geous ceremony, he claimed for himself the sur- Sulla had completed his reforms by the begin-
name of Felix, as he attributed his success in life ning of B.
name of Felix, as he attributed his success in life ning of B.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
and his general wealthy cities of Asia, he left his legate, L.
Li-
ARCHBL AUS, and may therefore be dismissed here cinius Murcna, in command of the province of
with a few words. Sulla landed at Dyrrhachium, Asia, with two legions, and set sail with his own
and forth with marched against Athens, which had army to Athens. While preparing for his deadly
become the head-quarters of the Mithridatic cause struggle in Italy, he did not lose his interest in
in Greece. After a long and obstinate siege, literature. He carried with him from Athens to
Athens was taken by storm on the 1st of March Rome the valuable library of Apellicon of Teos,
in the following year, B. C. 86 ; and in consequence which contained most of the works of Aristotle
of the insults which Sulla and his wife Metella had and Theophrastus. [APELLICON. ) During his
received from the tyrant Aristion, the city was stay at Athens, Sulla had an attack of gout, of
given up to mpine and plunder. He next obs which he was cured by the use of the warm springs
tained possession of the Peiraeeus, which had been of Aedepsus in Euboea. As soon as he recovered,
defended by Archelaus. Meantime Mithridates he led his army to Dyrrhachium, and from thence
had sent fresh reinforcements to Archelaus, who crossed over to Brundusium in Iunly.
concentrated all his troops in Boeotia. Sulla ad- Sulla landed at Brundusium in the spring of
vanced against him, and defeated him in the B. C. 83, in the consulship of L. Scipio and C.
neighbourhood of Chaeronein with such enormous Norbanus. During the preceding year he had
loss, that out of the 120,000 men with whom written to the senate, recounting the services he
Archelaus had opened the campaign, he is said had rendered to the commonwealth from the time
to have assembled only 10,000 at Chalcis in Eu- of the Jugurthine war down to the conquest of
boea, where he had taken refuge. But while Sulla Mithridates, complaining of the ingratitude with
was carrying on the war with such success in which he had been treated, announcing his speedy
Greece, his enemies had obtained the upper hand return to Italy, and threatening to take vengeance
in Italy. The consul Cinna, who had been driven upon his enemies and those of the republic. The
out of Rome by his colleague Octavius, soon after senate, in alarm, sent an embassy to Sulla to en-
Sulla's departure from Italy, had entered it again deavour to bring about a reconciliation between
with Marius at the close of the year. Both Cinna him and his enemies, and meantime ordered the
and Marius were appointed consuls B. c. 86, all consuls Cinna and Carbo to desist from levying
the regulations of Sulia were swept away, his friends troops, and making further preparations for war.
and adherents murdered, his property confiscated, Cinna and Carbo gave no heed to this command ;
and he himself declared a public enemy. It they knew that a reconciliation was impossible,
has frequently been made a subject of panegyric and resolved to carry over an army to Dalmatia,
upon Sulla that he still continued to prosecute the in order to oppose Sulla in Greece ; but after one
war with Mithridates under these circumstances, detachment of their troops had embarked, the
and preferred the subjugation of the enemies of remaining soldiers rose in mutiny, and murdered
Rome to the gratification of his own revenge. Cinna. The Marian party had thus lost their
But it must be recollected that an immediate leader, but continued nevertheless to make every
peace with Mithridates would have discontented preparation to oppose Sulla, for they were well aware
his soldiers ; while by bringing the war to an that he would never forgive them, and that their only
honourable conclusion, he gratified his troops by choice lay between victory and destrnction. Ben
plunder, attached them more and more to his person, sides this the Italians were ready to support them,
and at the same time collected from the conquered as these new citizens feared that Sulla would de-
cities vast sums of money for the prosecution of prive them of the rights which they had lately
the war against his enemies in Italy. At the same obtained after so much bloodshed. The Marian
time it is an undoubted proof of his sagacity and party had every prospect of victory, for their
forethought that he knew how to bide his time. troops far exceeded those of Sulla. According to
Most other men in his circumstances would have Velleius Paterculus, they had 200,000 men in
hurried back to Italy at once to crush their ene- arms, while Sulla landed at Brundusium with only
mies, and thus have ruined themselves. Marius 30,000, or at the most 40,000 men. (Vell. Pat.
died seventeen days after he bad entered upon his ii. 24; Appian, B. C. i. 79. ) But on the other
consulship, and was succeeded in the office by L. hand, the popular party had no one of sufficient
Valerius Flaccus, who was sent into Asia that he influence and military reputation to take the
might prosecute the war at the same time against supreme command in the war ; their rast forces
Mithridates and Sulla. Flaccus was murdered by were scattered about Italy, in different armies,
his troops at the instigation of Fimbria, who now under different generals ; the soldiers had no con-
assumed the command, and who gained several fidence in their commanders, and no enthusiasm
victories over the generals of Mithridates in Asia, in their cause; and the consequence was, that
in B. C. 85. About the same time the new army, / whole hosts of them deserted to Sulla on the first
which Mithridates had again sent to Archelaus in opportunity. Sulla's soldiers, on the contrary,
Greece, was again defeated by Sulla in the neigh- were veterans, who had frequently fought by each
bourhood of Orchomenus. These repeated dis- other's side, and had acquired that confidence in
asters made Mithridates anxious for peace, but it themselves and in their general which frequent
was not granted by Sulla till the following year, victories always give to soldiers. Still if the
B. C. 84, when he had crossed the Hellespont in Italians had remained faithful to the cause of the
order to carry on the war in that country. Sulla Marian party, Sulla would hardly have conquered,
was now at liberty to turn his arms against Fim. and therefore one of his first cares after landing at
bria, who was with his army at Thyateira The Brundusium was to detach them from his enemies.
name of Sulla carried victory with it. The troops For this purpose he would not allow his troops to
of Fimbria deserted their general, who put an end do any injury to the towns or fields of the Italians
to his own life. Sulla now prepared to return to 1 in his march from Brundusium through Calabria
1
+
## p. 938 (#954) ############################################
938
SULLA.
SULLA.
Was
and Apulia, and he formed separate treaties with involved in great obscurity. Carbo made two
many of the Italian towns, by which he secured to efforts to relieve Praeneste, but failed in each ; and
them all the rights and privileges of Roman citi- after fighting with various fortune against Pompey,
zens which they then enjoyed. Among the Italians Metellus, and Sulla, he at length embarked for
the Samnites continued to be the most formidable Africa, despairing of further success in Italy. (For
enemies of Sulla. They had not yet received the details see CARBO, No. 7. ) Meantime Rome had
Roman franchise, because they had continued in nearly fallen into the hands of the enemy. The
arms down to this time, and they now joined the Samnites and Lucanians under Pontius Telesinus
Marian party, not simply with the design of se- and L. Lamponius, after attempting to relieve Prae-
curing the supremacy for the latter, but with the neste, resolved to march straight upon Rome, which
hope of conquering Rome by their means, and had been left without any army for its protection.
then destroying for ever their hated oppressor. Sulla barely arrived in time to save the city. The
Thus this civil war became merely another phase battle was fought before the Colline gate; it
of the Marsic war, and the struggle between Rome long and obstinately contested; the contest was not
and Samnium for the supremacy of the peninsula simply for the supremacy of a party ; the very
was renewed after the subjection of the latter for existence of Rome was at stake, for Telesinus had
more than two hundred years.
declared that he would raze the city to the ground.
