Lucius Cornelius Sulla - Roman general and dictator. Born - 138 BC e., died - 78 BC. e. (59 years old)
For those who are not very familiar with history Ancient Rome, but read famous novel R. Giovagnoli “Spartacus”, the image of Sulla is inextricably linked with the suppression of 74 (75–73)–71. BC e.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla himself called himself Felix, which translates as “happy.” That's how he wanted to appear. Lucky, lucky, favorite... Towards the end of his life, he began to say that he was patronized by the goddess Venus herself, who for the Romans combined wisdom, beauty, and love.
And then the word “villain” was added to the nickname “lucky”. And it happened quite quickly. The Roman historians Sallust and Plutarch already assessed him in exactly this way. And when these days a book about Sulla comes out in the series “Life wonderful people“, we must understand that “wonderful” in this case does not mean “wonderful”. But “noticeable” – definitely.
He didn't even live to see his 60th birthday. Although, his life ended exactly the way he wanted it.
Sulla came from the ancient aristocratic family of Cornelius and throughout his life he consistently served the interests of the aristocracy. Unlike his rivals, he never even verbally sympathized with democratic ideas.
Sulla's family was noble, but impoverished. The reasons are clear: the great-grandfather was expelled from the Senate, the highest governing body, for wastefulness and passion for luxury. In Rome there was the concept of “virtus” - a set of virtues that necessarily included a modest lifestyle, primarily for the rich. The Romans valued military, oratorical, and intellectual virtues, but not external pomp.
However, not everyone wanted to follow these principles. After Sulla, he was even forced to issue special laws against luxury. And it was his own family who violated them first of all...
Sulla received a refined Greek education, in keeping with his aristocratic status. It so happened that Greece, which after its conquest by Rome in the 2nd century BC. e. lost its former greatness, retained its intellectual superiority. And the victorious Romans recognized Greek education as the highest.
In his younger years, Sulla, due to lack of funds, had to live not in his own house, but in rented apartment, which was shameful for an aristocrat. However, he did not lose heart. He studied oratory, read Aristotle and moved among the golden youth, where he generously spent his small fortune and was known as a generous and cheerful person. Moreover, in his youth, as his contemporaries testify, he was quite handsome.
For a very long time he showed no interest in his career, giving preference to other joys of life. Only at the age of 31 (and not at 21, as was customary among the Romans) did he receive the very first, lowest position in the system of Roman magistrates - quaestor, that is, assistant consul, with famous commander Maria.
At first, the pampered Sulla felt uneasy in the camp of Maria, the man simple origin, surrounded by officers, also mostly from the lower classes. There Sulla for the first time demonstrated flexibility and the ability to build relationships with people. He was quickly able to turn from an outcast into a favorite of soldiers, officers and Maria himself, who was tasked by the Senate to finally achieve a turning point in the famous Jugurthine War.
At first, the war against Jugurtha, the king of the North African state of Numidia (the eastern part of modern Algeria), was a complete disgrace for the Roman Empire. Previously, during the Punic Wars, the inhabitants of Numidia helped Rome in the fight, because their closest neighbor was much more dangerous for them. However, then their paths with Rome diverged. Having freed themselves from Carthage, the last thing the Numidians wanted was to find themselves under the iron hand of the Roman state system.
King Jugurtha was educated in Rome. In the struggle for power in Numidia, he killed all his close relatives and bribed some of the Roman senators to support him. And while capturing the capital of Numidia, Cirta, Jugurtha destroyed all the Romans who were there. This was, as the Romans said, a casus belli - the reason for the start of the war, which in Roman history received the name Jugurthine and lasted from 111 to 105 BC. e.
From the very beginning of the war, the Romans, to their horror, suffered defeat after defeat. And Jugurtha also declared: I have so much gold that, if I want it, I will buy the entire Roman Senate.
To rectify the situation, consul Gaius Marius was thrown in - talented commander and strong nature. He established strict order in the army and was able to turn the tide of the war. After the first victories, Mari could not yet consider himself a winner: Jugurtha was safe and sound and fled to his father-in-law, to neighboring Mauritania. For a Roman commander, not leading a captured enemy through the streets of Rome meant not winning.
The Romans negotiated with the Moorish king Bocchus, Jugurtha's father-in-law, about handing over a relative to them. However, final agreement was never achieved. It was necessary to go straight to his camp and try to capture Jugurtha. Nobody wanted to take on this matter. And then the young officer Sulla proposed his candidacy.
Bocchus invited a small group of Romans to the feast, as if for negotiations. He promised to give them a sign when Jugurtha could be captured. The risk was great. After all, Bocchus could well have given a completely different sign to his soldiers so that they would capture the Romans.
But Sulla said that he believed in his lucky star and could guarantee success! And everyone was able to verify this at the dangerous feast of King Bokhus. They grabbed Yugurtha, and then everything went as planned. The triumph of Mary took place in Rome; Jugurtha, dressed in a robe, was led behind the chariot of the triumphant royal clothes, but defeated. And in this triumph of Maria the future triumph of Sulla already appeared.
When the young officer was able to become famous so quickly, Mari felt the first pang of jealousy. His triumph was overshadowed by the enormous success of Sulla. However, the old commander did not dare to refuse his services, realizing both his growing popularity and unconditional talents.
Meanwhile, a new danger began to threaten Rome. This was inevitable: after the Punic Wars of the 3rd–2nd centuries BC. e. Rome, the conqueror of Carthage, began to become a world power. Hence the pride of the masters of the world, and enormous wealth, but hence also the inevitable threats from literally all sides.
113 BC e. — a war began with the German tribe of the Teutons. Mari sent Sulla there as a legate, that is, as his authorized representative. And Sulla was again able to prove himself a decisive and fearless officer. Such qualities were highly valued in the constantly warring Ancient Rome.
In '93 ( exact date unknown, according to Wikipedia - in the mid-90s) he received the high position of praetor. It made it possible to manage the province, which means it allowed them to improve their material affairs. In Rome, as in any traditional society, a simple procedure was in effect: officials were given control of provinces in order to get rich there. Having become the ruler of Cilicia in the Black Sea region, Sulla was not only able to get rich, but also won his first victories over the local king Mithridates of Pontus.
But this is not what he eclipsed Maria. Decisive role the greatest in Roman history played a role in Sulla's success, the most dangerous war inside Italy, called the Allied. From the 6th century BC, Rome was legally a polis, a small civil community in the region of Latium. The rest of Italy was inhabited by numerous tribes: Sabines, Samnites, Etruscans, etc. They were called “allies of the Roman people.” A very hypocritical name, because the “allies” did not have civil rights. Although they, together with the Roman inhabitants, repelled the attacks of enemies, this did not give them the right to vote and be elected to leading positions or to take part in the National Assembly. Their patience had to end someday.
The protest matured gradually. Back in 34, II century BC. e. wise and worthy people - the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus - warned that it was better to give the Italians - the inhabitants of Italy - civil rights, to include them in some kind of comitia - one of the types of the People's Assembly. The Gracchi also called for support for the Roman peasantry, realizing that its ruin would destroy the foundations of the army. The Gracchi are the last people in Roman history whose words about the democratization of the republic corresponded to their true intentions.
