[81.4] It note also contains an account of Thracian . 107/14 The dissolute lifestyle of L.Sulla, as a young man. Sulla had officially been declared an outlaw and in the eyes of the Cinnan regime, Flaccus was to take command of an army without a legal commander. His son, Faustus Cornelius Sulla, issued denarii bearing the name of the dictator,[151] as did a grandson, Quintus Pompeius Rufus. Sulla then duly besieged the city. Gill. This unusual appointment (used hitherto only in times of extreme danger to the city, such as during the Second Punic War, and then only for 6-month periods) represented an exception to Rome's policy of not giving total power to a single individual. The first of the, Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback, sfn error: no target: CITEREFBadian2012 (. In art, literature, and cultural studies, primary sources . Moreover, the people knew that Sulla was friends with Bocchus, a rich foreign monarch, and rejected his standing for the praetorship to induce him to spend money on games. Plutarch states in his Life of Sulla that "Sulla now began to make blood flow, and he filled the city with deaths without number or limit," further alleging that many of the murdered victims had nothing to do with Sulla, though Sulla killed them to "please his adherents.". This "firsthand" understanding of human motivations and the ordinary Roman citizen may explain why he was able to succeed as a general despite lacking any significant military experience before his 30s.[25]. Of the twelve outlaws, only Sulpicius was killed after being betrayed by a slave. Primary sources provide raw information and first-hand evidence. If Plutarch's text is to be amended to "Julia", then she is likely to have been one of the Julias related to Julius Caesar, most likely. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook is one of series of history primary sourcebooks. Primary sources are most often produced around the time of the events you are studying. Encyclopedias. To this end, he reaffirmed the requirement that any individual wait for 10 years before being re-elected to any office. Revised on November 11, 2022. He dismissed his lictores and walked unguarded in the Forum, offering to give account of his actions to any citizen. Sulla then increased the number of magistrates elected in any given year, and required that all newly elected quaestores gain automatic membership in the Senate. Biography Roman military commander and dictator of the Roman republic (81-80 BC). [54] Various proposals to give the allies Roman citizenship over the decades had failed for various reasons, just as the allies also "became progressively more aware of the need to cease to be subjects and to share in the exercise of imperial power" by acquiring that citizenship. You can use the following terms to search HOLLIS for primary sources:. Understanding Context: Awareness of the interconnection of events from the past, present and future. His colleague was, 79 BC: Retires from political life, refusing the, 78 BC: Dies, perhaps of an intestinal ulcer, with funeral held in Rome, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 11:05. Plutarch states in his Life of Sulla that he retired to a life spent in dissolute luxuries, and he "consorted with actresses, harpists, and theatrical people, drinking with them on couches all day long." [116] Advancing on Capua, he met the two consuls of that year Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and Gaius Norbanus who had dangerously divided their forces. Shortly before Sulla's first consulship, the Romans fought the bloody Social War against their . As this caused a general murmur, he let one day pass, and then proscribed 220 more, and again on the third day as many. [28][29], Under Marius, the Roman forces followed a very similar plan as under Metellus, capturing and garrisoning fortified positions in the African countryside. After another attempt to relieve Praeneste failed, Carbo lost his nerve and attempted to retreat to Africa; his lieutenants attempted again to relieve Praeneste but after that again failed, marched on Rome to force Sulla from his well-defended positions. While Sulla's laws such as those concerning qualification for admittance to the Senate, reform of the legal system and regulations of governorships remained on Rome's statutes long into the principate, much of his legislation was repealed less than a decade after his death. Secondary sources, on the other hand, are made . Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born in 138 BCE in Puteoli, Italy. However, this material may be located in a number of places including in the library, elsewhere on campus, or even online. 