Sulla marched from Apulia into Campania with. The left wing where Sulla commanded in person
out meeting with any resistance. It was in the was driven off the field by the vehemence of the
latter country that he gained his first victory over enemy's charge ; but the success of the right wing,
the consul Norbanus, who was defeated with great which was commanded by Crassus, enabled Sulia
loss, and obliged to take refuge in Capua. His to restore the battle, and at length gain a com-
collengue Scipio, who was at no great distance, plete victory. Fifty thousand men are said to
willingly accepted a truce which Sulla offered him, have fallen on each side (Appian, B. C. i. 93).
although Sertorius warned him against entering All the most distinguished leaders of the enemy
into any negotiations, and his caution was justified either perished in the engagement or were taken
by the event. By means of his emissaries Sulla prisoners and put to death. Among these was the
seduced the troops of Scipio, who at length found brave Samnite Pontius Telesinus, whose head was
himself deserted by all his soldiers, and was taken cut off and carried under the walls of Praeneste,
prisoner in his tent. Sulla, however, dismissed thereby announcing to the younger Marius that
him uninjured. On hearing of this Carbo is said his last hope of succour was gone. To the Sam-
to have observed “ that he had to contend in Sulla | nite prisoners Sulla showed no mercy. He was
both with a lion and a fox, but that the fox resolved to root out of the peninsula those heroic
gave him more trouble. ” Many distinguished enemies of Rome. On the third day after the
Romans meantime had taken up arms on behalf of battle he collected all the Samnite and Lucanian
Sulla. Cn. Pompey had levied three legions for prisoners in the Campus Martius, and ordered his
him in Picenum and the surrounding districts ; soldiers to cut them down. The dying shrieks of
and Q. Metellus Pius, M. Crassus, M. Lucullus, so many victims frightened the senators, who had
and several others offered their services as legates. been assembled at the same time by Sulla in the
It was not, however, till the following year, B. c. temple of Bellona ; but he bade them attend to
82, that the struggle was brought to a decisive what he was saying and not mind what was taking
issue. The consuls of this year were Cn. Papirius place outside, as he was only chastising some
Carbo and the younger Marius ; the former of rebels, and he then quietly proceeded to finish his
whom was entrusted with the protection of Etruria discourse. Praeneste surrendered soon afterwards.
and Umbria, while the latter had to guard Rome The Romans in the town were pardoned; but all the
and Latium. Sulla appears to have passed the Samnites and Praenestines were massacred without
winter at Campania. At the commencement of mercy. The younger Marius put an end to his
spring he advanced against the younger Marius, own life [Marius, No. 2]. The war in Italy
who had concentrated all his forces at Sacriportus, was now virtually at an end, for the few towns
and defeated him with great loss. Marius took which still held out had no prospect of offering any
refuge in Praeneste, where he had previously de- effectual opposition, and were reduced soon after-
posited his military stores, and a great quantity of wards. In other parts of the Roman world the war
gold and silver which he had brought from the continued still longer, and Sulla did not live to see
Capitol and other temples at Rome. Sulla followed its completion. The armies of the Marian party
him to Praeneste, and after leaving Q. Lucretius in Sicily and Africa were subdued by Pompey in
Ofella with a large force to blockade the town and the course of B. C. 82 ; but Sertorius in Spain
compel it to a surrender by famine, he marched continued to defy all the attempts of the senate to
with the main body of his army to Rome. Marius crush him, till his cowardly assassination by Per-
was resolved not to perish unavenged, and ac- perna in B. c. 72. (SERTORIUS. ]
cordingly before Sulla could reach Rome, he sent Sulla was now master of Rome. He had not
orders to L. Damasippus, the praetor, to put to commenced the civil war, but had been driven to
death all his leading opponents. His orders were it by the niad ambition of Marius. His enemies
faithfully obeyed. Q. Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex had attempted to deprive him of the command in
maximus and jurist, P. Antistius, L. Domitius, and the Mithridatic war which had been legally con-
many other distingished men were butchered and ferred upon him by the senate ; and while he was
their corpses thrown into the Tiber. Sulla entered fighting the battles of the republic they had de-
the city without opposition ; Damasippus and his clared him a public enemy, confiscated his pro-
adherents had previously withdrawn, and repaired perty, and murdered the most distinguished of his
to Cardo in Etruria. Sulla marched against Carbo, friends and adherents.
For all these wrongs,
who had been previously opposed by Pompeius and Sulla had threatened to take the most ample ven-
Bietellus. The history of this part of the war is geance; and he more than redeemed his word.
;
## p. 939 (#955) ############################################
SULLA.
939
SULLA.
He resolved to extirpate root and branch the po-called himself Epaphroditus. Al ranks in Rome
pular party. One of his first acts was to draw up bowed in awe before their master ; and among other
a list of his enemies who were to be put to death, marks of distinction which were voted to him by
which list was exbibited in the forum to public the obsequious senate, a gilt equestrian statue was
inspection, and called a Proscriptio. It was the erected to his honour before the Rostra, bearing the
first instance of the kind in Roman history. All inscription Cornelio Sullae Imperatori Felici. ”
persons in this list were outlaws who might be During the years B. c. 80 and 79, Sulla carried
killed by any one with impunity, even by slaves ; into execution his various reforms in the consti-
their property was confiscated to the state, and tution, of which an account is given at the close
was to be sold by public auction ; their children of bis life. But at the same time he adopted
and grandchildren lost their votes in the comitia, measures in order to crush his enemies more
and were excluded from all public offices. Further, completely, and to consolidate the power of his
all who killed a proscribed person, or indicated the party. These measures require a few words of
place of his concealment, received two talents as a explanation, as they did not form a part of his
reward, and whoever sheltered such a person was constitutional reforms, though they were intended
punished with death. Terror now reigned, not for the support of the latter. The first of these
only at Rome, but throughout Italy. Fresh lists measures has been already mentioned, namely the
of the proscribed constantly appeared. No one destruction of his enemies by the proscription.
was safe ; for Sulla gratified his friends by placing He appears to have published his list of victims
in the fatal lists their personal enemies, or persons immediately after the defeat of the Samnites and
whose property was coveted by his adherents. An Lucanians at the Colline gate, without communi-
estate, a house, or even a piece of plate was to cating, as Plutarch says (Sull
. 31), with any ma-
many a man, who belonged to no political party, gistrate ; but when he was dictator he proposed a
his death warrant ; for although the confiscated law in the comitia centuriata, which ratified his
property belonged to the state, and had to be sold proscriptions, and which is usually called Lux Cor-
by public auction, the friends and dependents of nelia de Proscriptione or De Proscriptis. By this law
Sulla purchased it at a nominal price, as no one it was enacted that all proscriptions should cease
dared to bid against them. Oftentimes Sulla did on the 1st of June, B. C. 81. The lex Valeria,
not require the purchase-money to be paid at all, and which conferred the dictatorship upon Sulla, gave
in many cases he gave such property to his favourites him absolute power over the lives of Roman citizens,
without even the formality of a sale. Metella, the and hence Cicero says he does not know whether
wife of the dictator, and Chrysogonus his freed to call the proscription law a lex Valeria or lex
man, P. Sulla, M. Crassus, Vettius, and Sex. Nae Cornelia. (Cic. pro Rosc. Am. 43, 44, de Leg.