They were killed and the laws they proposed were rejected. We can say that this became a prelude to future civil wars. Later, everyone continued to talk about the fatherland, about its salvation from tyrants. And the tyrants themselves were especially zealous, because this was already a lie, useful in the struggle for power.
In the most difficult Allied War of 91–88, Rome, straining its last strength, won militarily. But politically he gave in and gave the allies everything they wanted.
During this war, Sulla decisively came to the fore. It was he and his part of the army who were able to defeat the most warlike, most dangerous of the Italics - the Samnites. Consul Marius did not like this very much, who wanted to maintain his leading position by any means.
And Sulla never ceased to be lucky. Having already become rich, he also successfully married (for the first time in five) the daughter of the high priest. His position was finally strengthened. He received a consular post, the People's Assembly and the Senate decided to send him to the East - to command troops in the further struggle for the expansion of Roman possessions, and therefore to fight again with Mithridates of Pontus.
As soon as Sulla left Rome, Marius was able to achieve a decision to take away his command. But Sulla was in no mood to give up. The legates of the People's Assembly, who arrived at his camp to report the unpleasant news, were simply torn to pieces by indignant soldiers.
Sulla knew how to generously give gifts to soldiers, and therefore was dearly loved. He was well aware of what support was. And under his command there were already about 100,000 soldiers. It was great power. The consequence of Maria's military reform was that the main issues were now decided not by the state, which relied on the people's militia, but by the commander, who actually commanded a mercenary army.
Sulla had no doubts and sincerely believed in his star. He decided to march on Rome with an army to “liberate the fatherland from tyrants.” 82 BC e. — a battle took place at the Collin Gate, in the northern part of the city. This was the first battle of Romans against Romans, the beginning of the civil wars.
The era seemed to need such a cynical person, who did not look back at the past, like Sulla in order to break the old Roman principles. After all, there were new upsurges ahead - the golden age of Octavian, the golden age of the Antonines. But first the classical Roman virtus had to become a thing of the past. Turning points in history always give rise to people of action, as they are often called, but in fact - tyrants and cynics.
Of course, Sulla did not think that he was breaking the Roman political system - he was sure that he was strengthening it, defending the aristocratic republic. He created his own image of the savior of the fatherland and past values. The slogan of restoring order, popular at all times, could justify a lot.
Sulla became dictator. In Ancient Rome, a dictator was not just someone who seized power. Dictatorial powers were obtained from the hands of the highest democratic body - the People's Assembly - for a certain period when the state was in danger. By the way, a similar practice was repeated in XVIII century, during the Great French Revolution. The Jacobins also stated that they came to power for a time to restore order, because the fatherland was in danger. They promised to elect democratic authorities after restoring order. Furthermore– they adopted the most democratic constitution, but they never implemented it. And the guillotine knife clattered.
Approximately the same thing happened during the reign of Sulla. Everything was done legally. Except for one detail: his dictatorship was not limited by term. This innovation became entrenched in Roman politics over time. And power, for example, was for life, which in the eyes of democracy advocates decisively brought his status closer to that of the tsar.
By the way, Sulla did not aspire to become king. After all, in ancient times in Rome there were kings, or rather tribal leaders, but he considered himself immeasurably higher than them. He saw himself as the confidant of the gods. However, he did not forget about completely earthly politics.
To expand his support, Sulla released 10,000 slaves with a single decision. They all received one name in honor of him - Cornelius. And these 10,000 Cornelians were sincerely devoted to their liberator. They became his support in the People's Assembly and his guard. In addition, he had his army with him - about 100,000 people, for which he sought the highest awards at the end of any operation.
And in order to ensure the unquestioning execution of his will, Sulla presumably on November 3, 82 BC. e. introduced the so-called proscriptions. Proscriptio literally means “written promulgation” in Latin. Proscriptions are lists that were hung on the walls of private houses and public buildings, so that everyone can know which people are the enemies of Rome. This scary experience has been repeated many times in history. In the 18th century, the French Revolution invented the term “enemies of the people,” and in the 20th century it was widely used by the Soviet Stalinist regime.
Under Sulla, the system of proscriptions operated very clearly. People whose names were on the lists were to be executed. No one had the right to shelter those included in the terrible lists. Those who helped them were also executed. And therefore, everything was cancelled: family ties, friendship, sympathy... The children of the proscribed - enemies of the people - were deprived of honorary rights and fortune.
The property of those who were proscribed was confiscated, and if there was an informer, he received a significant portion. Moreover, the proscribed person could be executed himself. And then bring his head and get the money. The reward was given even to slaves, but somewhat less than to free citizens. But the slave gained personal freedom. This system completely undermined the foundations of the Roman oligarchic republic.
The total number of those executed is unknown. At first there were dozens of names on the lists (the first 60 were senators). Then came hundreds, and then thousands. Denunciations were written against relatives and neighbors... One of the lists included the young Gaius Julius Caesar, the nephew of Marius, Sulla’s main enemy, who had fled to Africa. Over the course of several days simple people hid the sick Caesar. And then his influential acquaintances begged Sulla to cross this young man off the fatal list. And Sulla crossed it out, saying: you will regret this, there are a hundred Maries sitting in it. Quite a prescient remark!
The consequence of the proscriptions was a general, insane fear. Sulla did everything to warm him up. As soon as he received the powers of dictator, he met with the Senate in the temple of Bilona, having previously ordered that 6,000 prisoners - his enemies - be killed nearby, on the Campus Martius. Moans and screams were heard from the temple, which made an indelible impression on the Senate. No one argued with Sulla about anything.
Confident that he would die happy, he was probably right about something. Having been dictator for three years, Sulla two years before his death, in 79 BC. e., officially announced that he was leaving power. The society, dying of fear, became completely numb. It seemed to everyone that this could not happen. The absolute ruler of a world power said simply: I'm leaving!
Speaking at the People's Assembly, Sulla said: if anyone wants to listen to my report on what has been done, I will report immediately. It is clear that no one dared to say anything. Everyone showed delight.
And so he, alone, without security, slowly, unprotected, left the People's Assembly. After this, Sulla went to his distant estate and began to garden, vegetable garden, and fish. He wrote memoirs and created 22 books, which were later very useful to Roman historians. Made laws. He also had fun in the company of numerous actors whom he invited to his place.
The state apparatus was paralyzed. Everyone expected the dictator to change his mind. He will simply check how he behaved in this situation and return. Officials on their own initiative came to Sulla and asked what to do. And he gave instructions, which, as before, were carried out unquestioningly.
Sulla was ill. The nature of his illness is not precisely known. Some ulcers, which are conventionally called “lice disease,” forced him to sit in water for a long time. But he was still full of energy and probably still felt lucky.
Two days before his death, Sulla summoned a certain Granius, who, as they complained to him, did not return money to the treasury, and ordered him to be strangled. The order was carried out. At the same time, Sulla began to scream terribly, he began to have convulsions, throat bleeding - and he died.