133/18 Scipio praises C.Marius. [69], Sulla started his consulship by passing two laws. The law was vetoed by one of the tribunes, but when Quintus Pompeius Rufus went to Pompey Strabo's army to take command under the Senate's authority, he was promptly assassinated after his arrival and assumption of command, almost certainly on Strabo's orders. Normally, candidates had to have first served for ten years in the military, but by Sulla's time, this had been superseded by an age requirement. Sulla was born in a very turbulent era of Rome's history, which has often been described as the beginning of the fall of the Roman Republic.The political climate was marked by civil discord and rampant political violence where voting in the Assembly was . Archelaus then hid in the nearby marshes before escaping to Chalcis. In fact, many sources can be either primary or secondary depending on the context of the research and of the source itself. [113] The extra time spent in Asia, moreover, equipped him with forces and money later put to good use in Italy. With Sulpicius able to enact legislation without consular opposition, Sulla discovered that Marius had tricked him, for the first piece of legislation Sulpicius brought was a law transferring the command against Mithridates to Marius. [119][120] The remainder of 83BC was dedicated to recruiting for the next year's campaign amid poor weather: Quintus Sertorius had raised a considerable force in Etruria, but was alienated from the consuls by the election of Gaius Marius' son rather than himself and so left to his praetorian province of Hispania Citerior; Sulla repudiated recognition of any treaties with the Samnites, whom he did not consider to be Roman citizens due to his rejection of Marius and Cinna's deal in 87BC. Sulla would ratify Mithridates' position in Pontus and have him declared a Roman ally. His enemy, Lucius Cornelius Cinna, was elected consul for 87BC in place of his candidate;[83] his nephew was rejected as plebeian tribune while Marius' nephew was successful. In 109, Rome sent Quintus Caecilius Metellus to continue the war. Encyclopaedia Romana - Has essays on several aspects of ancient Rome. According only to Appian, he then brought legislation to strengthen the Senate's position in the state and weaken the plebeian tribunes by eliminating the comitia tributa as a legislative body and requiring that tribunes first receive senatorial approval for legislation;[80] some scholars, however, reject Appian's account as mere retrojection of legislation passed during Sulla's dictatorship. [72] Sulpicius' attempts to push through the Italian legislation again brought him into violent urban conflict, although he "offered nothing to the urban plebs so it continued to resist him". [49] At this meeting, Sulla was told by a Chaldean seer that he would die at the height of his fame and fortune. The veto power of the tribunes and their legislating authority were soon reinstated, ironically during the consulships of Pompey and Crassus.[150]. He was both eloquent and clever, and he made friends easily. [21], This article is about the Roman dictator. Faced with mobilizing a sufficient fighting force, Congress passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917. [79], Sulla then had Sulpicius' legislation invalidated on the grounds that they had been passed by force. [19] Plutarch mentions that during his last marriage to Valeria, he still kept company with "actresses, musicians, and dancers, drinking with them on couches night and day.[20]. Website. His rival, Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, described Sulla as having the cunning of a fox and the courage of a lion but that it was his cunning that was by far the most dangerous. Sulla also codified, and thus established definitively, the cursus honorum, which required an individual to reach a certain age and level of experience before running for any particular office. "[148][149] Sulla's example proved that it could be done, therefore inspiring others to attempt it; in this respect, he has been seen as another step in the Republic's fall. N.S. [59], In the first year of fighting, Roman strategy was largely one of containment, attempting to stop the revolting allies from spreading their rebellion into Roman-controlled territory. Books. He used his powers to purge his opponents, and reform Roman constitutional laws, to restore the primacy of the Senate and limit the power of the tribunes of the plebs. [70][71] They were designed to regulate Rome's finances, which were in a very sorry state after all the years of continual warfare. sulla primary sources. Keep in mind as you use this website, the Web is always changing and evolving. Deciding whether a source is primary or secondary is sometimes confusing. Examples include interview transcripts, statistical data, and works of art. [123], After the younger Marius' defeat, Sulla had the Samnite war captives massacred, which triggered an uprising in his rear. Sarah Cooper teaches 8th grade U.S. history and is assistant head for academic life at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada, Calif. Sarah is the . Archives; Correspondence However, his candidature was dealt a blow when he was brought up on charges of extorting Ariobarzanes. [152], Sulla was red-blond[154] and blue-eyed, and had a dead-white face covered with red marks. By the end of the war, the SSA had conscripted over 2.8 million American men. For other uses, see, Portrait of Sulla on a denarius minted in 54 BC by his grandson, They were designed to regulate Rome's finances, which were in a very sorry state after all the years of continual warfare. 