vius are especially mentioned among those who re- Agr. iii. 2. )
ceived such presents; and handsome Roman ma- Another of Sulla's measures, and one of still
trons, as likewise actors and actresses, were fa- more importance for the support of his power, was
voured in the same manner. The number of per- the establishment of military colonies throughout
Bons who perished by the proscriptions is stated Italy. The inhabitants of the Italian towns, which
differently, but it appears to have amounted to had fought against Sulla, were deprived of the full
many thousands. At the commencement of these Roman franchise which had been lately conferred
horrors Sulla had been appointed dictator. As both upon them, and were only allowed to retain the
the consuls had perished, he caused the senate to commercium: their land was confiscated and given
elect Valerius Flaccus interrex, and the latter to the soldiers who had fought under him. Twenty-
brought before the people a rogatio, conferring the three legions (Appian, B. C. i. 100), or, according
dictatorship upon Sulla, for the purpose of restoring to another statement (Liv. Epit. 89), forty-seven
order to the republic, and for as long a time as he legions received grants of land in various parts of
judged to be necessary. Thus the dictatorship was Italy. A great number of these colonies was settled
revived after being in abeyance for more than in Etruria, the population of which was thus almost
120 years, and Sulla obtained absolute power entirely changed. These colonies had the strongest
over the lives and fortunes of all the citizens. | interest in upholding the institutions of Sulla, since
This was towards the close of B. C. 81. Sulla's any attempt to invalidate the latter would bave
great object in being invested with the dictatorship endangered their newly-acquired possessions. But
was to carry into execution in a legal manner the though they were a support to the power of Sulla,
great reforms which he meditated in the constitu- they hastened the fall of the commonwealth ; an
tion and the administration of justice, by which idle and licentious soldiery supplanted an indus-
he hoped to place the government of the republic trious and agricultural population ; and Catiline
on a firm and secure basis. He had no intention found nowhere more adherents than among the
of abolishing the republic, and consequently he military colonies of Sulla. While Sulla thus esta-
caused consuls to be elected for the following year, blished throughout Italy a population devoted to
B. C. 81, and was elected to the office himself in B. C. his interests, he created at Rome a kind of body-
80, while he continued to hold the dictatorship. guard for his protection by giving the citizenship
At the beginning of the following year, B. c. 81, to a great number of slaves belonging to those who
Sulla celebrated a splendid triumph on account of had been proscribed by him. The slaves thus re-
his victory over Mithridates. In a speech which warded are said to have been as many as 10,000,
he delivered to the people at the close of the gor- and were called Cornelii after him as their patron.
geous ceremony, he claimed for himself the sur- Sulla had completed his reforms by the begin-
name of Felix, as he attributed his success in life ning of B. c. 79, and as he longed for the undis-
to the favour of the gods. He believed himself to turbed enjoyment of his pleasures, he resolved to
have been in particular under the protection of resign bis dictatorship. Accordingly, to the general
Venus, who had granted him victory in battle as surprise he summoned the people, resigned his
well as in love. Hence, in writing to Greeks, he dictatorship, and declared himself ready to render
## p. 940 (#956) ############################################
940
SULLA.
SULLA.
an account of his conduct while in office. This stated that none of his friends ever did him a kind.
voluntary abdication by Sulla of the sovereignty of negs, and none of his enemies a wrong, without
the Roman world has excited the astonishment and being fully repaid.
admiration of both ancient and modern writers. Sulla was married five times : - 1. To Ilia, for
But it is evident, as has been already remarked, which name we ought perhaps to read Julia (Plut.
that Sulla never contemplated, like Julius Caesar, Sull. 6). She bore Sulla a daughter, who was
the establishment of a monarchical form of govern- married to Q. Pompeius Rufus, the son of Sulla's
ment; and it must be recollected that he could colleague in the consulsbip in B. C. 88. [Pom-
retire into a private station without any fear that PEIUS, No. 8. ] 2. To Aelia. 3. To Coelia,
attempts would be made against his life or his whom he divorced on the pretext of barrenness,
institutions. The ten thousand Cornelii at Rome but in reality in order to marry Caecilia Metella.
and his veterans stationed throughout Italy, as 4. To Caccilia Metella, who bore him a son, who
well as the whole strength of the aristocratical died before Sulla (see below, No. 6), and likewise
party, secured him against all danger. Even in his twins, a son and a daughter. (No. 7. ] 5. Valeria,
retirement his will was law, and shortly before his who bore him a daughter after his death. [Vale-
death, he ordered his slaves to strangle a magis- RIA. )
trate of one of the towns in Italy, because he was Sulla's love of literature has been repeatedly
a public defaulter.
mentioned in the preceding sketch of his life. He
After resigning his dictatorship, Sulla retired to wrote a history of his own life and times, which
his estate at Puteoli, and there surrounded by the is called 'Trouvýuata or Memoirs by Plutarch,
beauties of nature and art he passed the remainder who has made great use of it in his life of Sulla,
of his life in those literary and sensual enjoyments as well as in his biographies of Marius, Sertorius,
in which he had always taken so much pleasure. and Lucullus. It was dedicated to L. Lucullus,
His dissolute mode of life hastened his death. A and extended to twenty-two books, the last of
dream warned him of his approaching end. There which was finished by Sulla a few days before
upon he made his testament, in which he left L. his death, as has been already related. This did
Lucullus the guardian of his son. Only two days not however complete the work, which was brought
before his death, he finished the twenty-second to a conclusion by his freedman Cornelius Epica-
book of his memoirs, in which, foreseeing his end, dus, probably at the request of his son Faustus.
he was able to boast of the prediction of the (Plut. Sull. 6, 37, Lucull. 1 ; Suet. de IU. Gramm.