The most magnificent funeral in Roman history took place. Sulla himself composed the epitaph in advance: “Here lies a man who, more than any other mortal, did good to his friends and evil to his enemies.”
By the way, the historian Sallust repeatedly emphasized that Sulla had many wonderful qualities. Smart, educated, in another era he supposedly might not have become such a terrible villain. But for some reason it’s quite difficult to agree with this.
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is one of those whom history has never been able to give an unambiguous assessment. This probably happened because this undeniably extraordinary man had a marked contempt for any rules - be it the rules of a political game or the standard model of behavior of a bloodthirsty tyrant. He obviously did not have a clear goal, preferring to decide pressing problems- and he did it decisively, resourcefully and, as a rule, with success. Sulla created a new type of politician - practical, sober-minded, but unprincipled and indiscriminate in the choice of means.
The rise to power of Lucius Cornelius Sulla was associated with the struggle between two main " political parties» The Roman state: optimates and populares. The first represented noble Romans, the second focused on the plebs and the equestrian class. The main policy problems of that time were the admission of various segments of the population to public administration, use land resources; There was an urgent question about maintaining the combat effectiveness of the army, about bringing the provinces into complete submission, about the status of the so-called allies in Italy, who had long laid claim to the rights of Roman citizens. Political struggle in Rome proceeded more than intensely. Mutual accusations, prosecution, continuous vetoes imposed on laws... All this was inevitable given that complex system“counterbalances”, overlapping powers, mutual control, which, although it was relatively democratic, sometimes, due to its complexity, simply paralyzed all internal life.
In the early 80s BC. e. the two most influential politicians were Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The first was the leader of the popular party, he became famous as a commander in the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha, the barbarian tribes, and carried out an important military reform, transferring the army, in fact, to a regular basis. The second was the hope of the optimates party. He also distinguished himself in the Jugurthine War. Relations between Sulla and Marius entered a decisive phase with the beginning of the so-called 1st Mithridatic War in the east.
Mithridates VI Eupator ruled the Pontic state, covering the southern, northern and eastern coasts of the Black Sea. In 89 BC. e. he led an attack on the eastern Roman possessions. Under the slogan of liberating the Greeks, he captured the Roman provinces in Asia Minor, then landed in Greece itself. In Rome, it was decided to send an army to the east, and Sulla was to lead it. Mari opposed this. The leader of the Populars achieved the position of commander for himself, and his enemy fled from Rome. Sulla also gathered his legions and informed them that Maria’s soldiers were going to be sent to Pontus for rich booty. A rapid march - and Sulla's fighters had already occupied all the streets of Rome. Meeting in Once again changed his mind, now Gaius Marius had to flee to Africa.
From this moment the reign of Lucius Cornelius Sulla begins. Even before the campaign began, Sulla issued a number of important decrees. He replenished the ranks of the Senate, established the need for approval of a number of laws in the Senate; the tribunes were, in fact, deprived of the right to veto. Thus, Sulla carried out the program of his political party.
However, almost immediately after his departure with the army to the east, the situation in Rome changed dramatically. The popular Cinna, who had already been elected in the presence of Sulla to a consular post, together with Marius, who appeared in Italy, and the troops loyal to them (including the army of the Italian allies of the Romans, the Samnites, and a significant number former slaves) captured Rome. There was bloody terror in the city. A detachment of punitive slaves terrified respectable Romans. Consuls for 86 BC. e. Marius and Cinna were appointed. Already on the 6th day of his consulate, Mari died, and Cinna remained the sole ruler. Most of Sulla's decrees were repealed.
Meanwhile, Sulla himself waged a successful fight against Mithridates. Roman troops drove the Pontic people out of Greece. Sulla then moved to Asia Minor, where he made peace with Mithridates, restoring the status quo. The leader of the optimates hurried back to Italy. He landed at Brundisium in the spring of 85 BC. e. with an army of 40 thousand. Among his assistants were Pompey and Crassus, who later ascended to the political Olympus. Sulla, as a commander and diplomat, acted more successfully than his opponents; entire legions went over to his side, and noble Romans joined him. Cinna was killed by his own soldiers. In 82 BC. e. Sulla took Rome. Populars fled to Spain, Africa, and Sicily.
Sulla's regime turned out to be no less cruel, but probably more consistent. To begin with, he received (for the first time in the history of Rome) dictatorial powers for an indefinite period. Sulla did not hesitate to “deal” with his political opponents - both real and potential. For about six months, the famous proscription list was compiled, in which people who were declared outlaws were included: the property of these people was confiscated, their murder was not punished, but was rewarded, and denunciations were encouraged. Punitive detachments dispersed throughout Italy, and the democratic party was largely physically destroyed. Up to 1,600 horsemen and about 50 senators were killed. The property of the proscripts was sold at extremely high prices. low prices and first of all to Sulla’s closest associates. Thus, at this time, many political and public figures of the post-Sullan era, for example Marcus Licinius Crassus, acquired colossal wealth. Sulla's veterans were placed on the liberated lands, creating a new type of colony - unique military settlements. As a result of this distribution of land, a layer of small owners strengthened in the state. Of the slaves owned by the proscripts, about 10 thousand were freed and received the name Cornelius after the name of the man who freed them.
As part of the restoration of the influence of the nobility, almost all the decrees of the Gracchi were canceled: the distribution of grain was stopped, the tax farming system in Asia was destroyed, and the equestrian courts were eliminated. The Senate doubled in size and now included all former praetors, quaestors and consuls. People's assemblies could decide anything only with the permission of the Senate or Sulla personally. The tribunes retained only the right to petition on the affairs of the plebs. A harmonious career scheme was created: the age at which one could be elected to a particular position was determined, strict order positions held, the necessary intervals between election to various posts, the number of magistrates was increased so that aristocrats had the opportunity to go through all the necessary levels. Sulla's dictatorship had a clear aristocratic character, but at the same time it equally clearly contributed to the end of political anarchy.
The end of Sulla's reign turned out to be more than interesting. At a certain point, he abandoned the indefinite dictatorship, assumed the consulate, and in 79 BC. e. publicly resigned these duties, dismissed the armed guards and announced that from now on he was only a senator. He suggested that the People's Assembly demand a report from him, but no one dared to do so. Sulla retained enormous influence on the political life of Rome until his death in 78 BC. e.
The activities of Lucius Cornelius Sulla influenced further development states. He clearly showed that the republican form of government no longer corresponded to the interests of the most powerful aristocratic class in Rome. The largest Roman politicians of the entire next century, following his example, strove for sole power, already habitually not stopping at the use of armed force, trampling, if necessary, the values of the Roman democratic system. Ultimately, it was the establishment of the monarchical system that contributed to the transformation of Rome into the strongest world power.
The dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla was the first step towards the establishment of imperial power in Ancient Rome. It began with the mass destruction of his political opponents. During the civil war in a number of Italian cities, such as Praeneste, Ezernia, Norba and several others, the Sullans destroyed the entire male population. Punitive detachments of legionnaires operated throughout Italy, searching for and destroying the dictator's overt and secret enemies. Some Italian cities lost theirs for supporting Gaius Maria. land holdings. Others had their fortress walls torn down, and now they became defenseless in the event of a renewal of the civil war. The city of Somnius was especially cruelly punished, whose warriors fought with the legions of the Sullans to the last.
The resistance of the Marians in Sicily, North Africa and Spain was broken. The commander Gnaeus Pompey, whom Sulla awarded with the nickname the Great, especially distinguished himself in this.
Having started the massacre, Sulla did not stop it and filled his pride with murders without counting or ending. Many fell as a result of personal enmity, without any conflict with Sulla himself: pleasing his followers, he handed over people to them without reprisal.
After this, he compiled a proscription list of eighty people. An explosion of general indignation followed, and a day later Sulla announced a new list of two hundred and twenty people, then a third - no less.
He addressed the people and said that he included in the lists only those whom he remembered, and if anyone escaped his attention, he would make other similar lists. And he placed on the lists everyone who accepted and sheltered any of the victims in his house, punished philanthropy with death and did not spare either brother, son, or parents, and to anyone who killed a disgraced person, he assigned two talents as a reward, paying for the murder, even if a slave killed his master or a son killed his father. But the most glaring injustice was that he deprived the sons and grandsons of the disgraced of civil honor and confiscated their property. Proscriptions were rampant not only in Rome, but throughout all cities of Italy. Neither the temples of the gods, nor the hearth of hospitality, nor the father's house protected from murder; husbands died in the arms of their spouses, sons in the arms of their mothers. Wherein fallen victim anger were just a drop in the ocean among those who were executed for their wealth. The executioners had reason to say that so-and-so was destroyed by his huge house, this is a garden, other - warm bathing. Thus, Quintus Aurelius, a man far from politics, once, going out to the Forum, read the names of those included in the lists in full confidence that the disaster affected him only to the extent of his sympathy for the grief of others. And suddenly he finds there given name. “Oh, I’m unfortunate,” he exclaimed, “I am haunted by my Albanian estate.” And as soon as he walked away a little, he was killed by someone who was chasing after him.
Experienced in government matters domestic policy From the first years of his dictatorship, Sulla began to take care of having as many of his followers as possible. Over 120 thousand veterans of the Sullan army, who fought under his command against the Pontic king and in the civil war, received large land in Italy and became owners of estates that used slave labor. To this end, the dictator carried out massive confiscations of land. Three goals were achieved at once: Sulla paid his soldiers, punished his enemies and created strong points his power throughout Italy. If the agrarian question was once used as an instrument of democracy, then in the hands of Sulla it became an instrument of oligarchy and the personal power of a powerful dictator.
Sulla's triumph was celebrated with extreme pomp. Luxurious and rare was the booty taken from the king, but the best decoration of the triumph, a truly beautiful picture, were the Roman exiles. The most noble and richest of the citizens with wreaths on their heads followed Sulla and called him savior and father in gratitude for the fact that he returned them to their homeland and with them their wives and children. At the end of the celebration, Sulla made a speech in the national assembly in which he gave an overview of his deeds. He listed the successes that he owed to happiness no less diligently than his personal merits, and in conclusion demanded that for all this he be given the title “Lucky.”
As dictator, Sulla renewed and even expanded all his old measures against democracy. Bread distributions were cancelled. The power of the tribunes of the people was reduced to a fiction. They could act in legislation and judicial procedure only with the prior approval of the Senate. Former tribunes of the people were prohibited from holding curule positions. This decision deprived the people's tribunate of any attractiveness for persons who wanted to make a political career.
Sulla established a strict procedure for becoming a magistrate: one could not become a consul without first passing through the praetorship, and one could not stand for the latter before passing the questorship. As for aedileship, it was included in this ladder of magistracy, since it was assumed that every politician would certainly pass through the position of aedile, which opened up wide opportunities to gain popularity. The old rule was restored that a 10-year gap was required for second election to consulship.
Sulla increased the number of praetors to 8, quaestors to 20, which was caused by the growing need of the state for the administrative apparatus. Former quaestors mechanically became members of the Senate. Since at the same time the senators were declared irremovable, one of the most important functions of the censors – replenishing the Senate – was eliminated. The economic responsibilities of the censors were transferred by the consuls, and thus censorship was actually abolished.
Sulla's constitutional reforms formally pursued the goal of restoring the dominance of the aristocracy. It is natural, therefore, that he placed the Senate at the head of the state. All the old rights and prerogatives of the Senate were restored. In particular, judicial law Gaius Gracchus was abolished and the courts were again transferred to the senators. Standing commissions criminal courts have been significantly improved and their number increased. However, in the spirit of Drusus's reform, the number of senators was replenished by electing 300 new members from the equestrian class by tribe. In fact, the chosen ones turned out to be younger sons senators, Sullan officers and “new people” who surfaced political life during the last coup. In this way, the beginning of the formation of a new nobility was laid, which was supposed to serve as a support for the Sullan order. Under the banner of the restoration of the Senate Republic, Sulla strengthened his personal dictatorship.
Among Sulla's activities it is especially noteworthy administrative structure Italy. This was one of the most lasting and progressive reforms. Here Sulla legally formalized the state of affairs that was created as a result Allied War. Sulla kept his promise given in his message to the Senate: the new Italian citizens retained all their rights up to uniform distribution across all 35 tribes. Now, with the weakening of democracy, this did not threaten the new order. In this regard, Sulla precisely defined the boundaries of Italy in the proper sense of the word. Northern border it was supposed to be served by the small river Rubicon, which flowed into the Adriatic Sea north of Arimin. The part of modern Italy that lay between the Rubicon and the Alps formed the province of Cisalpine Gaul. It was divided into large urban areas, to which the Gallic tribes were assigned in the transpadan part. Italy proper was divided into small municipal territories with the right of self-government. Many Italian cities, on the lands of which Sulla settled his veterans, were renamed civil colonies. Sulla also reformed to a certain extent tax system in the provinces, partially destroying the tax farm in Asia, which was supposed to weaken the horsemen.
Having strengthened the power of the Roman Senate and his supporters in it, Lucius Cornelius Sulla decided to hold free elections in 79 BC. voluntarily resigned his dictatorial powers. Some researchers believe that Sulla lifted the dictatorship not in 79, as was usually believed, but in 80, having remained in office for the required 6 months. After this, he became consul, and in 79 he removed this consular power from himself. Most likely, Sulla took dictatorship for an indefinite period, which was a fundamental innovation, and abandoned it in 79. Thus, he was the first of the Roman rulers to place himself above the rest, creating a special power. At the same time, he last days retained enormous influence on the political life of Rome. Sulla's refusal of dictatorial power was unexpected for his contemporaries and incomprehensible to ancient and more recent historians.
