Sulla and the 70s BC

Question 1

What was happening 91-87 BC?

Answer 1

The Social War. Rome’s Italian allies fought with Rome for the right of Roman citizenship. At the same time the king of Pontus, Mithridates, fostered revolution in the Roman province of Asia.

Question 2

How did Sulla gain consulship?

Answer 2

He had many successes in the Social War and was sponsored by the powerful noble family: the Metelli. Sulla gained the consulship of 88 BC.

Question 3

Who did Sulla clash with as consul? Why? How did this conflict end?

Answer 3

1. The popularis tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus about how to allocate the newly enfranchised allies into the Roman voting tribes,
2. Sulpicius employed a 3,000 strong street gang and had gained the support of Marius, now old but still keen for glory, by transferring the Mithridatic command away from Sulla to Marius (Plutarch, Sulla 7-8),
3. Sulpicius forced Sulla to flee from Rome, but Sulla took the unprecedented move of marching on Rome,
4. Sulpicius was killed, but Marius escaped (Pl, Sulla 9-10).

Question 4

What happened after the death of Sulpicius?

Answer 4

1. As consul, Sulla presided over the consulship election of 87 BC,
2. Popularis L. Cornelius Cinna was elected, Sulla secured promised of fidelity from him before departing for the Mithridatic war as originally planned.

Question 5

What did Cinna do in Sulla’s absence?

Answer 5

1. Cinna, with Marius’ support, clashed with the optimate co-consul Octavius,
2. Street fighting degenerated into civil war, in which Octavius was killed,
3. Cinna, with Marius, retook Rome and Marius behaved savagely, killing any perceived opposition, not ceasing until he died (of natural causes),
4. Thereafter Cinna held consulship with Cn. (abrv. Gnaeus) Papirius Corbo and for five years they headed a popularis regime at Rome,
5. They declared Sulla a public enemy in absentia.

Question 6

What happened upon Sulla’s return?

Answer 6

1. Sulla secured a peace with Mithridates, returning to Italy in 83 BC,
2. He fought and won the civil war.

Question 7

What coinage was printed to legitimise the authority of Sulla?

Answer 7

The Denarius of Sulla
Date: 84-83 BC
Obverse: Head of Venus facing right, wearing diadem, Cupid holding palm-branch; words reading ‘Sulla’,
Reverse: Two trophies, between are a jug and lituus; words reading ‘Imper(ator) iterum’,
Significance: This coin celebrates Sulla’s success over Mithridates’ forces in Greece. The jug and lituus (a crooked wand) are the symbols of the officer of augur. Seemingly he was trying to solemnise his claim to the victories.

Question 8

What other coinage was later printed as propaganda for Sulla?

Answer 8

The Denarius of Sulla
Date: 82 BC
Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma; words reading ‘L.Manli(us) T(orquatus)’ the name of the man who actually minted the coin,
Reverse: Triumphator, crowned by flying Victory, in quadriga; words reading ‘L. Sulla Im(perator)’,
Significance: Coin makes claim to victory prior to Sulla re-taking Rome.

Question 9

What policy did Sulla introduce to raise funds? What were the consequences of this?

Answer 9

1. Posted proscriptions (a list) of outlawed men, with a price on their heads,
2. Their property was seized and sold on to raise cash (Pl, Sulla 31),
3. At least 40 senators and 1,600 equestrians were proscribed; their sons and grandsons were barred from holding future magistracies,
4. Soon, however, the violence spread and people were killed because of personal feuds and their names, posthumously, added to the lists.

Question 10

What did Sulla give to his army? What did this cause?

Answer 10

1. Soldiers expected rewards from their commanders for their service, typically land,
2. When Sulla demobilised up to 120,000 troops he gave them land seized from those communities that had opposed him in the civil war, especially Etruria in the north and Campania in the south,
3. The social upheaval must have been enormous, a great many Italians would have lost their homes,
4. Many would have drifted to Rome increasing the prroblems of the Plebs at Rome (Appian, the Civil War 1.95-6).

Question 11

What reforms did Sulla introduce at dictator?

