UNRAVELING THE STORY OF LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA

Abstract

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in early 49 B.C.E.1 and proceeded to march on Rome, he set in motion a series of events which would culminate in the transformation of the Roman state. Never again would the Senate, magistrates, Tribunes, or plebeian assemblies have any claim to real power; a dictator, and eventually an emperor, would become the effective ruler of Rome. What some do not realize, however, is that Caesar’s march on Rome was not unprecedented. Forty years earlier, in 88, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, an accomplished military general who served as consul that year, lead his army into Rome. Sulla sought to reclaim the command in the campaign against Mithridates VI of Pontus which he believed had been wrongfully transferred from him to Gaius Marius by the legislation of the tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus. Sulla’s march on Rome proved successful. Sulpicius and Marius were overpowered and Sulla gained control of the city