Mommsen considers him the executor of the will of the nobility, who left immediately after the old order was restored. The opposite opinion was expressed by J. Carcopino, who believes that the dictator strove for sole power, but was forced to leave due to opposition in his circle. However, in general, his hypothesis contradicts the facts. The departure was clearly voluntary, and its cause, apparently, should be considered a whole complex of factors. The main thing, perhaps, was that neither society nor the leaders, including Sulla himself, were ripe for permanent personal power and from the very beginning considered the dictatorship only temporary. Sulla was expected to restore the old republic, and this is how he himself viewed his activities. To top it all off, the dictator was terminally ill. Sulla for a long time he did not know that he had ulcers in his insides, and meanwhile his whole body was rotting and began to be covered with a countless number of lice.
He not only foresaw his end, but, in some way, even wrote about it. He stopped writing the twenty-second book of his Memoirs only two days before his death, and there he narrates that, according to the Chaldeans, he was to die, having reached the pinnacle of prosperity, after a wonderful life.
On the morning of the funeral the sky was shrouded in clouds. They were expecting a downpour and therefore started moving out at just after nine o'clock. When the fire was lit, it suddenly rose strong wind, fanned the flames, and the body burned to ashes. But as soon as the fire began to fade, heavy rain fell on the remnants of the dying flame and then continued until the night. Thus, Sulla’s happy fate seemed to be faithful to him until the grave.
Sulla's tomb is located on the Campus Martius. The inscription on it, according to legend, was composed by him: “Here lies a man who, more than any other mortal, did so much good to friends and evil to enemies.”
Plutarch, Selected Lives. Sulla", Minsk, 1995
R. Ernest and Trevor N. Dupuis " The World History war. Book one", Moscow, 1997
History of Ancient Rome / Ed. V. I. Kuzishchina. M., 1981
Plutarch “Selected Lives. Sulla” p.325, Minsk, 1995
Mommsen T. History of Rome, St. Petersburg, 1993
Sulla Lucius Cornelius
Consul who established a dictatorship in Ancient Rome and abandoned it
Sulla Lucius Cornelius
Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born into an impoverished Roman patrician family, belonging to the noble aristocratic family of the Cornelii. Received a good education at home, choosing for himself military career. It was in this field that the ambitious Sulla dreamed of advancing in Ancient Rome, in which he surpassed himself, becoming its absolute dictator.
As a military leader, Sulla became famous during the Jugurthine War of 111–105 BC. e. Then Rome waged war against Jugurtha, the nephew of the deceased Numidian king Mitsips, who, in the struggle for the throne, killed his two heir sons. Jugurtha became the ruler of Numidia against the decision of the Roman Senate. In addition, his soldiers during the capture in 113 BC. e. the city of Cirta killed the entire population there, among whom were many Roman citizens.
The Jugurthine War began unsuccessfully for Rome: King Jugurtha inflicted a shameful defeat on the Roman army under the command of Aulus Postumius. A new commander, Quintus Caecilius Metelus, was sent to Numidia, but the war dragged on as the Numidians went over to guerrilla warfare. The Roman Senate appointed a new commander of the army - Gaius Marius. He, a native of a humble family in the province of Latium, was elected in 107 BC. e. consul.
However, Gaius Marius also failed to win a quick victory. Only two years later, in 105, he was able to oust Jugurtha and his warriors into the domain of his father-in-law, King Bocchus of Mauritania. This is where the Roman military leader, quaestor Lucius Cornelius Sulla, distinguished himself. He managed to induce the Moorish king to hand over his son-in-law, the Numidian commander Jugurtha, to him.
This greatly damaged Gaius Marius’s pride, since the victory in the Jugurthine War began to be attributed to Sulla. He had to make a rapprochement with the enemies of Marius, led by the Metellus family. And yet, the act of Lucius Cornelius Sulla could not seriously shake the authority of Gaius Marius - upon returning to Rome in January 104 BC. e. he was given a triumphal reception. The captive King Jugurtha was led through the streets of the Eternal City, after which he was strangled in prison. Part of Numidia became a Roman province. And yet Sulla turned out to be one of the main heroes of that victorious war.
In 104–102 BC. e. Sulla took part in the war with the Germanic tribes of the Teutons and Cimbri, who appeared back in 113 BC. e. in northeastern Italy. After the defeat of the Roman army in the battle with the Germans at Arauosina, the Senate appointed Gaius Marius as its new commander. In 102 BC. e. in the battle of Aquae Sextiae, he first defeated the army of the Teutons, and the next year, at Vercellae, the Cimbri. The remnants of these Germanic tribes were sold into slavery. This war added to Sulla's military glory. He became a popular military leader among the Roman legionaries.
In the 90s BC. e. on eastern border Ancient Rome strengthened the Pontic Kingdom in Asia Minor. Its ruler, Mithridates VI Eupator, openly challenges the mighty Rome. The Roman Senate decides to send an army to Greece under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was elected consul in 88 BC. e.
At this time, Gaius Marius reappeared on the political scene, wanting to lead eastern campaign. He begins to fight for the position of chief commander of Rome with the help of the people's tribune Sulpicius Rufus, who introduces a number of relevant bills to the Senate for consideration. Relying on the veterans of Maria's legions and part of the Roman aristocracy, Sulpicius achieves the adoption of the laws he proposed.
After these events in the Eternal City, the consul Sulla fled to the Roman army stationed near the city of Nola, which was setting off on a campaign against the Pontic king Mithridates, and raised legions against Rome. For the first time, the Roman army opposed its own capital. The city was taken by legionnaires, Sulpicius was killed, and Gaius Marius and his closest supporters, declared outlaws, fled from Italy.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla turned out to be the winner: he repealed the laws of Sulpicius and, at the head of the Roman army, hurried to the East. In 87 BC. e. The regular annual elections of consuls were held in Rome. Sulla's follower Octavius and his opponent Cinna became consuls.
The commander Sulla fought successfully during the First Mithridatic War. In mid-87, he landed in Greece and besieged Athens, which sided with the Pontic king. By the spring of 86 BC. e. the city was taken and given over to the legionnaires for plunder. However, Sulla ordered the sack of Athens to stop, saying that he “has mercy on the living for the sake of the dead.” Having emptied the treasuries of the Greek temples, the commander of Rome declared that the temples should not need anything, since the gods filled their treasury.
When the army of the Pontic king Mithridates Eupator entered the territory of Greece, the Roman army under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated it in two major battles - at Chaeronea and Orchomenus. The Romans again completely captured Greece, which tried to free itself from their rule, and in August 85 BC. e. The king of Pontus signed peace with Rome, admitting his defeat.
After winning the war in the East, Sulla began to prepare for the struggle for power in the Eternal City itself. First of all, he attracted to his side the army of the Marian democrats, who ended up in Greece, in Pergamon. This was done without a fight, and the quaestor, Gaius Flavius Fimbria, who commanded the troops of Maria in Greece, committed suicide. After this, Sulla decided to start a civil war in Rome.
