Sulla

This page is about the Roman dictator Sulla. For the Celtic goddess sometimes called Sulla, see Sulis.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix
File:Cornelio Sila.jpg
Dictator of the Roman Republic
In office 82 BC – 80 BC
Preceded by	Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus in 203 BC
Succeeded by	Gaius Julius Caesar in 49 BC
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office 88 BC – 88 BC
Preceded by	Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo and Lucius Porcius Cato
Succeeded by	Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Gnaeus Octavius
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office 80 BC – 80 BC
Preceded by	Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella and Marcus Tullius Decula
Succeeded by	Appius Claudius Pulcher and Publius Servilius Vatia
Personal details
Born	138 BC Rome
Died	78 BC Puteoli

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) (c. 138 BC–78 BC) Roman general and dictator, was usually known simply as Sulla.

A gifted and effective general of the first rank, Sulla marched his armies on Rome twice, enjoying the absolute power of a dictator. Though he would resign his complete command of the empire, his having been the first Roman general to march his troops on Rome, is often perceived as having set an ominous precedent for the Republic.

His character was often described as being half fox, half lion due to his legendary cunning and bravery; Machiavelli would later allude to this description of Sulla in outlining the most desirable characteristics of a prince, justifying it thus: "because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves."

Life

Early years

Sulla was born into a branch of the Cornelii gens, of impeccable Patrician background, but his family, by the time of his birth, had fallen to an impoverished condition. Lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s low-lifes – comics, actors, lute-players, dancers, female prostitutes. Such were to remain his true friends throughout his life. It was at this time he met the up-and-coming Roman actor Metrobius – a "female impersonator", as Plutarch describes him, to whom Sulla remained strongly attached throughout his life: even when both were quite old, Sulla never attempted to conceal this sentimental attachment.

Despite his early waywardness, it seems certain that Sulla received a good education: he was fluent in Greek, a sure sign in Rome of an "educated man". The means by which Sulla attained the fortune which later would enable him to ascend the difficult ladder of Roman politics (or the Cursus honorum as it was known) are not clear, although Plutarch refers to two inheritances: one, conventionally, from his step-mother; the other, somewhat scandalously, from a low-born but rich unmarried lady.

Africa and the capture of Jugurtha

In 107 BC, Sulla was nominated quaestor to Gaius Marius, the renowned Roman general, who had been elected consul for that year. Marius was taking control of the Roman army in the war against King Jugurtha of Numidia in northern Africa. The Jugurthine War had started in 112 BC but Roman legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus had been taking what was seen as an excessive amount of time. Gaius Marius, a lieutenant and client of Metellus saw an opportunity to usurp his commander and fed rumours of incompetence and delay to the publicanii (merchants) in the region. These machinations caused calls for Metellus' removal; Marius returned to Rome to stand for the consulship and took over the campaign. Under the command of Marius, the Roman forces followed a very similar plan to Metellus' and ultimately defeated the Numidians in 106 BC, thanks in large part to Sulla's initiative in capturing the Numidian king. He had persuaded King Bocchus of Mauretania, a nearby kingdom, to betray Jugurtha, who had fled to Mauretania for refuge. It was a fraught operation from the first, with the wily King Bocchus weighing up the advantages of handing Jurgurtha over to Sulla or Sulla over to Jurgurtha. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sulla's political career. Much to the annoyance of Marius, a gilded equestrian statue of Sulla donated by King Bocchus was erected in the Forum to commemorate his accomplishment.

Cimbri and the Teutones

The next threat to Rome proved to be much more serious. In 104 BC the migrating Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed headed for Italy. Sulla continued to serve on Marius' staff during this campaign. Due to the immediate threat facing the city, Marius was elected Consul an unprecedented 5 years in a row. Finally, with his consular colleague Catulus, the Roman forces faced the tribes at the battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. Sulla had by this time transferred to the army of Quintus Lutatius Catulus Caesar. Sulla is generally credited as being the prime mover in the defeat of the tribes (Catulus being a hopeless general and quite incapable of cooperating with Marius). Marius and Catulus were both granted Triumphs as the co-commanding generals.