Chaldaeans, that it was his fate to die after a happy 12. ) From the quotations in A. Gellius (i. 12,
life in the very height of his prosperity. He xx. 6) it appears that Sulla's work was written in
died in B. C. 78, in the sixtieth year of his age. Latin, and not in Greek, as Heeren maintains
The immediate cause of his death was the rupture (Heeren, De Fontibus Pluturchi, p. 151, &c. ;
of a blood-vessel, but some time before he had Krause, Vitae et Fragmenta Hist. Roman. p. 290,
been suffering from the disgusting disease, which &c. ) Sulla also wrote Fabulae Atellanae (Athen.
is known in modern times by the name of Morbus vi. p. 261, c. ), and the Greek Anthology contains
Pediculosus or Phthiriasis. Appian (B. C. i. 105) a short epigram which is ascribed to him. (Brunck,
simply relates that he died of a fever. Zachariae, in Lect. p. 267 ; Jacobs, Anth. Gr. vol. ii. p. 66,
his life of Sulla, considers the story of his suffering Anth. Pal. App. 91, vol. ii. p. 788. )
from phthiriasis as a fabrication of his enemies, The chief ancient authority for Sulla's life is
and probably of the Athenians whom he had Plutarch's biography, which has been translated
handled so severely; but Appian's statement does by G. Long, with some useful notes, London, 1844,
not contradict the common ac. Junt, which is at- where the reader will find references to most of
tested by too many ancient writers to be rejected on the passages in Appian and other ancient writers
the slender reasons that Zachariae alleges (Plut. who speak of Sulla. The passages in Sallust and
Sull. 36 ; Plin. H. N. vii. 43. s. 44, xi. 33. s. 39, Cicero, in which Sulla is mentioned, are given by
xxvi. 13. s. 86 ; Paus. i. 20. $ 7; Aurel. Vict. de Orelli in his Onomasticon Tullianum, pt. ii. p. 192.
Vir. Ill. 75). The senate, faithful to Sulla to the The two modern writers, who have written Sulla's
last, resolved to give him the honour of a public life with most accuracy, are Zachariae, in his work
funeral. This was however opposed by the consul entitled L. Cornelius Sulla, genannt der Glückliche,
Lepidus, who had resolved to attempt the repeal als Ordner des Römischen Freystaates, Heidelberg,
of Sulla's laws ; but Sulla’s power continued un-1834, and Drumann, in his Geschichte Roms, vol.
shaken even after his death. The veterans were ii. p. 429, &c. The latter writer gives the more
summoned from their colonies, and Q. Catulus, L. impartial account of Sulla's life and character ;
Lucullus, and Cn. Pompey, placed themselves at the former falls into the common fault of biogra-
their head. Lepidus was obliged to give way and phers in attempting to apologise for the vices and
allowed the funeral to take place without interrup- crimes of the subject of his biography.
tion. It was a gorgeous pageant. The magis.
trates, the senate, the equites, the priests, and the
Vestal virgins, as well as the veterans, accompanied All the reforms of Sulla were effected by means of
the funeral procession to the Campus Martius, Leges, which were proposed by him in the comitia
where the corpse was burnt according to Sulla's centuriata and enacted by the votes of the people.
own wish, who feared that his enemies might | It is true that the votes of the people were a mere
insult his remains, as he had done those of Marius, form, but it was a form essential to the preservation
which had been taken out of the grave and thrown of his work, and was maintained by Augustus
into the Anio at his command. It had been pre- in his legislation. The laws proposed by Sulla are
viously the custom of the Cornelia gens to bury and called by the general name of Leges Corneliae, and
not burn their dead. A monument was erected particular laws are designated by the name of the
to Sulla in the Campus Martius, the inscription particular subject to which they relate, as Lex
on which he is said to have composed himself. It | Cornclia de Falsis, Lex . Cornelia de Sicariis, &c.
THE LEGISLATION OF SULLA.
## p. 941 (#957) ############################################
SULLA.
941
SULLA.
These laws were all passed during the time that exercised a powerful influence in the state, were
Sulla was dictator, that is, from the end of B. C. strictly forbidden by Sulla. (Cic. pro Clucni. 40. )
82 to R. c. 79, and most of them in all probability The Comitia Centuriata, on the other hand, were
during the years B. c. 81 and 80. It is impossible allowed to retain their right of legislation unim,
to determine in what order they were proposed, paired. He restored however the ancient regula-
nor is it material to do so. They may be divided tion, which had fallen into desuetude, that no
into four classes, laws relating to the constitution, matter should be brought before them without the
to the ecclesiastical corporations, to the adminis. previous sanction of a senatusconsultum (Appian,
tration of justice, and to the improvement of B. C. i. 59); but he did not require the confirm.
public morals. Their general object and designation of the curiae, as the latter had long ceased to
was to restore, as far as possible, the ancient Ro- have any practical existence. Göttling supposes
man constitution, and to give again to the senate that the right of provocatio or appeal to the comitia
and the aristocracy that power of which they had centurinta was done away with by Sulla, but the
been gradually deprived by the leaders of the passage of Cicero (Cic. Verr. Act. i. 13), which he
popular party. " It did not escape the penetration quotes in support of this opinion, is not sufficient
of Sulla that many of the erils under which the to prove it.
Roman state was suffering, arose from the corrup- The Senate had been so much reduced in num-
tion of the morals of the people ; and he therefore bers by the proscriptions of Sulla, that he was
attempted in his legislation to check the increase obliged to fill up the vacancies by the election of
of crime and luxury by stringent enactments. The three hundred new members. These however were
attempt was a hopeless one, for vice and immorality not appointed by the censors from the persons who
pervaded alike all classes of Roman citizens, and had filled the magistracies of the state, but were
no laws can restore to a people the moral feelings elected by the people. Appian says (B. C. i. 100)
which they have lost. Sulla has been much that they were elected by the tribes. Most mo-
blamed by modern writers for giving to the Roman dern writers think that we are not to understand
state such an aristocratical constitution ; but under by this the comitia tributa, but the comitia centu-
the circumstances in which he was placed he could riata, which voted also according to tribes at this
not well have done otherwise. To have vested the time ; but Göttling observes that as the senators
government in the mob of which the Roman people were regarded by Sulla as public officers, there
consisted, would have been perfect madness; and is no difficulty in supposing that they were elected
as he was not prepared to establish a monarchy, he by the comitia tributa as the inferior magistrates
had no alternative but giving the power to the were. However this may be, we know that these
senate. His constitution did not last, because the three hundred were taken from the equestrian
aristocracy were thoroughly selfish and corrupt, order. (Appian, l. c. ; Liv. Epit. 89. ) This election
and exercised the power which Sulla had entrusted was an extraordinary one, and was not intended to
to them only for their own aggrandisement and be the regular way of filling up the vacancies in
not for the good of their country. Their shame the senate ; for we are expressly told that Sulla
less conduct soon disgusted the provinces as well as increased the number of quaestors to twenty, that
the capital; the people again regained their power, there might be a sufficient number for this purpose
but the consequence was an anarchy and not a (Tac. Ann. xi. 32. ) It was not necessary for
government ; and as neither class was fit to rule, Sulla to make any alteration respecting the duties
they were obliged to submit to the dominion of a and functions of the senate, as the whole admini-
single man. Thus the empire became a necessity stration of the state was in their hands; and he
as well as a blessing to the exhausted Roman gave them the initiative in legislation by requiring
world. Sulla's laws respecting criminal jurispru- a previous senatusconsultum respecting all mea-
dence were the most lasting and bear the strongest sures that were to be submitted to the comitia, as
testimony to his greatness as a legislator. He is stated above. One of the most important
was the first to reduce the criminal law of Rome of the senate's duties was the appointment of
to a system ; and his laws, together with the Ju- the governors of the provinces. By the Lex
lian laws, formed the basis of the criminal Roman Sempronia of C. Gracchus, the senate had to de-
jurisprudence till the downfal of the empire.