In the spring of 83 BC. e. Sulla, at the head of a 40,000-strong army, consisting of legionnaires loyal to him, landed in Brindisi. Gaius Marius mobilized more than 100 thousand of his supporters, primarily from among the Roman plebs. The Samnites, residents of the Samnium region, sided with the Marians. In the Eternal City, the Marians began to form new legions.
However, Lucius Cornelius Sulla also had many supporters in Italy from among the opponents of Gaius Marius, especially among the aristocrats and military men. The Roman troops, commanded by Metel Pius and Gnaeus Pompey, took his side. A large detachment led by Marcus Licinius Crassus arrived from North Africa. Unlike the new Marian legions, these were well-trained and disciplined troops with extensive military experience.
In 83 BC. e. At Mount Tifata near the city of Capua a major battle took place between the troops of Sulla and the Marians. The Sullan legions defeated the army of consul Caius Norban. The Marians were forced to take refuge from the victors behind the fortress walls of Capua. The pursuers did not dare to storm the city in order to avoid heavy losses.
The next year, 82 BC. e. At the head of the Marian troops stood experienced commanders - the son of Gaius Maria Mari the Younger and again Kai Norban. In the battles between the Sullans and the Marians, the former won victories, since the combat training and discipline of Sulla's legions was head and shoulders above their opponents.
One of the battles took place at Faventia. Here the consular army under the command of Norbanus and the army of Sulla, commanded on the day of the battle by Metel Pius, fought. The Roman consul Caius Norbanus arrogantly attacked the enemy first, but the Marian army, exhausted by the long march and not having time to rest before the battle, was completely defeated by the Sullan legions. After the flight from Faventia, only one thousand people remained under the command of the consul Norban.
With another Roman consul, Scipio, and his troops, the wise Sulla acted completely differently. He found the key to Scipio and with great promises won him over to his side.
Another battle took place near Sacripontus. Here the legions under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla himself were opposed by the 40,000-strong army of Marius the Younger. The battle was short-lived. Sulla's veteran legionnaires broke the resistance of Gaius Marius's poorly trained recruits and put them to flight. More than a half of them fell on the battlefield or were captured.
Another result of Sulla’s victorious battle at Sacripontus was the flight of the Marian commander Caius Norbanus to North Africa. Mari the Younger with the remnants of his legions took refuge behind the walls of the city of Praeneste. Soon this fortress was taken by the Sullans by storm, and Mari the Younger, in order to avoid shameful and disastrous captivity, committed suicide.
Significant forces of the Marians and Samnites, who escaped death in the battles of Sacripontus and Faventium, retreated to Rome, where they again prepared for battle with the Sullans.
November 1, 82 BC e. happened at the Roman Collin Gate last battle civil war on Italian soil. The Marians and Samnites were commanded by Pontius Celesinus, who did not dare to let Sulla’s army into Rome. The battle continued all night. Nevertheless, the experience, combat training and discipline of the “old” legions prevailed. Eventually the Marians fled; 4 thousand of them were captured.
Entering Rome, Lucius Cornelius Sulla did exactly the same thing as his opponent Gaius Marius had done on a similar occasion. The beating and robbery of Marians began throughout the city.
After these bloody events, which cost the lives of many thousands of people - soldiers and civilians, Sulla received dictatorial powers from the Roman Senate, intimidated by him. Unlike an ordinary dictatorship, they were not limited in duration and depended on the personal will of Sulla. This gave him virtually uncontrolled power in a state with a republican system of government. Along with the dictator, the Senate, city magistrates and other governing bodies continued to exist. But now they were under the control of Sulla and his followers.
The dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla was the first step towards the establishment of imperial power in Ancient Rome. It began with the mass destruction of his political opponents. During the civil war in a number of Italian cities, such as Praeneste, Ezernia, Norba and several others, the Sullans destroyed the entire male population.
Punitive detachments of legionnaires operated throughout Italy, searching for and destroying open and secret enemies of the dictatorship. Some Italian cities lost their land holdings for supporting Gaius Marius. Others had their fortress walls torn down, and now they became defenseless in the event of a renewal of the civil war. The city of Somnius was especially cruelly punished, whose warriors fought until the last with the legions of the Sullans.
The resistance of the Marians in Sicily, North Africa and Spain was broken. The commander Gnaeus Pompey, whom Sulla awarded with the nickname the Great, especially distinguished himself in this.
Having become a dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla published lists of people to be exterminated - proscriptions. The number of these Roman citizens reached 5 thousand people. The children of Sulla's victims were deprived of their Roman citizenship. Any help to people caught in proscription was punishable by death. For denunciation of their masters who fell into proscription, slaves received freedom, and free citizens- a large cash reward.
Experienced in government matters foreign policy From the first years of his dictatorship, Sulla began to take care of having as many of his followers as possible. More than 120 thousand veterans of the Sullan army, who fought under his command against the Pontic king and in the civil war, received large plots of land in Italy and became owners of estates in which slave labor was used. To this end, the dictator carried out massive confiscations of land.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla distributed sums of money, magistrates and positions in the Senate to the commanders of his legions. Many of them are for short term became rich. The dictator of Rome himself made a huge fortune. Ten thousand slaves belonging to the victims of Sullan repression were freed and began to be called “Cornelians” in honor of their liberator. These freedmen also became supporters of Sulla.
The dictator carried out a number of reforms in order to restore the republican system. The power of the Senate increased significantly, which was replenished with 300 new members from among the Sullans. Censorship was abolished. The powers of the consuls and the rights of the tribunes of the people were limited, who could no longer pass laws without the sanction of the Senate. Judicial commissions were given to the Senate. Italy was divided into municipal territories. A number of cities received municipal rights.
Having strengthened the power of the Roman Senate and his supporters in it, Lucius Cornelius Sulla decided to hold free elections and in 79 BC. e. voluntarily resigned his dictatorial powers. At the same time, until his last days he retained enormous influence on the political life of Rome. Sulla's refusal of dictatorial power was unexpected for his contemporaries and incomprehensible to ancient and more recent historians.
His activities were contradictory: on the one hand, he sought to restore republican rule, on the other, he cleared the way for imperial rule. The civil war between Sulla and Gaius Marius was only a prologue for future civil wars in Ancient Rome, which seriously undermined its strength.
Characterizing Sulla, Roman historians note a number of contradictions in his personality. Sulla enjoyed extraordinary authority among the legionnaires, but he himself was a selfish and cold man. His desire to restore the republic was combined with disdain for Roman customs. In Greek cities, for example, he appeared in Greek dress, which Roman magistrates did not usually do. Greedy for money, considering all the confiscated property of the convicted as his property, the dictator was at the same time a wasteful person.
Among the Roman rulers, Lucius Cornelius Sulla was distinguished by his education, he knew well Greek literature and philosophy. He was an Epicurean and a skeptic and had an ironic attitude towards religion. But at the same time, he was a convinced fatalist, believed in all sorts of dreams and signs, in his destiny, and added the nickname Happy to his name. He considered the goddess Venus to be his protector. In addition, under the name of the old Roman goddess Bellona, he revered the Cappadocian goddess Ma, whose cult was particularly fanatical.
