Youth of the Dictator

One of the most controversial figures of the late Republic, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, was born in 138 BC and came from an ancient but impoverished patrician family. As early as the 4th–3rd centuries BC, his ancestors became consuls and dictators, but in 275 BC, Publius Cornelius Rufinus was expelled from the Senate for having "more than ten pounds of silverware" — an unforgivable luxury by the standards of the early Republic. This is how Plutarch explains the reasons for the family's decline, after which Sulla's ancestors did not rise above the position of praetor.

The future dictator, apparently, received an excellent education, was fluent in Greek, and was very successful with women. However, the poverty (by noble standards) of his father forced the young man to live in an insula (apartment building) rather than in his own mansion.

By that time, Rome was already the strongest power in the Mediterranean, where, as a result of numerous conquests, a stream of trophies, slaves, jewels, and tribute flowed. The main beneficiaries of the successes were the nobility, who received huge profits from giant land holdings and distributed key political positions within their class.

In turn, veterans of numerous wars could not compete with large estates and, having gone bankrupt, sold their plots to the same nobles. The impoverishment of the class of small landowners undermined the mobilization base of the army. Additionally, a conflict with the Italics — allied tribes in Italy without Roman citizenship, whose land was actively seized, although they made up a significant part of the army — was maturing. For every Roman legionary, there were about 1.5 to 2 soldiers from the Italics.

In the 130s and 120s BC, the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus led a popular movement aimed at land redistribution but were ultimately killed.

Sulla himself at that time was unlikely to think about a serious political career due to the relative modesty of his position. He preferred a dissolute lifestyle in the company of jesters and mimes — people who, by Roman standards of the time, were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. At some point, Sulla became involved with an elderly but wealthy freedwoman, Nicopolis, who bequeathed her fortune to him. Thanks to the inheritance, in 107 BC, he was able to be elected quaestor, that is, treasurer.

By that time, Sulla was already 30 years old. Having known need and "hardened" by life, he had honed his acting skills and was now determined to fight for his "place in the sun." As quaestor, Sulla went to Africa to war with the Numidian king Jugurtha.

In the Shadow of Marius

Numidia was located in the territories of modern Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya and was an unpleasant place — the arid climate in the mountains and deserts was a serious test for the legionaries. After the Roman victory over Hannibal, this country effectively became a Roman protectorate, but at some point, King Jugurtha overthrew King Adherbal. Since the latter was an ally of Rome, in 111 BC, the Senate declared war on the new ruler.

Jugurtha had experience serving in Spain under the destroyer of Carthage, Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, and established himself as a talented commander who had become familiar with the organization of the legions. The king understood the impossibility of defeating the Romans in direct confrontation and instead decided to take advantage of the terrain by imposing guerrilla warfare.

To the displeasure of the plebs, none of the Roman commanders could achieve decisive success. After several changes of commanders, in the consular elections of 107 BC, the victory was won by the low-born Gaius Marius — another student of Scipio Aemilianus Africanus. He standardized the training and equipment system of the legionaries and, most importantly, abolished the property qualification, promising soldiers land for service.

The successes of the "new type of army" after thorough military training were not long in coming. Marius quickly took the most important cities for Jugurtha — Capsa, Thala, the Muluccha Citadel, and Palla. Along with these cities, the Numidian king lost a significant part of his treasury.

On Marius's orders, Sulla recruited cavalry in Italy and arrived in Numidia. As Sallust reports, he quickly mastered all the intricacies of military affairs, quickly adapted to the army environment, and gained popularity among the legionaries thanks to his acting skills.

However, Jugurtha did not waste time, recapturing Cirta from the Romans — the capital of the Numidian kingdom. Marius, along with Sulla, moved to retake the city. Near Cirta, a general battle took place against the combined forces of the Numidians and Mauritanians. Sulla, at the head of the cavalry, successfully flanked the enemy's army and, together with the rest of the consul's army, completed the rout.

Marius understood perfectly well that pursuing Jugurtha through the mountains and deserts of Numidia could continue indefinitely, so he resorted to cunning. The commander sent a diplomatic mission to the Mauritanian king Bocchus, led by Sulla and legate Aulus Manlius — apparently, the consul already highly valued the talents of the cavalry commander. Bocchus agreed to hand over Jugurtha in exchange for territories in Western Numidia. Then Marius entrusted Sulla with conducting a whole special operation to capture the Numidian king. Under the pretext of meeting with the Roman envoy, the Mauritanians lured Jugurtha, captured him, and handed him over to Sulla — thus the war was ended.

In 105 BC, Marius finally suppressed the resistance of the Numidians and placed a king loyal to Rome on the throne. In the same year, the commander returned to Rome and celebrated a grand triumph. The captive Jugurtha was paraded in the triumph, and after the celebration, he was starved to death. The glory of the victor also went to Sulla, who successfully commanded the cavalry and personally captured the king! Later, already an old man, Sulla would insist that he was a favorite of Fortune and "fortunate for himself and the Republic" — was it not then that he believed in his "star"?