Praetorship and Cilician governorship

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, Orobazus, and by taking the seat between the Parthian ambassador and the ambassador from Pontus (the center seat being the place of honour), he sealed, perhaps unintentionally, the Parthian ambassador's fate. Orobazus was executed upon his return to Parthia for allowing Sulla to outmaneuver him. It was at this meeting he was told by a Chaldean seer, that he would die at the height of his fame and fortune. This prophecy was to have a powerful hold on Sulla throughout his life. In 92 BC Sulla repulsed Tigranes the Great of Armenia from Cappadocia. Later in 92 BC Sulla left the East and returned to Rome, where he aligned himself with the Optimates in opposition to Gaius Marius.

Social War

The Social War (91–87 BC) was fought against the Socii, Roman allies in Italy, and was the result of Rome's intransigence in regarding the civil liberties of its own citizens (Romans) as superior to those of the citizens of the rest of Italy. Subjects of the Roman Republic, these Italian provincials might be called to arms in its defence, they might be subjected to extraordinary taxes, but they had no say in the expenditure of these taxes, or in the uses of the armies that might be raised in their territories. The Social War was, in part, caused by the assassination of Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger. His reforms were intended to grant to the Roman allies in Italy full Roman citizenship, which would have given these "provincials" a say in the external and internal policies of the Roman Republic. When Drusus was assassinated, most of his reforms addressing these grievances were declared invalid. This greatly angered the Roman provincials, and in consequence, most allied against Rome.

At the beginning of the Social War, the Roman aristocracy and Senate were beginning to fear Marius' ambition, which had already given him 5 consulships in a row from 104 BC to 100 BC. They were determined that he should not have overall command of the war in Italy. In this last rebellion of the Italian allies, Sulla served with brilliance as a general. He outshone both Marius and the consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (the father of Pompey Magnus). For example, in 89 BC Sulla captured Aeclanum, the chief town of Hirpini, by setting the wooden breastwork on fire. As a result of his success in bringing the Social War to a successful conclusion, he was elected consul for the first time in 88 BC, with Quintus Pompeius Rufus (soon his daughter's father-in-law) as his colleague.

Grass Crown

Sulla served not only with brilliance as a general during the Social War, but also with immense personal bravery. At Nola he was awarded a corona obsidionalis ("obsidional crown"), also known as a corona graminea ("Grass Crown"), the highest Roman military honor, awarded for personal bravery to a commanding general in the saving of a Roman Army in the field. Unlike all other Roman military honors, it was awarded by acclamation of the soldiers of the rescued army, and consequently very few were ever awarded.

Consul and first march on Rome

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Bust of Sulla in the Munich Glyptothek.

As the consul of Rome, Sulla prepared to depart once more for the East, 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 Publius 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's own son-in-law was killed in those riots.

Sulla fled Rome and went to the camp of his victorious Social 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 then 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 pomoerium, with his army. It was so unethical that most of his commanders (with the exception of Lucullus) refused to accompany him. 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 soldiers, 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. After restructuring the city's politics and with the Senate's power strengthened, Sulla returned to his camp and proceeded with the original plan of fighting Mithridates in Pontus.

Marius, however, was not dead. He had fled to safety in Africa. With Sulla out of Rome, Marius plotted his return. During his period of exile Marius became determined that he would hold a seventh consulship, as foretold by the Sybil decades earlier. By the end of 87 BC Marius returned to Rome with the support of Lucius Cornelius Cinna and, in Sulla's absence, took control of the city. Marius declared Sulla's reforms and laws invalid and officially exiled Sulla. Marius and Cinna were elected consuls for the year 86 BC. Marius died a few days after, Cinna was now in sole control of Rome.

