Lucius Cornelius Sulla - The Ruthless Dictator Who Reshaped Rome

for centuries Lucius Cornelius suer has been reviled as a maniacal Tyrant who defiled the Roman Constitution and instituted bloody purges but some Modern historians assert that he has been judged too harshly they present him as a republican champion who predominantly acted out of necessity and often with the best of intentions as always the truth is more complex suer was born in 138 BC to a patrician family that had become largely insignificant although educated he lived in relative poverty in his early adulthood and milled about with actors but his fortunes soon changed as his stepmother and mistress both died bequeathing him considerable wealth this permitted him to successfully campaign for the quester ship of 107 bcee and gain military experience he was promptly selected to serve as one of General gas marius's lieutenants in the war against the ever elusive and increasingly dangerous former Roman Ally the numidian king jugara Sula raised an ably Le a Cavalry contingent during the numidian campaign during which he won great popularity within the ranks for sharing the common legionaries hardships as Marius gradually captured jugurthine strongholds and routed his armies he tasked suah with negotiating with the vacillating King Bas of morania whose Allegiance was subject to change eventually Bas agreed aged to surrender jugara personally to Sula which essentially marked the end of the conflict in 105 BC Sula took every opportunity to boast that it was he who ended the war not Marius which undoubtedly annoyed the general nonetheless more serious matters required their attention Barbarian tribes from the North had humiliated multiple Roman armies and were threatening to invade the Italian Peninsula Marius was charged with subduing these tribes the simri and the two tones and he again chose the very capable Su to assist him however during the Barbarian conflict the relationship between Marius and Sula became so strained that Sula requested to be reassigned to another Army led by the co-consul catulus the transfer was approved and once more suah proved his worth even though calus's Army was relegated to a supporting role in the conflict which ultimately resulted in the sound defeat of the Barbarian tribes in 101 BC with the jugurthine and Barbarian Wars concluded suah focused his energy on advancing his political career in 99 BC he unsuccessfully canvased for the prorip on his military successes undeterred by this loss he sought the office again the following year on a platform of unprecedented free games and unsurprisingly he was duly elected following his prorip Sula was assigned to serve as governor of the Roman province of celissia beginning in 96 6 BC where he displayed his administrative aptitude and Military prowess but sula's political Ambitions abruptly halted as Rome descended into its first Civil War in 91 BC called the social war Rome's Italian allies had clamored for Roman citizenship for years and finally revolted to gain their independence Sula plunged himself into the conflict briefly fought alongside Marius and impressively neutralized many foes gaining great notoriety because of his Newfound popularity he was nearly unanimously elected to the consulship of 88 BC however domestic politics proved difficult to maneuver and factional disagreements led to an outbreak of violent rioting it became so dangerous that Sula was forced to seek refuge in marius's home even though he was aiding sula's opposition all the while a threat was rapidly developing in the East king mithradates of pontis had invaded the Roman province of Asia and orchestrated the massacre of 880,000 Romans and Italians this required Swift action and the highly sought command fell to Sula which enraged the envious Marius when Sula departed to prepare his army in 88 BC Marius engineered the passage of legislation replacing Sula with himself as the head of the command Marius swiftly dispatched subordinates to facilitate the transfer of power but they were stoned to death by su's TR troops the pro Marian faction responded just as viciously by executing some of sula's supporters in Rome solah refused to relinquish his coveted command and decided to consolidate his position in Rome he reversed his troops and became the first Roman general to lead a hostile Army across Rome's pomerium a sacred boundary surrounding Rome and seize the city Marius was not expecting such an unparalleled Enterprise and was only able to coordinate a limited but ins sufficient defense Marius fled the city as Sula proclaimed him and 11 of his associates Public Enemies carrying a sentence of death but only one Public Enemy was captured and killed supicious he was betrayed by his slave who on sula's orders was first granted his freedom and then thrown to his death from the tarpan rock for his betraying his master once suah was satisfied that a favorable government was installed he departed in 87 BCE to confront mithridatis whose control and influence had swiftly spread throughout the East but sula's plans were quickly thwarted the consul Lucius Cornelius sinner Allied himself with Marius who returned and they began dispensing Revenge Sula was declared a public enemy and many of his friends and allies were executed in a purge conducted by the pro Marian government they even dispatched newly raised Legions to Vanquish myth's Army undaunted solar successful F engaged the mithraic generals eventually forcing a hasty but very lenient peace treaty with mithradates with the conflict settled the Army commissioned by sinner defected to suah he was now free to settle matters in Rome meanwhile su's most implacable foe Marius died in 86 BC possibly of puracy and his partner cner was murdered by mutinying troops in 84 BC who were preparing to depart for Greece to eventually meet Sal in battle still the Marian faction was not yet defeated but it increasingly relied on the leadership of Junior partners by 83 BC Sula marched towards Rome at the head of an army intent on seizing control of the Republic's Capital to eliminate potential threats and enforce his will for a second time what resulted was another civil war that climaxed but didn't end just outside of Rome at the Colleen gate with the Aid of two newcomers pompy and crus after his victory some opposing legionaries were granted clemency but others were not so fortunate as he butchered thousands of soldiers who had already surrendered by 82 BC suah assumed the dictatorship for an indefinite period as he saw fit the Roman Constitution permitted the appointment of a dictator in times of dire emergencies but only for a maximum period of 6 months it had been unused for 120 years suah used his unlimited power to unilaterally reform the Republic into his ideal form of government he curtailed the power of the tribunes of the people who were sacran elected officials with immense veto powers and the ability to circumvent the Senate by introducing legislation directly to the people's assembly Sula restricted their power by requiring all legislation to First be approved by the Senate greatly increasing its influence he established the requisite ages for office holders and the order in which the offices could be held along the cursus honorum the Roman political ladder and he packed the Senate with his supporters he set the maximum prices for many Goods services and also limited interest rates he even sold tax immunity to certain cities and he unpopular abolished the graind do for all of his efforts many of his reforms were quickly repealed some by his allies Pompei and crus if this was the extent of his dictatorship then perhaps he would be remembered differently but solah instituted the prescriptions which cemented his transformation into a bloody Tyrant each day he posted a list of condemned Romans in the Forum whose property was to be confiscated and whose murder would be rewarded with a bounty from the state once the deed was done Sula personally inspected the severed heads of the slain which served as decorations for his home and the Forum thousands were added to the prescription lists with or without just cause a young Julius Caesar was prescribed for no other reason than he refused to divorce his wife Sinner's daughter su's Deputy crus placed men on the prescription lists simply because he coveted their Estates and various names were postumus added to justify their unauthorized murders The Purge lasted for months and led to the deaths of an uncertain number from Rome's upper classes estimated at perhaps 1,9 9,000 killed