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Dictatorship of Sulla
In Rome itself, the seizure of power by the Sullans was marked by unheard-of atrocities. The Marian Terror of 87 was a weak anticipation of what happened in 82-81. In the orgy of murder that erupted in the first days and frightened even Sulla’s friends, he brought a certain “order” through the use of so-called proscriptions, or proscription lists (proscriptiones, or tabulae proscriptionis), where he entered the names of persons declared outlaws and subject to destruction.
“Immediately,” writes Appian, “Sulla sentenced death penalty up to 40 senators and about 1.6 thousand so-called horsemen. Sulla, it seems, was the first to draw up lists of those sentenced to death and assigned gifts to those who would kill them, money to those who would inform, punishments to those who would hide the condemned. A little later, he added others to the proscribed senators. All of them, being captured, unexpectedly died where they were overtaken - in houses, in back streets, in temples; some rushed to Sulla in fear and were beaten to death at his feet, others were dragged away from him and trampled. The fear was so great that none of those who saw these horrors even dared to utter a word. Some suffered expulsion, others suffered confiscation of property. Those who fled from the city were searched everywhere by detectives and whoever they wanted was put to death... The reasons for the accusation were hospitality, friendship, giving or receiving money on a loan. People were taken to court even for a simple service provided or for company during a trip. And they were most savage against the people of the rich. When the individual accusations were exhausted, Sulla attacked the cities and punished them... Sulla sent colonists from the soldiers who served under his command to most of the cities in order to have his own garrisons throughout Italy; Sulla divided the land that belonged to these cities and the living quarters in them among the colonists. This endeared them to him even after his death. Since they could not consider their position secure until Sulla’s orders were strengthened, they fought for Sulla’s cause even after his death.”
Sulla did not limit his reprisals to the living: the corpse of Marius was dug out of the grave and thrown into the river Anien.
The proscription system was in effect until June 1, 1981. As a result, about 5 thousand people died. She enriched not only Sulla himself, but also his associates, who bought the property of the proscribed for next to nothing. In these terrible days, Crassus, Sulla's freedman Chrysogonus, and others laid the foundations of their wealth.
Of the slaves owned by outlaws, Sulla set free 10 thousand of the youngest and strongest. They received the name Cornelius and formed a kind of guard of Sulla, his immediate support. 120 thousand served as the same support. former soldiers Sulla, who received land plots in Italy.
Legally, Sulla formalized his dictatorship according to the strictest requirements of the Roman constitution. Since both consuls of 82 (Carbon and Mari the son) died, the Senate declared an interregnum. The interregnum, princeps of the Senate L. Valerius Flaccus, introduced a bill to the comitia, according to which Sulla was declared dictator for indefinite time“to make laws and establish order in the state” (“dictator regress legibus scribundis et reipublicae constituendae”). The terrorized popular assembly approved Valerius's proposal (November 82), which became law (lex Valeria). So, even Sulla proceeded from the idea of popular sovereignty.
Having become a dictator, Sulla, as befitted a republican dictator, appointed Valerius Flaccus as his commander of the cavalry. However, despite this constitutional comedy, Sulla's dictatorship differed in essence (and also in form) from the old dictatorship. It was unlimited both in time and in the scope of its functions, since Sulla’s power extended to all aspects of state life, and not just to a certain range of issues, as was the case in previous times. Sulla could, if he wished, allow ordinary magistrates next to him or rule alone. He was freed in advance from any responsibility for his actions.
But there was an even greater difference in substance. Sulla's power was purely military in nature. It grew out of civil wars and relied on a professional army. Of course, this circumstance did not deprive it of its class character: it was a dictatorship of the Roman slave-owning class, mainly the nobility, for which it served as a means of fighting the revolutionary democratic movement. But the nature of her origin gave her some peculiar features that make Sulla the first emperor in the new, and not in the republican, meaning of the word.
Although Sulla, as stated above, had the right, granted to him by the law of Valerius, to do without higher ordinary magistrates, he did not do this. External form the republic was preserved. Officials were elected annually in the usual manner (in 80 Sulla himself was one of the consuls). Laws were introduced in national assembly. The reform of the comitia centuriata, carried out by Sulla in 88, was now not renewed, since the comitia obediently carried out all the wishes of the all-powerful dictator.
However, Sulla renewed and even expanded all his old measures against democracy. Bread distributions were cancelled. The power of the tribunes of the people was reduced to a fiction. They could act legislatively and judicially only with the prior approval of the Senate. They retained the right to intercession, but they were subject to a fine for “inappropriate interference.” In addition, former tribunes of the people were prohibited from holding curule positions. This decision deprived the people's tribunate of any attractiveness for persons who wanted to make a political career.
Sulla established a strict procedure for passing the magistracy: one could not become a consul without first passing through the praetorship, and one could not stand for the latter before passing the questorship. As for aedileship, it was not included in this ladder of magistracy, since it was assumed that every politician would certainly pass through the position of aedile, which opened up wide opportunities to gain popularity. The old rule was restored (plebiscite of Genutius 342) that a 10-year interval was required for the second election to consuls.
Sulla increased the number of praetors to 8, quaestors to 20, which was caused by the growing need of the state for the administrative apparatus. Former quaestors mechanically became members of the Senate. Since in this case the senators were declared irremovable, one of the most important functions of the censors - replenishing the Senate - was eliminated. The economic responsibilities of the censors were transferred to the consuls, and thus censorship was actually abolished.
Sulla's constitutional reforms formally pursued the goal of restoring the dominance of the aristocracy. It is natural, therefore, that he placed the Senate at the head of the state. All the old rights and prerogatives of the Senate were restored. In particular, the judicial law of Gaius Gracchus was repealed and the courts were again transferred to the senators. The standing commissions of the criminal courts have been significantly improved and their number increased. However, in the spirit of Drusus's reform, the number of senators was replenished by electing 300 new members from the equestrian class by tribe. In fact, the younger sons of senators, Sullan officers and “new people” who emerged to the surface of political life during the last coup turned out to be elected. In this way, the beginning was laid for the formation of a new nobility, which was supposed to serve as a support for the Sullan order. Under the banner of the restoration of the senatorial republic, Sulla strengthened his personal dictatorship.
Among Sulla's activities, the administrative structure of Italy should be especially noted. This was one of his most lasting and progressive reforms. Here Sulla legally formalized the state of affairs that was created as a result of the Allied War. Sulla kept his promise given in his message to the Senate: the new Italian citizens retained all their rights up to an equal distribution among all 35 tribes. Now, with the weakening of democracy, this did not threaten the new order. In this regard, Sulla precisely defined the boundaries of Italy in the proper sense of the word. Its northern border was supposed to be a small river. Rubicon, which flowed into the Adriatic Sea north of Arimin. The part of modern Italy that lay between the Rubicon and the Alps formed the province of Cisalpine Gaul. It was divided into large urban areas, to which the Gallic tribes were assigned in the transpadan part. Italy proper was divided into small municipal territories with the right of self-government. Many Italian cities, on the lands of which Sulla settled his veterans, were renamed civil colonies. Sulla also reformed to a certain extent the tax system in the provinces, partially eliminating farming in Asia, which was supposed to weaken the horsemen.