First Mithridatic War and the siege of Athens

In the spring of 87 BC Sulla landed at Dyrrachium, Greece. Asia was occupied by the forces of Mithridates under the command of Archelaus. Sulla’s first target was Athens, ruled by a Mithridatic puppet; the tyrant Aristion. Sulla moved southeast, picking up supplies and reinforcements as he went. Sulla’s chief of staff was Lucullus, who went ahead of him to scout the way and negotiate with Bruttius Sura, the existing Roman commander in Greece. After speaking with Lucullus, Sura handed over the command of his troops to Sulla. At Chaeronea, ambassadors from all the major cities of Greece with the exception of Athens, met with Sulla, who impressed on them the determination of Rome to drive Mithridates from Greece and Asia Province. Sulla then advanced on Athens.

On arrival, Sulla threw up a siege encompassing not only Athens but also the port of Piraeus. At the time Archelaus had command of the sea, so Sulla sent Lucullus to raise a fleet from the remaining Roman allies in the eastern Mediterranean. His first objective was Piraeus, as without it Athens could not be re-supplied. Huge earthworks were raised, isolating Athens and its port from the land side. Sulla needed wood, so he cut down everything including the sacred groves of Greece, up to 100 miles from Athens. When more money was needed he “borrowed” from temples and Sybils alike. The currency minted from this treasure was to remain in circulation for centuries and prized for its quality.

Despite the complete encirclement of Athens and its port, and several attempts by Archelaus to raise the siege, a stalemate seemed to have developed. Sulla however patiently bided his time, despite the insults hurled from the walls of Athens by Aristion and his followers, alluding to Sulla’s complexion (aggravated by the sun and heat) to the effect that his face looked like mulberry sprinkled with flour. Aspersions were also cast about his private life and his wife Metella. The Athenians were to later bitterly regret this episode. Soon his camp was to fill with refugees from Rome, fleeing the massacres of Marius and Cinna. These also included his wife and children as well as most of the Optimate party, not already dead.

Athens by now was starving and corn was at famine levels in price. Inside the city, the population was reduced to eating shoe leather and grass. A delegation from Athens was sent to treat with Sulla, but instead of serious negotiations they expounded on the glory of their city. Sulla sent them away saying: “I was sent to Athens, not to take lessons, but to reduce rebels to obedience.”

His spies then informed him that Aristion was neglecting the Heptachalcum. Sulla immediately sent sappers to undermine the wall. Nine hundred feet of wall was brought down between the Sacred and Piraeic gates on the southwest side of the city. A midnight sack of Athens began, and after the taunts of Aristion, Sulla was not in a mood to be magnanimous. Blood literally flowed in the streets, it was only after the entreaties of a couple of his Greek friends (Midias and Calliphon) and the pleas of the Roman Senators in his camp that Sulla decided enough was enough. He then concentrated his forces on the Port of Pireaus and Archelaus seeing his hopeless situation withdrew to the citadel and then abandoned the port to join up with his forces under the command of Taxiles. Sulla not having a fleet as yet, was powerless to prevent Archeleus’ escape. Prior to leaving Athens, he burnt the port to the ground. Sulla then advanced into Boeotia to take on Archeleus' armies, and remove them from Greece.

Battle of Chaeronea

Sulla lost no time moving to intercept the Pontic army and moved to occupy a hill called Philoboetus that branched off Mount Parnassus. It overlooked the Elatean plain and had plentiful supplies of wood and water. The army of Archelaus, presently commanded by Taxiles had to approach from the north and proceed along the valley towards Chaeronea. Over 120,000 strong, it outnumbered Sulla's forces by at least 3 to 1. Archelaus was in favor of a policy of attrition with the Roman forces, but Taxiles had orders from Mithridates to attack at once. In the meantime, Sulla got his men digging. Next, Sulla occupied the ruined city of Parapotamii. It was impregnable and commanded the fords on the road to Chaeronea. He then made a move that looked to Archelaus like a retreat. He abandoned the fords and moved in behind an entrenched palisade. Behind the palisade were the field artillery from the siege of Athens. Archelaus advanced across the fords and tried to outflank Sulla’s men, only to be hurled back on the Mithridatic right wing, causing even more confusion. Archelaus’ chariots then charged the Roman center, only to be destroyed on the palisades. Next came the phalanxes, they too found the palisades impassable, added to the fact that they were receiving withering fire from the Roman field artillery. Next Archelaus flung his right wing at the Roman left, Sulla seeing the danger of this maneuver raced over from the Roman right wing to help. Sulla stabilized the situation at which point Archelaus flung more troops in from his right flank. This destabilized the Pontic army, giving it a slew towards its right flank. Sulla dashed back to his own right wing and ordered the general advance. The legions supported by cavalry dashed forward and Archelaus’ army folded in on itself like closing a pack of cards. The slaughter was terrible and some reports estimate that only 10,000 of the original army of Mithridates survived. Chaeronea was one of the great battles of history, Sulla had defeated a vastly superior force in terms of numbers, it was also the first time that the use of battlefield entrenchments are recorded to have been used.