ARCHBL AUS, and may therefore be dismissed here cinius Murcna, in command of the province of
with a few words. Sulla landed at Dyrrhachium, Asia, with two legions, and set sail with his own
and forth with marched against Athens, which had army to Athens. While preparing for his deadly
become the head-quarters of the Mithridatic cause struggle in Italy, he did not lose his interest in
in Greece. After a long and obstinate siege, literature. He carried with him from Athens to
Athens was taken by storm on the 1st of March Rome the valuable library of Apellicon of Teos,
in the following year, B. C. 86 ; and in consequence which contained most of the works of Aristotle
of the insults which Sulla and his wife Metella had and Theophrastus. [APELLICON. ) During his
received from the tyrant Aristion, the city was stay at Athens, Sulla had an attack of gout, of
given up to mpine and plunder. He next obs which he was cured by the use of the warm springs
tained possession of the Peiraeeus, which had been of Aedepsus in Euboea. As soon as he recovered,
defended by Archelaus. Meantime Mithridates he led his army to Dyrrhachium, and from thence
had sent fresh reinforcements to Archelaus, who crossed over to Brundusium in Iunly.
concentrated all his troops in Boeotia. Sulla ad- Sulla landed at Brundusium in the spring of
vanced against him, and defeated him in the B. C. 83, in the consulship of L. Scipio and C.
neighbourhood of Chaeronein with such enormous Norbanus. During the preceding year he had
loss, that out of the 120,000 men with whom written to the senate, recounting the services he
Archelaus had opened the campaign, he is said had rendered to the commonwealth from the time
to have assembled only 10,000 at Chalcis in Eu- of the Jugurthine war down to the conquest of
boea, where he had taken refuge. But while Sulla Mithridates, complaining of the ingratitude with
was carrying on the war with such success in which he had been treated, announcing his speedy
Greece, his enemies had obtained the upper hand return to Italy, and threatening to take vengeance
in Italy. The consul Cinna, who had been driven upon his enemies and those of the republic. The
out of Rome by his colleague Octavius, soon after senate, in alarm, sent an embassy to Sulla to en-
Sulla's departure from Italy, had entered it again deavour to bring about a reconciliation between
with Marius at the close of the year. Both Cinna him and his enemies, and meantime ordered the
and Marius were appointed consuls B. c. 86, all consuls Cinna and Carbo to desist from levying
the regulations of Sulia were swept away, his friends troops, and making further preparations for war.
and adherents murdered, his property confiscated, Cinna and Carbo gave no heed to this command ;
and he himself declared a public enemy. It they knew that a reconciliation was impossible,
has frequently been made a subject of panegyric and resolved to carry over an army to Dalmatia,
upon Sulla that he still continued to prosecute the in order to oppose Sulla in Greece ; but after one
war with Mithridates under these circumstances, detachment of their troops had embarked, the
and preferred the subjugation of the enemies of remaining soldiers rose in mutiny, and murdered
Rome to the gratification of his own revenge. Cinna. The Marian party had thus lost their
But it must be recollected that an immediate leader, but continued nevertheless to make every
peace with Mithridates would have discontented preparation to oppose Sulla, for they were well aware
his soldiers ; while by bringing the war to an that he would never forgive them, and that their only
honourable conclusion, he gratified his troops by choice lay between victory and destrnction. Ben
plunder, attached them more and more to his person, sides this the Italians were ready to support them,
and at the same time collected from the conquered as these new citizens feared that Sulla would de-
cities vast sums of money for the prosecution of prive them of the rights which they had lately
the war against his enemies in Italy. At the same obtained after so much bloodshed. The Marian
time it is an undoubted proof of his sagacity and party had every prospect of victory, for their
forethought that he knew how to bide his time. troops far exceeded those of Sulla. According to
Most other men in his circumstances would have Velleius Paterculus, they had 200,000 men in
hurried back to Italy at once to crush their ene- arms, while Sulla landed at Brundusium with only
mies, and thus have ruined themselves. Marius 30,000, or at the most 40,000 men. (Vell. Pat.
died seventeen days after he bad entered upon his ii. 24; Appian, B. C. i. 79. ) But on the other
consulship, and was succeeded in the office by L. hand, the popular party had no one of sufficient
Valerius Flaccus, who was sent into Asia that he influence and military reputation to take the
might prosecute the war at the same time against supreme command in the war ; their rast forces
Mithridates and Sulla. Flaccus was murdered by were scattered about Italy, in different armies,
his troops at the instigation of Fimbria, who now under different generals ; the soldiers had no con-
assumed the command, and who gained several fidence in their commanders, and no enthusiasm
victories over the generals of Mithridates in Asia, in their cause; and the consequence was, that
in B. C. 85. About the same time the new army, / whole hosts of them deserted to Sulla on the first
which Mithridates had again sent to Archelaus in opportunity. Sulla's soldiers, on the contrary,
Greece, was again defeated by Sulla in the neigh- were veterans, who had frequently fought by each
bourhood of Orchomenus. These repeated dis- other's side, and had acquired that confidence in
asters made Mithridates anxious for peace, but it themselves and in their general which frequent
was not granted by Sulla till the following year, victories always give to soldiers. Still if the
B. C. 84, when he had crossed the Hellespont in Italians had remained faithful to the cause of the
order to carry on the war in that country. Sulla Marian party, Sulla would hardly have conquered,
was now at liberty to turn his arms against Fim. and therefore one of his first cares after landing at
bria, who was with his army at Thyateira The Brundusium was to detach them from his enemies.
name of Sulla carried victory with it. The troops For this purpose he would not allow his troops to
of Fimbria deserted their general, who put an end do any injury to the towns or fields of the Italians
to his own life. Sulla now prepared to return to 1 in his march from Brundusium through Calabria
1
+
## p. 938 (#954) ############################################
938
SULLA.
SULLA.
Was
and Apulia, and he formed separate treaties with involved in great obscurity. Carbo made two
many of the Italian towns, by which he secured to efforts to relieve Praeneste, but failed in each ; and
them all the rights and privileges of Roman citi- after fighting with various fortune against Pompey,
zens which they then enjoyed. Among the Italians Metellus, and Sulla, he at length embarked for
the Samnites continued to be the most formidable Africa, despairing of further success in Italy. (For
enemies of Sulla. They had not yet received the details see CARBO, No. 7. ) Meantime Rome had
Roman franchise, because they had continued in nearly fallen into the hands of the enemy. The
arms down to this time, and they now joined the Samnites and Lucanians under Pontius Telesinus
Marian party, not simply with the design of se- and L. Lamponius, after attempting to relieve Prae-
curing the supremacy for the latter, but with the neste, resolved to march straight upon Rome, which
hope of conquering Rome by their means, and had been left without any army for its protection.
then destroying for ever their hated oppressor. Sulla barely arrived in time to save the city. The
Thus this civil war became merely another phase battle was fought before the Colline gate; it
of the Marsic war, and the struggle between Rome long and obstinately contested; the contest was not
and Samnium for the supremacy of the peninsula simply for the supremacy of a party ; the very
was renewed after the subjection of the latter for existence of Rome was at stake, for Telesinus had
more than two hundred years.
declared that he would raze the city to the ground.
