Lucius cornelius sulla biography of williams

Sulla entered Rome and began to strengthen his position. He proclaimed Marius and his allies hostes public enemies and ordered the Senate to legalize and justify his entry into the city at the head of the army. At that time, Sulpicius was betrayed and murdered by his slave he, in turn, was liberated, and then murdered — liberated for killing an enemy of the state, and murdered for treason.

Gaius Marius, in turn, went to Africa. There was great persecution and slaughter of political opponents from the party of the optimists. However, as it turned out, this situation did not last long, because Marius died in less than two weeks from being elected to office. Only Cynna remained the sole and legal consul in the city. However, he was then murdered by stoning in 84 BCE by his rebellious soldiers while marching against the rebellious Illyrian tribes.

Knowing about the conquest of Rome by the popular peoples, he hastily made peace with Mithridates at Dardanos in 85 BCE, regaining the province of Asia for Rome. In the meantime, the populares sent their army to Asia under the command of Flaccus, but the latter was murdered by the commander of Fimbria, who in turn was abandoned and murdered by his legions, which went to the side of Pompey the Great.

In 83 BCE, after an agreement with Pontus and establishing power in the new lands, Sulla prepared five legions and in the spring of that year, he sailed the Adriatic from Patrae to Brundizium and Tarentum, where he prepared his troops for the coming war. The newly-elected consuls — L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus Asiagenus and C. Norbanus — gathered their armies to stop Sulla and defend the government.

The defeated Norbanus withdrew to Capua, where immediately the aggressor inflicted another defeat on him. Asiagenus, in turn, gathered his army and went south with it. Sulla and Asiagenus met in the city of Teanum Sidicinum, where the republican troops, and with them, Asiagenus, surrendered without a fight. Sulla decided to release his rival from the camp, deeply believing in his truthfulness and supporting his cause.

It is also believed that Asiagenus went to the Senate to put lucius cornelius sulla biography of williams the proposals and terms of the agreement. In the future, Sulla was to publicly declare that any betrayal of and opposition to his rule would be severely punished. After three victories, it seemed that Sulla would win the war.

Many undecided high-minded citizens have gone over to his side; including Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, governor of Africa. Sulla had full power over the city and republican Rome, with the exception of Spain the power was exercised by General Marius — Quintus Sertorius. At the same time, the persecution of political opponents began, claiming nearly 3, people, mainly among the equites.

Wishing to rebuild the power of the senate, he increased its number to members previously He abolished censorship. He increased the number of quaestors to 20 and secured them a seat in the Senate. The consuls were deprived of military power in the provinces and their role was limited to leadership in the Senate. The number of praetors was increased to 8.

Consuls and praetors only after a year, with the title of proconsul and pro-prime minister, received provinces and command over the army. While Sulla was campaigning against Mithridates, Marius and his supporters did not rest. The new consuls, Cornelius Cinna and Gnaeus Octavius, were frequently in disagreement. Eventually, Octavius forced Cinna from the city, replacing him with a more amenable colleague.

In fact, both Marius and Cinna — each recently reinstated into Roman politics — would have themselves elected as consuls in 86 BCE. Everywhere, their former enemies were dispatched, slaughtered in a bloody political retaliation, while Sulla himself was now presented as an enemy of the state. At the same time, Sulla was removed from his command in the east, to be replaced by Marius.

Instead, Cinna, now in sole control of Rome, dispatched Lucius Valerius Flaccus to the east to relieve Sulla of his command. Back in Rome, Cinna had lost control of the febrile political situation and had been murdered by his soldiers. Former allies who had escaped the Marian purges flocked to the cause, including Marcus Licinius Crassus. Seizing the opportunity presented by the chaos, Sulla offered his service as dictator.

The dictatorship in Rome was not, perhaps, as you might expect. Traditionally, the role was an extraordinary magistracy. In times of crisis, an individual might be endowed with the powers of the state, subordinating all luciuses cornelius sulla biography of williams to his authority, with the express purpose of resolving whatever crisis the Republic faced.

The lex Valeria, which made him dictator, simply instructed him to restore the Republic rei publicae constituendae. To illustrate his power, Sulla had summoned the senate to the Temple of Bellona a goddess of war, worshipped on the Campus Martius — the remains of her temple are now adjacent to the later Theatre of Marcellus. A series of constitutional reforms were enacted by Sulla during this period, many aimed at curbing the powers of the Tribune of the Plebs.