Battle of Orchomenos

The government of Rome (ie Cinna) then sent out Lucius Valerius Flaccus with an army to relieve Sulla of command in the east. Flaccus had been given as second in command a certain Fimbria, an individual that history records had few virtues. (He was to eventually agitate against his commanding officer and incite the troops to murder Flaccus). In the meantime, the two Roman armies camped next to each other and Sulla, not for the first time, encouraged his soldiers to spread dissension among Flaccus’ army. Many deserted to Sulla before Flaccus packed up and moved on north to threaten Mithridates’ northern dominions. In the meantime Sulla moved to intercept the new Pontic army. He chose the site of the battle to come - Orchomenos. Not only was it a natural place for a smaller army to meet a much larger one, due to its natural defenses, but it afforded Sulla the ideal terrain to expand on his entrenchment innovations. This time the Pontic army was in excess of 150,000 and it encamped itself in front of the busy Roman army, next to a large lake. It soon dawned on Archelaus what Sulla was up to. Sulla had not only been digging trenches, but dykes, and before long he had the Pontic army in deep trouble. Desperate sallies by the Pontic forces were repulsed by the Romans and the dykes moved onward. On the second day, Archeleus made a determined effort to escape Sulla’s web of dykes, the entire Pontic army was hurled at the Romans, but the Roman legionaries were pressed together so tightly that their short swords were like an impenetrable barrier through which the enemy could not escape. The battle turned into a rout and once again the slaughter was on an immense scale. Plutarch notes that two hundred years later, armor and weapons from the battle were still being found. The battle of Orchomenos was another of the world's decisive battles. It determined that the fate of Asia Minor was with Rome and her successors for the next millennium.

Second March on Rome

Determined to regain control of Rome, Sulla returned to Italy. With the support of Metellus Pius and others, Sulla's armies marched up Italy from the Port of Brindisium. He chased the remnants of the Marians, led by Marius's son, into Praeneste and bottled them up. Shortly afterwards, following a mad dash march to Rome, 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 Gneus Papirius Carbo's supporters in Sicily and Africa.

Dictator of Rome

At the beginning of 82 BC, Sulla was appointed dictator, rei publicae constituendae causa, by the Senate and subsequently ratified by the "Assembly of the People", 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 6 month periods) represented an exception to Rome's policy of not giving total power to a single individual. Sulla can be seen as setting the precedent for Julius Caesar's dictatorship, and the eventual end of the Republic under Augustus.

In total control of the city and its affairs, Sulla instituted a reign of terror, akin to, and in response to that which Marius and Cinna implemented while they were in control during Sulla's absence. Proscribing or outlawing every one of his political opponents, Sulla ordered some 1,500 Roman nobles (i.e., senators and equites) executed, though it is estimated that as many as 9,000 people were killed. 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. (One option commonly taken by those who had been proscribed was suicide, which under Roman law allowed their property to pass as inheritance to their families, and not as spoils to Sulla.) The children of the outlawed who weren't killed outright were banned 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 relatives, many of whom were Sulla's 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 are many a Marius."

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

Without any political obstacle, Sulla enacted a series of reforms to put control of the State firmly in the hands of the Senate. He 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. Finally, in a demonstration of his absolute power, he expanded the "Pomerium", the sacred boundary of Rome, untouched since the time of the kings.