Answer 11

1. Increased the size of the Senate to 600; this answered the political ambitions of the equestrians and bought personal loyalty,
2. Re-affirmed the age requirements of the cursus honorum and instigated a ten-year interval between consulships,
3. Increased the number of praetors to eight so that the magistrates equated to the number of provinces, thereby preventing the need to extend provincial commands,
4. Increased the number of quaestors to 20 and made this the route into the Senate,
5. Established seven permanent courts, the quaestiones perpetuae, staffed from the now increased Senate; the equestrians were now no longer to serve on the juries,
6. Abolished the corn dole; the plebs urbana would be dependent on the aristocratic households once again,
7. Removed the tribunes’ power to propose legislation to the comitia plebis tributa,
8. And banned tribunes from holding further office and so made the position a political deadend.

Question 12

What powers did tribunes retain under Sulla?

Answer 12

1. To defend the Roman citizens,
2. Probably to veto legislation.

Question 13

Who was first to challenge Sulla’s reforms?

Answer 13

Consul for 78 BC, M. Aemilius Lepidus, a popularis who had belatedly sided with Sulla during the civil war.

Question 14

What did Lepidus propose?

Answer 14

1. The recall of those exiled through the proscriptions and the return of their land to their families,
2. A new corn dole,
3. Restoration of the powers of the tribunate (Plutarch, Pompey 15).

Question 15

What happened as a result of Lepidus’ proposals?

Answer 15

1. A revolt broke out at Faesulae in Etruria against a colony of Sulla’s newly settled veterans,
2. The Senate dispatched both consuls, Q. Lutatius Catulus and Lepidus (the author of the revolt), to quell the rebellion.

Question 16

What did Lepidus do in Etruria? How did he die?

Answer 16

1. Lepidus took command of the revolt, probably out of a sense of duty,
2. The Senate were unsure of Lepidus’ position and were slow to damn him until he actually marched on Rome in 77 BC,
3. Only then was the SCU passed, Lepidus was defeated by Catulus and escaped to die in Sardinia.

Question 17

What did the tribunes campaign for after Lepidus’ revolt? How did the Senate respond?

Answer 17

1. Tribunes in 76, 75, 74, and 73 campaigned for a full restoration of their powers,
2. In 75 BC, Consul C. Aurelius Cotta, a supporter of Sulla, removed the ban on tribunes holding further office,
3. The authority of the tribunes had been the political cause of the 70s, this was partly because Sulla had diminished the importance of the peoples’ defender, although he hadn’t removed that role from them,
4. More importantly, many aspiring politicians looked to the tribunate to kick-start their political career, hence Cotta’s decision.

Question 18

What evidence is there of overwhelming support for the restoration of tribunate power?

Answer 18

1. Evidence chiefly comes from Sallust’s fragmentary ‘Histories’,
2. In these is a speech supposedly given by the tribune C. Licinius Macer in 73 BC agitating for the full restoration of tribune powers,
3. In this speech the previous attempts to restore the powers of the tribunate through the 70s are catalogued (3.34).

Question 19

Which aspiring politicians joined Sulla when he fought the Civil War from 83 BC?

Answer 19

1. Crassus,
2. Catiline,
3. Pompey, who brought a private army with him.

Question 20

What did Pompey do after Sulla’s victory?

Answer 20

1. Went first to Sicily, and then to Africa with pro-praetorian imperium,
2. He was nicknamed the teenage butcher, because of the manner in which he executed Carbo and his associates,
3. On his return Pompey argued for a triumph, which he eventually received, and the title of Magnus - the great (Pl, Pompey 14).

Question 21

During Lepidus’ revolt, what was Pompey ordered to do?

Answer 21

1. Catulus’, the co-consul to Lepidus, military credentials were questioned and the Senate, at the behest of a L. Marcius Philippus, next authorised Pompey with pro-praetorian imperium to deal with the rebellious elements in Cisalpine Gaul,
2. Now Pompey’s authority was increasing so far that he refused to disband his forces awaiting a further command,
3. The Senate, again with the urging of Philippus, agreed to send him, this time with proconsular imperium, to Spain to augment the efforts of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, who was fighting against Q. Sertorius, a former supporter of Cinna and Corbo,
4. Metellus had previously requested reinforcement but none had come.