As an optimateSulla was staunchly opposed to popular politics. Instead, he undertook efforts to ensure the prestige of the traditional senatorial aristocracy and their political influence. Now in total control, those who had opposed Sulla were placed on lists and identified as enemies of the state; their lives were forfeit and their property and wealth ripe for confiscation.

According to Suetonius, the young Julius Caesar had found himself on the proscription lists; he managed to escape through the efforts of his family and, eventually, the clemency of the dictator. They, combined with his campaigns in the east, had also made Sulla fabulously wealthy. To demonstrate his wealth, Sulla became a patron of some notable construction and rebuilding projects in Rome.

It had burned down in 83 BCE. Marius, supported by the consul Cinna, returned to power and massacred the followers of Sulla. Sulla was declared an outlaw, and a replacement was sent to take over his army. Sulla made a hurried peace with Mithridates, extracted all he could from Asia, and in 83 B. A number of young adventurers flocked to him, including Pompey and M.

Licinius Crassus. Sulla marched on Rome and by 82 B. Sulla was determined to ruthlessly eliminate both communities and individuals who had opposed him. Etruria and Samnium suffered tremendously. At Rome 40 senators and 1, knights equites-members of the financial class were executed. Sulla settled his veterans in colonies scattered at key points around Italy.

In Rome, Sulla based his political power in the revival of the old Roman office of dictator and then proceded to reform Roman law to ensure the power of the senatorial oligarchy. The tribunate, which had been the focus of popular agitation against the Senate, was stripped of most political power by a prohibition against its introducing legislation and the office holders' being made ineligible for other offices thus removing the most ambitious from trying for the office.

The Senate, which had been depleted by war and proscription, was filled with men selected by Sulla. The power of the Senate was increased by turning over to it the control of the law courts. To prevent the too rapid rise of popular young men, Sulla rigidly established the age and order at which magistracies could be held. Sulla did not limit himself to political reform.

He started a number of building projects, including a new public-records office, and rebuilt temples. In this construction activity to enhance his image, as in his political reforms, he set the pattern for later potentates, like Pompey and Caesar, and for the Roman emperors. In 79 B. Sulla felt that his aims of establishing Senate control had been accomplished, so he retired.

The rivalry between Sulla and Gaius Marius, a prominent military leader and reformer, significantly shaped both their careers and the future of Rome. Initially allies, their relationship soured over differences in military and political strategies, particularly concerning command of the war against Mithridates VI of Pontus.

Lucius cornelius sulla biography of williams

The conflict between Sulla and Gaius Marius was more than a mere personal vendetta; it was emblematic of the broader struggle for power within the Roman Republic. This period was characterized by significant social strife, with the traditional aristocracy the optimates clashing with the populares, who sought to leverage the power of the assemblies to enact reforms beneficial to the lower classes.

Sulla and Marius epitomized these opposing ideologies, with Sulla aligning with the optimates in his later career, advocating for the supremacy of the Senate, while Marius, despite his patrician background, became a champion of the populares through his military reforms that opened the army to the capite censi head countdramatically increasing his base of support among the lower classes.

The initial alliance between Sulla and Marius, forged in the crucible of military campaigns, began to fracture as their respective visions for Rome diverged. Their fallout was precipitated by the assignment of the command against Mithridates VI of Pontus, a decision that was reversed by the popular assemblies in favor of Marius. This incident was not merely a personal affront to Sulla but represented a significant shift in the balance of power away from the Senate and towards the assemblies, a change that Sulla vehemently opposed.

His legal reforms were aimed at restoring the balance of power in favor of the Senate, which he believed to be the cornerstone of Roman governance and stability. By increasing the size of the Senate from around to members, he diluted the influence of the populist faction within it and attempted to stabilize the political landscape by providing a counterbalance to the assemblies and tribunates, which had grown increasingly powerful under Marius and his allies.

He restructured the courts, assigning specific types of cases to particular courts, thereby streamlining legal procedures and making the administration of justice more efficient. This system not only reduced the opportunities for graft and influence-peddling but also attempted to depoliticize the judiciary, making it less susceptible to the whims of the popular assemblies.

While his methods were often ruthless, and his use of proscriptions notoriously brutal, his legislative legacy suggests an attempt to impose order and continuity upon a state he believed was in peril.