After two years of unchallenged power, Sulla stunned Rome by resigning the Dictatorship. He disbanded his legions, re-established consular government (in accordance to his own rules, he stood for and was elected consul in 80 BC). He dismissed his lictors and walked unguarded in the forum, offering to give account of his actions to any citizen. This lesson in supreme confidence, Caesar later ridiculed - "Sulla did not know his political ABCs". In retrospect, of the two, Sulla was to have the last laugh, as it was he who died in his own bed.

Retirement

Lucius Cornelius Sulla - a denarius portrait issued by his grandson

After his second consulship he withdrew completely from political life to his country villa near Puteoli.

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 and dancers. Amongst them was Metrobius. 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 work and hard partying. His funeral was stupendous, and not matched until the death of Augustus in 14.

Sulla's legacy

Even though Sulla's laws reorganizing the legal system (courts), qualification for admittance to the Senate and regulation of governorships among many other initiatives remained on Rome's statutes for some considerable time, some of his legislation was repealed less than a decade after his death. The veto power of the tribunes and their legislating authority were soon reinstated, ironically during the consulships of Pompey and Crassus.

However, his most lasting legacy and the one he tried hardest to avoid, was the feeling among his successors that: "...if Sulla could do it, so can I..." It is interesting to note that none of them followed his most extraordinary example, that of resigning power. Like Caesar, most ended up paying the ultimate price as a result.

He tried hard to instill in Rome a horror of absolute power, by his proscriptions, by his lifestyle and by his feared temperament. Had he carried through on his better judgement and had Julius Caesar killed, he may have preserved the Republic for a few more decades or even longer. The virtues of the Republic however, had been waning since its rapid expansion of territory following the Second Punic War, its end was inevitable. In the end he could not undo his own example. Caesar, for all his disdain of Sulla, based his own grab for power very much on the Sullan model; he even based many of his greatest victories on Sulla's battles (use of battlefield entrenchments, etc.). In the end, Sulla could not undo the damage done to the republican institution by the Gracchi, by Marius and finally by himself.

Marriages and issue

• First wife, Ilia (possibly Julia)
  • Cornelia Sulla, married first with Gnaeus Pompeius Rufus and later with Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, mother of Pompeia Sulla, second wife of Julius Caesar
  • Lucius Cornelius Sulla, died young
• Second wife, Aelia. Sulla divorced her due to sterility.
• Third wife Caecilia Metella Dalmatica
  • Faustus (I) Cornelius Sulla
  • Fausta Cornelia Sulla, married Titus Annius Milo (praetor in 54 BC)
• Fourth wife, Valeria Messala
  • Postuma Cornelia Sulla (delivered after Sulla's death)

Chronology

• around 138 BC – born in Rome
• 107 BC – nominated Quaestor to Marius
• 106 BC – end of Jugurthine War
• 104/103 BC – legatus to Marius in Further Gaul
• 103 BC – legatus to Quintus Lutatius Catulus Caesar in Further Gaul
• 101 BC – defeats the Cimbrii in the battle of Vercellae
• 94 BC – elected praetor urbanus
• 93 BC – governor of Cilicia
• 91/88 BC – general in the Social War
• 88 BC –
  • consulship with Pompeius Rufus
  • invades Rome and outlaws Marius
• 87 BC – Command of Roman armies to fight King Mithridates of Pontus
• 86 BC – Sack of Athens, Battle of Chaeronea
• 85 BC – Battle of Orchomenus
• 84 BC – Expulsion of Mithridates' forces from Western Asia Minor & reorganization of Asia province
• 83 BC – Returns to Italy and invades Rome for the second time
• 82 BC – Appointed "Dictator - rei publicae constituendae causa"
• 80 BC – Resigns the dictatorship, elected consul with Metellus Pius
• 79 BC – Retires completely from political life
• 78 BC – Dies of liver failure, Funeral held in Rome

External links

• Plutarch's Life of Sulla
• Marius and Sulla
• Sulla and the proscriptions