Sulla marched from Apulia into Campania with. The left wing where Sulla commanded in person
out meeting with any resistance. It was in the was driven off the field by the vehemence of the
latter country that he gained his first victory over enemy's charge ; but the success of the right wing,
the consul Norbanus, who was defeated with great which was commanded by Crassus, enabled Sulia
loss, and obliged to take refuge in Capua. His to restore the battle, and at length gain a com-
collengue Scipio, who was at no great distance, plete victory. Fifty thousand men are said to
willingly accepted a truce which Sulla offered him, have fallen on each side (Appian, B. C. i. 93).
although Sertorius warned him against entering All the most distinguished leaders of the enemy
into any negotiations, and his caution was justified either perished in the engagement or were taken
by the event. By means of his emissaries Sulla prisoners and put to death. Among these was the
seduced the troops of Scipio, who at length found brave Samnite Pontius Telesinus, whose head was
himself deserted by all his soldiers, and was taken cut off and carried under the walls of Praeneste,
prisoner in his tent. Sulla, however, dismissed thereby announcing to the younger Marius that
him uninjured. On hearing of this Carbo is said his last hope of succour was gone. To the Sam-
to have observed “ that he had to contend in Sulla | nite prisoners Sulla showed no mercy. He was
both with a lion and a fox, but that the fox resolved to root out of the peninsula those heroic
gave him more trouble. ” Many distinguished enemies of Rome. On the third day after the
Romans meantime had taken up arms on behalf of battle he collected all the Samnite and Lucanian
Sulla. Cn. Pompey had levied three legions for prisoners in the Campus Martius, and ordered his
him in Picenum and the surrounding districts ; soldiers to cut them down. The dying shrieks of
and Q. Metellus Pius, M. Crassus, M. Lucullus, so many victims frightened the senators, who had
and several others offered their services as legates. been assembled at the same time by Sulla in the
It was not, however, till the following year, B. c. temple of Bellona ; but he bade them attend to
82, that the struggle was brought to a decisive what he was saying and not mind what was taking
issue. The consuls of this year were Cn. Papirius place outside, as he was only chastising some
Carbo and the younger Marius ; the former of rebels, and he then quietly proceeded to finish his
whom was entrusted with the protection of Etruria discourse. Praeneste surrendered soon afterwards.
and Umbria, while the latter had to guard Rome The Romans in the town were pardoned; but all the
and Latium. Sulla appears to have passed the Samnites and Praenestines were massacred without
winter at Campania. At the commencement of mercy. The younger Marius put an end to his
spring he advanced against the younger Marius, own life [Marius, No. 2]. The war in Italy
who had concentrated all his forces at Sacriportus, was now virtually at an end, for the few towns
and defeated him with great loss. Marius took which still held out had no prospect of offering any
refuge in Praeneste, where he had previously de- effectual opposition, and were reduced soon after-
posited his military stores, and a great quantity of wards. In other parts of the Roman world the war
gold and silver which he had brought from the continued still longer, and Sulla did not live to see
Capitol and other temples at Rome. Sulla followed its completion. The armies of the Marian party
him to Praeneste, and after leaving Q. Lucretius in Sicily and Africa were subdued by Pompey in
Ofella with a large force to blockade the town and the course of B. C. 82 ; but Sertorius in Spain
compel it to a surrender by famine, he marched continued to defy all the attempts of the senate to
with the main body of his army to Rome. Marius crush him, till his cowardly assassination by Per-
was resolved not to perish unavenged, and ac- perna in B. c. 72. (SERTORIUS. ]
cordingly before Sulla could reach Rome, he sent Sulla was now master of Rome. He had not
orders to L. Damasippus, the praetor, to put to commenced the civil war, but had been driven to
death all his leading opponents. His orders were it by the niad ambition of Marius. His enemies
faithfully obeyed. Q. Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex had attempted to deprive him of the command in
maximus and jurist, P. Antistius, L. Domitius, and the Mithridatic war which had been legally con-
many other distingished men were butchered and ferred upon him by the senate ; and while he was
their corpses thrown into the Tiber. Sulla entered fighting the battles of the republic they had de-
the city without opposition ; Damasippus and his clared him a public enemy, confiscated his pro-
adherents had previously withdrawn, and repaired perty, and murdered the most distinguished of his
to Cardo in Etruria. Sulla marched against Carbo, friends and adherents.
For all these wrongs,
who had been previously opposed by Pompeius and Sulla had threatened to take the most ample ven-
Bietellus. The history of this part of the war is geance; and he more than redeemed his word.
;
## p. 939 (#955) ############################################
SULLA.
939
SULLA.
He resolved to extirpate root and branch the po-called himself Epaphroditus. Al ranks in Rome
pular party. One of his first acts was to draw up bowed in awe before their master ; and among other
a list of his enemies who were to be put to death, marks of distinction which were voted to him by
which list was exbibited in the forum to public the obsequious senate, a gilt equestrian statue was
inspection, and called a Proscriptio. It was the erected to his honour before the Rostra, bearing the
first instance of the kind in Roman history. All inscription Cornelio Sullae Imperatori Felici. ”
persons in this list were outlaws who might be During the years B. c. 80 and 79, Sulla carried
killed by any one with impunity, even by slaves ; into execution his various reforms in the consti-
their property was confiscated to the state, and tution, of which an account is given at the close
was to be sold by public auction ; their children of bis life. But at the same time he adopted
and grandchildren lost their votes in the comitia, measures in order to crush his enemies more
and were excluded from all public offices. Further, completely, and to consolidate the power of his
all who killed a proscribed person, or indicated the party. These measures require a few words of
place of his concealment, received two talents as a explanation, as they did not form a part of his
reward, and whoever sheltered such a person was constitutional reforms, though they were intended
punished with death. Terror now reigned, not for the support of the latter. The first of these
only at Rome, but throughout Italy. Fresh lists measures has been already mentioned, namely the
of the proscribed constantly appeared. No one destruction of his enemies by the proscription.
was safe ; for Sulla gratified his friends by placing He appears to have published his list of victims
in the fatal lists their personal enemies, or persons immediately after the defeat of the Samnites and
whose property was coveted by his adherents. An Lucanians at the Colline gate, without communi-
estate, a house, or even a piece of plate was to cating, as Plutarch says (Sull
. 31), with any ma-
many a man, who belonged to no political party, gistrate ; but when he was dictator he proposed a
his death warrant ; for although the confiscated law in the comitia centuriata, which ratified his
property belonged to the state, and had to be sold proscriptions, and which is usually called Lux Cor-
by public auction, the friends and dependents of nelia de Proscriptione or De Proscriptis. By this law
Sulla purchased it at a nominal price, as no one it was enacted that all proscriptions should cease
dared to bid against them. Oftentimes Sulla did on the 1st of June, B. C. 81. The lex Valeria,
not require the purchase-money to be paid at all, and which conferred the dictatorship upon Sulla, gave
in many cases he gave such property to his favourites him absolute power over the lives of Roman citizens,
without even the formality of a sale. Metella, the and hence Cicero says he does not know whether
wife of the dictator, and Chrysogonus his freed to call the proscription law a lex Valeria or lex
man, P. Sulla, M. Crassus, Vettius, and Sex. Nae Cornelia. (Cic. pro Rosc. Am. 43, 44, de Leg.
