Lucius Cornelius Sulla

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Lucius Cornelius SULLA

Dictator, 82-79 B.C.

Born 138 – Died 78 B.C., age 60

LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA began his career serving as Quaestor, a judge of criminal cases, and State Treasurer. In 107 BC, while serving under General Gaius Marius (155-86 B.C.), Sulla captured Jugurtha in the Jugurthine War. In the period 104-101 BC, two great hordes of barbarians, the Teutones and Cimbri, began to migrate southward towards Italy. Sulla aided Marius in evicting the barbarians, at which time Marius was hailed as “Rome’s Deliverer.”

Marius was growing very old, and his political prestige began to decline. During the “Social War” (90-88 BC), Marius sought to regain some of his lost political importance by accomplishing some early military successes in 90 BC. However, the younger Sulla surpassed his “mentor” during the conflict and, as such, rose in political stature.

In 88 BC, Sulla was elected CONSUL by the Senate and was given the command of the legions instead of Marius in the war against Mithridates VI, The Great, the most celebrated of the line of Kings of Pontus (the first Mithradatic War 88-84 BC). After Sulla departed from Rome, but before he left Italy, Marius conspired with members of the Senate to have the command transferred to himself. This began the open breach between Marius and Sulla, leading to political discord.

Sulla, upon hearing the news that Marius had stolen his command, returned to Rome with his army and defeated Marius‘ supporters. Marius was forced to flee the city during the purge. However, while the Mithradatic War occupied Sulla, Marius once again returned to Rome and, after his own reign of terror, in which he disposed of most of Sulla’s supporters and confiscated their property, was appointed to his seventh Consulship. Marius died a few weeks after being appointed Consul, but his Marian Party was again left in control of Rome.

Posthumous Silver Denarius
No contemporary portrait coinage was issued.

While Marius and his party took control of Rome, Sulla was engaged in a long siege of Athens, which had supported Mithradates VI. Athens fell, and Sulla took the city in 86 BC. After defeating Archelaus, one of Mithradates’ Generals, Sulla left Greece and crossed the Hellespont, whereupon he secured peace with Mithradates VI in 84 BC. Later, Mithradates successfully repelled Nicomedes, forcing his armies to flee to Bithynia. Mithradates massacred 80,000 Romans who still lived within his kingdom to support Nicomedes’ invasion. News of the massacre resulted in the second Mithradatic War (83-82 BC), which reduced all of Mithradates VI’s Asian holdings. Control of these regions was passed to the Roman commander, Flavius Fimbria. The third Mithradatic War (74-65 BC) ended Mithradates’ pressure on Bithynia, and after his retreat, his son, Mithradates VII, turned against him and attacked his father’s army. Mithradates committed suicide in 63 BC.

When Sulla returned with his army to Rome, he was received triumphantly for his outstanding military success in Greece. However, upon discovering the brutality of Marius and his party members while fighting Mithradates, Sulla retaliated by promptly proscribing the Marian Party and their property and declaring himself a Dictator in 82 BC.

After Sulla’s reign of terror against the Marians and their supporters, Sulla set about rebuilding the influence of the Senate, which had lost considerable prestige, influence, and members over the previous 50 years. Sulla used his Dictatorial powers to rebuild the Senate, which had traditionally been the old boy’s club for the nobility. Sulla restored the Senate’s right to sit on juries to try provincial governors on extortion charges. He limited the powers of Tribunes, the famous leaders elected by the people. He also created several permanent courts, each under the presidency of a Praetor.

Sulla retired from active government life in 79 BC. He was a well-respected and able general, a well-versed politician, and a respected statesman. However, when he died in 78 BC, he left many enemies. His most notable enemy was Julius Caesar, of whom Sulla had warned that “many Marius” existed in that man.