Sulla's dictatorial powers were unlimited. But already in 80, without resigning these powers, he accepted the title of consul (Metellus was his colleague), and in 79 he refused re-election. Soon after the new consuls of 79 took office, Sulla convened a popular assembly and announced that he was resigning his dictatorial powers. He dismissed the lictors and the guards and said that he was ready to give an account of his activities if anyone so desired. Everyone was silent. Then Sulla left the platform and, accompanied by his closest friends, went home.
“When he was returning home, only one boy began to reproach Sulla, and since no one was holding the boy back, he boldly walked with Sulla to his house and continued to scold him along the way. And Sulla, inflamed with anger at high-ranking people, at entire cities, calmly endured the boy’s scolding. Only upon entering the house did he consciously or accidentally utter prophetic words about the future: “This boy will serve as a hindrance to any other person who has the power that I had, from laying it down”” (Appian. Civil Wars, I, 104, trans. C A. Zhebeleva).
Soon after this scene, Sulla left for his Campanian estate. Although he was almost not involved in government affairs, preferring to fish and write memoirs, in fact his influence continued until his death, which followed in 78 from some illness. Sulla died at the age of 60. The state gave him a funeral of extraordinary pomp.
The unexpected renunciation of the power of the all-powerful dictator has served and continues to serve as the subject of countless guesses and assumptions. However, if you approach the matter not only from a subjective psychological point of view, Sulla’s act will no longer seem so incomprehensible. Of course, psychological motives could play quite a role here. big role. Sulla was old, fed up with life; it is possible that for a long time he suffered some kind of severe incurable disease(there are indications of this in the sources). However, this apparently was not the decisive motive. Sulla, with his broad mind and vast administrative experience, could not help but understand that the order he established was fragile. He saw perfectly well how many people harbored a passionate hatred against him and were only waiting for the right moment to rise up against his entire system. He was clearly aware of the weakness of the social base on which he relied. And he preferred to voluntarily resign from power at the moment when it reached its apogee, rather than wait for the building he built to collapse and bury him under its ruins.
The historical role of Sulla was great. Whatever his subjective goals, objectively it was he who laid the foundations of the state system that Caesar subsequently expanded and strengthened and which we call the empire. The principle of constant military dictatorship while maintaining the republican form, the destruction of democracy, the weakening of the Senate while strengthening it externally, the improvement of the administrative and judicial apparatus, the expansion of citizenship rights, the municipal structure of Italy - all these measures would subsequently reappear in the activities of Sulla’s successors and become an organic part of the government structure of Rome.
Many historians have turned to the study of the life and work of Sulla. However, to this day T. Mommsen’s point of view remains one of the most popular, which is largely facilitated by the stunningly expressive characterization given by the German scientist to the dictatorship of Sulla. He, in particular, writes: “Posterity did not appreciate either Sulla’s personality or his reforms; it is unfair to people going against the flow of time. In fact, Sulla is one of the most amazing phenomena in history, perhaps the only one of its kind... Sulla's laws are not the creation of a political genius, as, for example, the institutions of Gracchus or Caesar were. There is not a single new political thought in them, as is, however, characteristic of any restoration... However, it should be remembered that Sulla was responsible for his restoration to a much lesser extent than the Roman aristocracy, which for centuries was the ruling clique and with Every year she sank more and more into senile flabbiness and bitterness. Everything colorless in this restoration, as well as all its atrocities, came from the Roman aristocracy... Sulla, in the words of the poet, was here only the executioner’s ax, which unconsciously follows the conscious will. Sulla played this role with amazing, one might say, demonic perfection. But within this role, his activities were not only grandiose, but also useful. Never before had an aristocracy, which had fallen so deeply and was falling ever deeper, found such a defender as Sulla was for the then Roman aristocracy - a defender who was willing and able to serve it equally with sword and pen, as a commander and legislator, and did not even think of this is about his personal power... Not only the aristocracy, but the whole country owed more to Sulla than posterity recognized... For more than half a century, the power of Rome fell, and constant anarchy reigned in the cities. For the government of the Senate under the Gracchian institutions was anarchy, and even greater anarchy was the government of Cinna and Carbo. It was the darkest, most intolerable, most hopeless political situation imaginable, truly the beginning of the end. It can be said without exaggeration that the long-shaken Roman Republic would inevitably have collapsed if Sulla had not saved it by his intervention in Asia and Italy. Of course, Sulla's regime turned out to be as short-lived as Cromwell's, and it was not difficult to see that the building erected by Sulla was not durable. But we must remember that without Sulla the stream would probably have carried away not only the building, but also the construction site itself. .. The statesman will not downplay the significance of Sulla’s ephemeral restoration; he will not treat it with contempt... He will admire the reorganization of the Roman Republic, which was correctly conceived and, in general, and generally carried out consistently amid unspeakable difficulties. He will rate the Savior of Rome, who completed the unification of Italy, lower than Cromwell, but will still place him next to Cromwell” (Mommsen T. History of Rome. T. II. M., 1937. P. 345-351).
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From the book History of the Ancient World [East, Greece, Rome] author Nemirovsky Alexander ArkadevichChapter X Civil wars and the dictatorship of Sulla (88–79 BC) Roman Republic by early 88 BC. BC, despite the gradual fading of the Allied War in Italy, it found itself in an unenviable position: financial crisis, degradation of crafts and trade, sharp decline
author Chekanova Nina VasilievnaChapter 2. THE DICTATORSHIP OF LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA - AN ATTEMPT TO RESTORATION OF THE ARISTOCRATIC REPUBLIC The life and political career of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78) until 88 developed traditionally for a young Roman aristocrat. According to Macrobius, the ancestor of the branch of the gens
From the book The Roman Dictatorship of the Last Century of the Republic author Chekanova Nina Vasilievna From the book War for Justice, or Mobilization Foundations of the Russian Social System author Makartsev Vladimir MikhailovichThe dictatorship of the Provisional Government is a dictatorship without power. Today, socialism is like some kind of “curse of the pharaohs.” And then several generations dreamed about him, they dreamed about him, they brought him closer as best they could. In Russia, these ideas took hold of almost all layers of society (in 1918
From the book Tragedy and Valor of Afghanistan author Lyakhovsky Alexander AntonovichDictatorship of the proletariat or dictatorship of the party? For Soviet representatives in Kabul, as well as for our special services, the military coup of April 27, 1978 came as a “thunderbolt among clear skies", they simply "slept through" him. The leaders of the PDPA hid their plans from the Soviet side
From the book POLITICAL FIGURES OF RUSSIA (1850s-1920s) author Shub David NatanovichDICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT AND THE DICTATORSHIP OF ONE PERSON “To destroy classes, a period of dictatorship of one class is needed, precisely that of the oppressed classes that is capable of not only overthrowing the exploiters, not only mercilessly suppressing their resistance, but also breaking ideologically