While Marius and Sulla were fighting in Africa, a Germanic invasion occurred in the north. In 105 BC, the tribes of the Cimbri and Teutons invaded the province of Narbonese Gaul. At Arausio, the Roman army was defeated with catastrophic losses — Livy names a figure of 80,000 soldiers and 40,000 camp followers with servants. Although these are clearly fantastic and exaggerated numbers, the historian cited them to emphasize the complete rout. Panic broke out in Rome, as the path to Italy was open to the enemy. However, the leaders of the Germans and Celts preferred to invade Spain. The capital of the Republic was given a respite.

Marius, not yet returned from Africa, was elected consul in absentia with one task — to save the Republic. This was already an exceptional measure, as usually, a candidate for consul was required to be present at the elections in person. Arriving in Italy, he immediately began reorganizing the remnants of the Roman army, scaling his previous reforms to all Roman legions. Marius preferred to leave his veterans in Africa, as the soldiers were exhausted after a long war and needed a break. Only his "officers," including Sulla, went to war with the consul.

Already in 102 BC, Marius defeated the Teutons at Aquae Sextiae, and in 101 BC, the Cimbri were defeated at Vercellae — the Republic was saved. Marius became not only the hero of the Jugurthine War but also the savior of the Fatherland. Sulla, during the war, captured the leader of the Tectosages tribe, Copillus, which ended their resistance. Later, Sulla managed to prevent the Marsi tribe from entering the war on the side of the Germans and convinced them to ally with Rome.

During all these wars, Marius continuously held the position of consul for 5 years — an unprecedented honor since the early Republic and, importantly, quite symptomatic. Sulla still served as Marius's legate, but soon he would step out of his commander's shadow.

The Rise of Sulla

The 90s BC were surprisingly calm for Rome. So calm that the sources even poorly cover it. We know that Sulla, thanks to his military successes and friendship with the Mauritanian king Bocchus, was able to be elected to the position of urban praetor — the ancient Roman equivalent of a judge in civil cases. A position quite prominent, just one step below the rank of consul.

After the praetorship, Sulla was appointed proconsul in Cilicia in the southeast of Asia Minor. Here, as governor, he had to intervene in the civil war in Cappadocia on the side of the pro-Roman king Ariobarzanes against the usurper Gordius, who was supported by the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. At the head of a small detachment, Sulla managed to defeat Gordius's troops. At the same time, an embassy from Parthia arrived to the governor, and thus, Sulla became the first Roman official to establish diplomatic contact with the powerful eastern neighbor of the Republic.

Returning to Rome, Sulla found it in a state of another crisis. This time passions were boiling around the Italics — the people's tribune Marcus Livius Drusus was promoting a bill to grant the Italics the rights of Roman citizenship, as they were burdened by unequal relations with Rome, although the Republic's army was largely replenished by the Italics.

Suddenly, Drusus died. His death aroused suspicions among the leaders of the Italics, who believed that Drusus's "murder" put an end to the possibility of negotiating with the Senate. The Italic communities of southern and central Italy decided to take what was theirs by force and rose in rebellion. The Social War (91–88 BC) began.

Sulla and the elderly Marius participated in it as legates. The troops under Sulla's command defeated the Italics in Samnium and Campania and took the capital of the rebels, Bovianum. Nevertheless, the Senate was forced to make concessions — Roman citizenship was granted to the communities in the north that remained loyal to Rome, and subsequently, it was extended to the rebels, although the votes of the "new" citizens were not equal to the votes of the "old" ones. As a result of the pacification of the Italics, Sulla became a hero of the Republic and in 88 BC intended to achieve the position of consul.

Meanwhile, the already mentioned Pontic king Mithridates invaded Roman Asia, organizing a real massacre of Roman citizens — according to Appian, 150,000 people were killed. Against this backdrop, Sulla was successfully elected consul and led an army to a new war. However, after his departure, Marius, who wanted to regain his glory as the main commander, organized a conspiracy together with the people's tribune Publius Sulpicius. They managed to push through a law transferring command to Marius.

Then Sulla made a counter-move. His army had many veterans of the Social War. Now, thanks to Marius's reforms, the legionaries were more loyal to their own commanders than to the "Senate and people of Rome," as it was the commander who promised them trophies and land allotments. The change of commander threatened Sulla's veterans that they would be bypassed by Marius's veterans. With the support of the army, Sulla refused to comply with the law and turned the army on Rome, which he took by storm — for the first time in history.

Marius fled to Africa, and Sulpicius was betrayed by his own slave. The slave was freed for assisting the consul but was immediately executed for treason as a free man.

Sulla could not stay long in Rome and left for the war with Mithridates in 87 BC as proconsul.

War and Dictatorship

In 87 BC, as proconsul, Sulla went to war against Mithridates, after which the surviving Marians raised their heads again. Marius himself returned to Rome, elected consul with his supporter Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Together they organized a series of show executions of the highest Roman aristocrats, but soon the 70-year-old Marius died. Cinna, deprived of such an influential ally, was forced to seek new support and found it in the Italics — he equalized the votes of the Italics and Romans. He sent legions to Greece against Sulla, but they switched to the proconsul's side. In 84 BC, Cinna was killed while trying to raise a new army.