vius are especially mentioned among those who re- Agr. iii. 2. )
ceived such presents; and handsome Roman ma- Another of Sulla's measures, and one of still
trons, as likewise actors and actresses, were fa- more importance for the support of his power, was
voured in the same manner. The number of per- the establishment of military colonies throughout
Bons who perished by the proscriptions is stated Italy. The inhabitants of the Italian towns, which
differently, but it appears to have amounted to had fought against Sulla, were deprived of the full
many thousands. At the commencement of these Roman franchise which had been lately conferred
horrors Sulla had been appointed dictator. As both upon them, and were only allowed to retain the
the consuls had perished, he caused the senate to commercium: their land was confiscated and given
elect Valerius Flaccus interrex, and the latter to the soldiers who had fought under him. Twenty-
brought before the people a rogatio, conferring the three legions (Appian, B. C. i. 100), or, according
dictatorship upon Sulla, for the purpose of restoring to another statement (Liv. Epit. 89), forty-seven
order to the republic, and for as long a time as he legions received grants of land in various parts of
judged to be necessary. Thus the dictatorship was Italy. A great number of these colonies was settled
revived after being in abeyance for more than in Etruria, the population of which was thus almost
120 years, and Sulla obtained absolute power entirely changed. These colonies had the strongest
over the lives and fortunes of all the citizens. | interest in upholding the institutions of Sulla, since
This was towards the close of B. C. 81. Sulla's any attempt to invalidate the latter would bave
great object in being invested with the dictatorship endangered their newly-acquired possessions. But
was to carry into execution in a legal manner the though they were a support to the power of Sulla,
great reforms which he meditated in the constitu- they hastened the fall of the commonwealth ; an
tion and the administration of justice, by which idle and licentious soldiery supplanted an indus-
he hoped to place the government of the republic trious and agricultural population ; and Catiline
on a firm and secure basis. He had no intention found nowhere more adherents than among the
of abolishing the republic, and consequently he military colonies of Sulla. While Sulla thus esta-
caused consuls to be elected for the following year, blished throughout Italy a population devoted to
B. C. 81, and was elected to the office himself in B. C. his interests, he created at Rome a kind of body-
80, while he continued to hold the dictatorship. guard for his protection by giving the citizenship
At the beginning of the following year, B. c. 81, to a great number of slaves belonging to those who
Sulla celebrated a splendid triumph on account of had been proscribed by him. The slaves thus re-
his victory over Mithridates. In a speech which warded are said to have been as many as 10,000,
he delivered to the people at the close of the gor- and were called Cornelii after him as their patron.
geous ceremony, he claimed for himself the sur- Sulla had completed his reforms by the begin-
name of Felix, as he attributed his success in life ning of B. c. 79, and as he longed for the undis-
to the favour of the gods. He believed himself to turbed enjoyment of his pleasures, he resolved to
have been in particular under the protection of resign bis dictatorship. Accordingly, to the general
Venus, who had granted him victory in battle as surprise he summoned the people, resigned his
well as in love. Hence, in writing to Greeks, he dictatorship, and declared himself ready to render
## p. 940 (#956) ############################################
940
SULLA.
SULLA.
an account of his conduct while in office. This stated that none of his friends ever did him a kind.
voluntary abdication by Sulla of the sovereignty of negs, and none of his enemies a wrong, without
the Roman world has excited the astonishment and being fully repaid.
admiration of both ancient and modern writers. Sulla was married five times : - 1. To Ilia, for
But it is evident, as has been already remarked, which name we ought perhaps to read Julia (Plut.
that Sulla never contemplated, like Julius Caesar, Sull. 6). She bore Sulla a daughter, who was
the establishment of a monarchical form of govern- married to Q. Pompeius Rufus, the son of Sulla's
ment; and it must be recollected that he could colleague in the consulsbip in B. C. 88. [Pom-
retire into a private station without any fear that PEIUS, No. 8. ] 2. To Aelia. 3. To Coelia,
attempts would be made against his life or his whom he divorced on the pretext of barrenness,
institutions. The ten thousand Cornelii at Rome but in reality in order to marry Caecilia Metella.
and his veterans stationed throughout Italy, as 4. To Caccilia Metella, who bore him a son, who
well as the whole strength of the aristocratical died before Sulla (see below, No. 6), and likewise
party, secured him against all danger. Even in his twins, a son and a daughter. (No. 7. ] 5. Valeria,
retirement his will was law, and shortly before his who bore him a daughter after his death. [Vale-
death, he ordered his slaves to strangle a magis- RIA. )
trate of one of the towns in Italy, because he was Sulla's love of literature has been repeatedly
a public defaulter.
mentioned in the preceding sketch of his life. He
After resigning his dictatorship, Sulla retired to wrote a history of his own life and times, which
his estate at Puteoli, and there surrounded by the is called 'Trouvýuata or Memoirs by Plutarch,
beauties of nature and art he passed the remainder who has made great use of it in his life of Sulla,
of his life in those literary and sensual enjoyments as well as in his biographies of Marius, Sertorius,
in which he had always taken so much pleasure. and Lucullus. It was dedicated to L. Lucullus,
His dissolute mode of life hastened his death. A and extended to twenty-two books, the last of
dream warned him of his approaching end. There which was finished by Sulla a few days before
upon he made his testament, in which he left L. his death, as has been already related. This did
Lucullus the guardian of his son. Only two days not however complete the work, which was brought
before his death, he finished the twenty-second to a conclusion by his freedman Cornelius Epica-
book of his memoirs, in which, foreseeing his end, dus, probably at the request of his son Faustus.
he was able to boast of the prediction of the (Plut. Sull. 6, 37, Lucull. 1 ; Suet. de IU. Gramm.
