political activity and withdrawing to a country villa.

With a cool detachment, he probably figured he had done his best to put Rome back on a stable footing, and if Rome had not learnt the brutal lessons he had meted out to her, it was Rome's bad luck. Sulla's purpose now was to write his memoirs (completed just before his death, but now lost), he ended up surrounded by a troupe of actors, dancers and prostitutes. Amongst them was Metrobius, a famous actor that he had known since his youth. In his last address to the senate, Sulla was keen to acknowledge him as his lifetime lover, to the dismay of the audience. With this merry company, Sulla died after a brief illness in 78 BC. The symptoms described in contemporary accounts indicate that the cause of death was liver failure, brought on by a lifetime of hard living and drinking. His funeral was stupendous, and not matched until the death of Augustus in 14 AD.

His epitaph, written by Sulla himself:

"No Greater Friend, No Worse Enemy"

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Sulla's marriages and children

First wife, Ilia (possibly Iulia)
- Cornelia Sulla, married to Gnaeus Pompeius Rufus (distant relation to Pompey), and mother of Pompeia Sulla, second wife of Julius Caesar
Second wife, Aelia
Third wife, Cloelia. Sulla divorced her due to her sterility.
Fourth wife Caecilia Metella Dalmatica
- Lucius Cornelius Sulla, died young
- Faustus (I) Cornelius Sulla
- Fausta Cornelia Sulla, married Titus Annius Milo (praetor in 54 BC)
Fifth wife, Valeria Messala
- Postuma Cornelia Sulla (delivered after Sulla's death)