Meanwhile, in the East, Mithridates captured vast territories in the Roman province of Asia in the west of modern Turkey and invaded Greece. First, Sulla took Athens, then defeated the Pontics at Chaeronea in 86 BC and Orchomenus in 85 BC. Mithridates was forced to leave the Balkans and agree to a peace treaty. For the victories won, the army proclaimed Sulla emperor. At that time, this title designated a victorious commander, not the ruler of the state. But due to the split in Rome, Sulla limited himself to the status quo: Mithridates renounced his conquests and paid indemnity. The rich trophies taken in Greece and the money received from Mithridates allowed Sulla to maintain his 40,000-strong army. In particular, Sulla took with him for personal use a collection of Aristotle's works.

After Cinna's death, the Marians were led by the late commander's son, Gaius Marius the Younger, who could not organize worthy resistance. In 83 BC, Sulla landed in Brundisium, in southern Italy, and took Rome for the second time. In 82 BC, Sulla appointed himself dictator "for the writing of laws and the strengthening of the Republic." Dictators had not been appointed since the Second Punic War, and moreover, instead of the usual 6 months, Sulla's dictatorship was declared indefinite. Cicero would later say that "the nobility regained power in the Republic with fire and sword."

The aristocratic optimist Sulla was irritated by the speeches of the "democratic" populares. Throughout his life, he emphasized his high birth and sought to restore the glory of his family.

Now, on the Roman Forum, tablets with the names of persons declared outlaws — proscriptions — were posted. A reward was due for each killed, and slaves were promised freedom. The property of the proscribed was subject to confiscation. In this simple way, the dictator spared himself the need to conduct search operations, as money-hungry citizens themselves brought in everyone needed.

The process immediately got out of control, and not only Sulla's enemies but also many ordinary wealthy citizens fell under the roller. Many of Sulla's friends enriched themselves from this, the most famous of them being Marcus Licinius Crassus, the victor over Spartacus. An unprecedented regime of terror was established in Rome and throughout Italy — thousands of citizens perished. The young Gaius Julius Caesar narrowly escaped death. In him, Sulla saw a potential threat, saying that "in him lies many a Marius." Ironically, the young man would also become a perpetual dictator.

Having rid himself of the opposition, Sulla actively set about reforms. He clarified the cursus honorum — the order of holding positions. Now, to avoid the usurpation of power, no magistrate could be re-elected to office within 10 years after the term. The dictator doubled the number of senators from 300 to 600 and expanded the administrative apparatus. Thus, the number of praetors increased from 6 to 8, and quaestors from 8 to 20. The courts were transferred to the Senate's jurisdiction, and Sulla's veterans received land plots in Italy at the expense of the Italics. To avoid new unrest from them, the dictator retained Cinna's law on the equality of Italic and Roman votes.

But most importantly, the dictator deprived the people's tribunes of most of their rights. Now they could not convene the Senate, were deprived of the right of legislative initiative, and could not be elected to any other position while holding this office. Sulla wanted to nip the possibility of new "Gracchi" in the bud.

The dictator understood that his reforms were based primarily on the strength of the legions, not laws. To prevent anyone from repeating his own victory, Sulla forbade commanders from appearing in Italy with an army — the commander was obliged to disband it before returning to Rome. By the way, it was Sulla who established the northern border of Italy along the Rubicon River.

The dictator did everything to strengthen the senatorial aristocracy and weaken the grassroots movement, trying to roll back the Republic to the times of undisputed dominance of the nobility when Sulla's family "shone." Paradoxically, the usurper, using tyrannical methods, tried to return to times when such usurpation was impossible, and dictators laid down their powers months, or even days after appointment, rather than holding the position indefinitely. It was thanks to Sulla that the word "dictator" acquired the familiar association not with heroic "saving the Fatherland," but with usurpation and tyranny.

Having considered his work done, Sulla suddenly resigned as dictator and declared that he was ready to be held accountable for all his actions. No accusers were found. The nobles highly appreciated Sulla's efforts to strengthen their position, and even Cicero, who branded Caesar a tyrant and usurper, called Sulla's reforms a "morally beautiful deed." Did contemporaries understand that Sulla created a dangerous precedent that would allow another eminent commander to cross the Rubicon and take Rome again in just 40 years? Or did they sincerely believe that the "Republic was strengthened" and the "noble cause" had won? Ironically, Cicero himself would also fall under the proscriptions, but of Mark Antony.

It should not be thought that Sulla was the cause of the fall of the Republic. Rather, he was a vivid symptom, like Marius, who held the position of consul an anomalous seven times. Researchers see in Sulla's dictatorship a prologue to the activities of Gaius Julius Caesar and Octavian Augustus. Some even call him the first Roman monarch.

The man who first in the history of the Eternal City seized power by force, voluntarily renounced it. Sulla spent the rest of his days on a villa, hosting lavish feasts, in the company of jesters and actors, as in his youth. In his free time from festivities, he read the literature obtained in Greece. He died in 78 BC from an unknown illness. He was definitely "fortunate for himself," but was he "fortunate for the Republic"?