Chaldaeans, that it was his fate to die after a happy 12. ) From the quotations in A. Gellius (i. 12,
life in the very height of his prosperity. He xx. 6) it appears that Sulla's work was written in
died in B. C. 78, in the sixtieth year of his age. Latin, and not in Greek, as Heeren maintains
The immediate cause of his death was the rupture (Heeren, De Fontibus Pluturchi, p. 151, &c. ;
of a blood-vessel, but some time before he had Krause, Vitae et Fragmenta Hist. Roman. p. 290,
been suffering from the disgusting disease, which &c. ) Sulla also wrote Fabulae Atellanae (Athen.
is known in modern times by the name of Morbus vi. p. 261, c. ), and the Greek Anthology contains
Pediculosus or Phthiriasis. Appian (B. C. i. 105) a short epigram which is ascribed to him. (Brunck,
simply relates that he died of a fever. Zachariae, in Lect. p. 267 ; Jacobs, Anth. Gr. vol. ii. p. 66,
his life of Sulla, considers the story of his suffering Anth. Pal. App. 91, vol. ii. p. 788. )
from phthiriasis as a fabrication of his enemies, The chief ancient authority for Sulla's life is
and probably of the Athenians whom he had Plutarch's biography, which has been translated
handled so severely; but Appian's statement does by G. Long, with some useful notes, London, 1844,
not contradict the common ac. Junt, which is at- where the reader will find references to most of
tested by too many ancient writers to be rejected on the passages in Appian and other ancient writers
the slender reasons that Zachariae alleges (Plut. who speak of Sulla. The passages in Sallust and
Sull. 36 ; Plin. H. N. vii. 43. s. 44, xi. 33. s. 39, Cicero, in which Sulla is mentioned, are given by
xxvi. 13. s. 86 ; Paus. i. 20. $ 7; Aurel. Vict. de Orelli in his Onomasticon Tullianum, pt. ii. p. 192.
Vir. Ill. 75). The senate, faithful to Sulla to the The two modern writers, who have written Sulla's
last, resolved to give him the honour of a public life with most accuracy, are Zachariae, in his work
funeral. This was however opposed by the consul entitled L. Cornelius Sulla, genannt der Glückliche,
Lepidus, who had resolved to attempt the repeal als Ordner des Römischen Freystaates, Heidelberg,
of Sulla's laws ; but Sulla’s power continued un-1834, and Drumann, in his Geschichte Roms, vol.
shaken even after his death. The veterans were ii. p. 429, &c. The latter writer gives the more
summoned from their colonies, and Q. Catulus, L. impartial account of Sulla's life and character ;
Lucullus, and Cn. Pompey, placed themselves at the former falls into the common fault of biogra-
their head. Lepidus was obliged to give way and phers in attempting to apologise for the vices and
allowed the funeral to take place without interrup- crimes of the subject of his biography.
tion. It was a gorgeous pageant. The magis.
trates, the senate, the equites, the priests, and the
Vestal virgins, as well as the veterans, accompanied All the reforms of Sulla were effected by means of
the funeral procession to the Campus Martius, Leges, which were proposed by him in the comitia
where the corpse was burnt according to Sulla's centuriata and enacted by the votes of the people.
own wish, who feared that his enemies might | It is true that the votes of the people were a mere
insult his remains, as he had done those of Marius, form, but it was a form essential to the preservation
which had been taken out of the grave and thrown of his work, and was maintained by Augustus
into the Anio at his command. It had been pre- in his legislation. The laws proposed by Sulla are
viously the custom of the Cornelia gens to bury and called by the general name of Leges Corneliae, and
not burn their dead. A monument was erected particular laws are designated by the name of the
to Sulla in the Campus Martius, the inscription particular subject to which they relate, as Lex
on which he is said to have composed himself. It | Cornclia de Falsis, Lex . Cornelia de Sicariis, &c.
THE LEGISLATION OF SULLA.
## p. 941 (#957) ############################################
SULLA.
941
SULLA.
These laws were all passed during the time that exercised a powerful influence in the state, were
Sulla was dictator, that is, from the end of B. C. strictly forbidden by Sulla. (Cic. pro Clucni. 40. )
82 to R. c. 79, and most of them in all probability The Comitia Centuriata, on the other hand, were
during the years B. c. 81 and 80. It is impossible allowed to retain their right of legislation unim,
to determine in what order they were proposed, paired. He restored however the ancient regula-
nor is it material to do so. They may be divided tion, which had fallen into desuetude, that no
into four classes, laws relating to the constitution, matter should be brought before them without the
to the ecclesiastical corporations, to the adminis. previous sanction of a senatusconsultum (Appian,
tration of justice, and to the improvement of B. C. i. 59); but he did not require the confirm.
public morals. Their general object and designation of the curiae, as the latter had long ceased to
was to restore, as far as possible, the ancient Ro- have any practical existence. Göttling supposes
man constitution, and to give again to the senate that the right of provocatio or appeal to the comitia
and the aristocracy that power of which they had centurinta was done away with by Sulla, but the
been gradually deprived by the leaders of the passage of Cicero (Cic. Verr. Act. i. 13), which he
popular party. " It did not escape the penetration quotes in support of this opinion, is not sufficient
of Sulla that many of the erils under which the to prove it.
Roman state was suffering, arose from the corrup- The Senate had been so much reduced in num-
tion of the morals of the people ; and he therefore bers by the proscriptions of Sulla, that he was
attempted in his legislation to check the increase obliged to fill up the vacancies by the election of
of crime and luxury by stringent enactments. The three hundred new members. These however were
attempt was a hopeless one, for vice and immorality not appointed by the censors from the persons who
pervaded alike all classes of Roman citizens, and had filled the magistracies of the state, but were
no laws can restore to a people the moral feelings elected by the people. Appian says (B. C. i. 100)
which they have lost. Sulla has been much that they were elected by the tribes. Most mo-
blamed by modern writers for giving to the Roman dern writers think that we are not to understand
state such an aristocratical constitution ; but under by this the comitia tributa, but the comitia centu-
the circumstances in which he was placed he could riata, which voted also according to tribes at this
not well have done otherwise. To have vested the time ; but Göttling observes that as the senators
government in the mob of which the Roman people were regarded by Sulla as public officers, there
consisted, would have been perfect madness; and is no difficulty in supposing that they were elected
as he was not prepared to establish a monarchy, he by the comitia tributa as the inferior magistrates
had no alternative but giving the power to the were. However this may be, we know that these
senate. His constitution did not last, because the three hundred were taken from the equestrian
aristocracy were thoroughly selfish and corrupt, order. (Appian, l. c. ; Liv. Epit. 89. ) This election
and exercised the power which Sulla had entrusted was an extraordinary one, and was not intended to
to them only for their own aggrandisement and be the regular way of filling up the vacancies in
not for the good of their country. Their shame the senate ; for we are expressly told that Sulla
less conduct soon disgusted the provinces as well as increased the number of quaestors to twenty, that
the capital; the people again regained their power, there might be a sufficient number for this purpose
but the consequence was an anarchy and not a (Tac. Ann. xi. 32. ) It was not necessary for
government ; and as neither class was fit to rule, Sulla to make any alteration respecting the duties
they were obliged to submit to the dominion of a and functions of the senate, as the whole admini-
single man. Thus the empire became a necessity stration of the state was in their hands; and he
as well as a blessing to the exhausted Roman gave them the initiative in legislation by requiring
world. Sulla's laws respecting criminal jurispru- a previous senatusconsultum respecting all mea-
dence were the most lasting and bear the strongest sures that were to be submitted to the comitia, as
testimony to his greatness as a legislator. He is stated above. One of the most important
was the first to reduce the criminal law of Rome of the senate's duties was the appointment of
to a system ; and his laws, together with the Ju- the governors of the provinces. By the Lex
lian laws, formed the basis of the criminal Roman Sempronia of C. Gracchus, the senate had to de-
jurisprudence till the downfal of the empire.