45-120 CE) was a Platonist philosopher, best known to the general public as author of his "Parallel Lives" of paired Greek and Roman statesmen and military leaders.He was a voluminous writer, author also of a collection of "Moralia" or "Ethical Essays," mostly in dialogue format, many of them devoted to philosophical topics, not at all . [16] His father may have served as praetor, but details are unclear; his father married twice and Sulla' stepmother was of considerable wealth, which certainly helped the young Sulla's ambitions. Cinna violently quarrelled with his co-consul, Gnaeus Octavius. The constitutional reforms of Sulla were a series of laws enacted by the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla between 82 and 80 BC, reforming the Constitution of the Roman Republic in a revolutionary way.. Marius, in the midst of this military crisis, sought and won repeated consulships, which upset aristocrats in the Senate; they, however, likely acknowledged the indispensability of Marius' military capabilities in defeating the Germanic invaders. Throughout the research process, you'll likely use various types of sources. His primary duty was the defeat of Mithridates and the re-establishment of Roman power in the east. When he was still a proconsul in 82, he planned and executed the proscriptions against his enemies for revenge, especially from the Marian camp, and against rich Romans because he needed money to pay his veterans . [76] Without troops defending Rome itself, Sulla entered the city; once there, however, his men were pelted with stones from the rooftops by common people. [44], His term as praetor was largely uneventful, excepting a public dispute with Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo (possibly his brother-in-law) and his magnificent holding of the ludi Apollinares. . When it came to hiding his intentions, his mind was incredibly unfathomable, yet with all else he was extremely generous; especially with money. Source: Ammianus Marcellinus, History, XIV.16: "The Luxury of the Rich in Rome," c. 400 A.D. After the battle, Marius withdrew to Praeneste and was there besieged. The later battle, at Orchomenus, was fought in high summer but before the start of the autumn rains. It was not until he was in his very late forties and almost past the age . The young Gaius Julius Caesar, as Cinna's son-in-law, became one of Sulla's targets, and fled the city. Learning in Black and White. The two primary sources for this paper are Sallust's A gifted and innovative general, he achieved numerous successes in wars against foreign and domestic opponents. [97], Early in 87BC, Sulla transited the Adriatic for Thessaly with his five legions. Lucius Cornelius Sulla (l. 138 - 78 BCE) enacted his constitutional reforms (81 BCE) as dictator to strengthen the Roman Senate's power. [76] The troops were willing to follow Sulla to Rome; his officers, however, realised Sulla's plans and deserted him (except his quaestor and kinsman, almost certainly Lucius Licinius Lucullus). The Roman Republic and territories in 100 B.C. An example of the extent of his charming side was that his soldiers would sing a ditty about Sulla's one testicle, although without truth, to which he allowed as being "fond of a jest. Sulla is generally seen as having set the precedent for Caesar's march on Rome and dictatorship. Studying the past supports good citizenship, which is requisite for a fair and effective democracy. This, of course, made him very popular with the poorer citizens. "[133][134], At the end of 82 BC or the beginning of 81 BC,[135] the Senate appointed Sulla dictator legibus faciendis et reipublicae constituendae causa ("dictator for the making of laws and for the settling of the constitution"). 213/23 P.Cornelius Sulla is chosen to be Flamen Dialis. The collection currently contains . At the start of his second consulship in 80BC with Metellus Pius, Sulla resigned his dictatorship. Historical documents : how to read them. the execution of Granius, shortly before his own death). The Athenian politician Aristion had himself elected as strategos epi ton hoplon and established a tyranny over the city. Examples of tertiary sources include encyclopedias and dictionaries, chronologies, almanacs, directories, indexes, and bibliographies.