Question 22

What happened by 75BC? and what did Pompey demand of the Senate?

Answer 22

1. By 75 there was a deadlock,
2. Pompey sent a challenge to the Senate demanding reinforcements and suggesting that he would bring his army back to Rome if his request was not granted (Sallust, Histories 2.82; Pl, Pompey 20),
3. Pompey was clearly supremely confident.

Question 23

How did the Senate respond to Pompey’s demands? How did the Spain conflict end?

Answer 23

1. The consuls of 74 BC, L. Licinius Lucullus and M. Aurelius Cotta, weren’t keen to grant Pompey’s wishes,
2. They wished to embark on a fresh campaign against Mithridates and thus gaining glory and prestige equal to Pompey’s,
3. Over the next two years, Pompey pushed Sertorius back. Sertorius was eventually assassinated by a subordinate called M. Perperna; Pompey subsequently easily defeated Perperna (Pl, Pompey 20).

Question 24

What was Pompey looking for on top of his military credentials?

Answer 24

A political career. Despite starting out under Sulla, he had drifted towards Populares policies.

Question 25

Why was Pompey's candidacy for the consulship controversial?

Answer 25

1. It was illegal; he was not even a senator, having never been elected to any magistracy, 2. However, he had served with pro-praetorian imperium in Africa, Sicily, and Cisalpine Gaul, and had also held proconsular imperium in Spain. It is easy to see why he believed that his status warranted the consulship.

Question 26

How was Crassus and Pompey's relationship before their election as Consuls?

Answer 26

1. There was a personal rivalry; Pompey especially never tolerated an equal, 2. Plutarch writes, however, that they agreed to each other's candidacy for the consulship.

Question 27

How was Crassus and Pompey's relationship as consuls?

Answer 27

1. Once in office, the two men did not get on whatsoever, and Plutarch is dismissive of their achievements, 2. They did not like each other, but both could see the political benefit to completing the removal of Sulla's political reforms.

Question 28

What reforms did Crassus and Pompey implement?

Answer 28

1. Plutarch diminishes the importance of their reforms, 2. Pompey restored the tribunes' power to bring laws before the consilium plebis, this now meant that the tribunate was once again an important way for aspiring politicians to gain renown among the voters. There was no optimate opposition to this move (Cicero, in Verrem I.1.45)

Question 29

What were the equestrians deprived of since Sulla's reforms?

Answer 29

1. Their right of sitting on juries, 2. Most contentiously in the court for provincial maladministration that tried provincial magistrates who had impacted upon the business interests of the equestrian order in the provinces.

Question 30

What delegation petitioned Rome in 70 BC? What did they ask? What does this show of provincial magistrates?

Answer 30

1. A delegation of Sicilians asked Cicero to prosecute C. Verres, the former governor of Sicily, 2. He had systematically robbed the Sicilians of their wealth, their belongings, and their lives, 3. Verres wasn't all that unusual, a provincial governor was entitled to take the needs of his household from the resources of his province, 4. Over time, pro-magistrates looked at their provincial command as an opportunity to reimburse themselves for the costs of the election campaign that had secured them high office and the subsequent provincial command, 5. If Cicero's reports of Verres' crimes are even only half correct, his guilt was certain.

Question 31

What does Cicero write of the Verres' trial?

Answer 31

1. His introduction to the case (Cicero, in Verrem I 1.40-1) made it quite clear that the whole legal system was on trial, 2. The speech showed the scale of provincial extortion and illustrated the prejudices of the senatorial order towards the provincials, 3. Cicero called witnesses and enumerated the crimes in a sufficiently damning manner for Verres to abandon defence and flee from Rome, 4. The jury, despite probable bribes, were left with no alternative but to find Verres guilty.

Question 32

What was the result of the Verres' trial?

Answer 32

1. The senatorial order lost their monopoly of the law courts that Sulla had imposed, 2. The equestrians were able to look out for their business interests once again.

Question 33

Who was it that changed the law instated by Sulla on courts and juries?

Answer 33

1. It was L. Aurelius Cotta, praetor, who changed the law, 2. It is generally accepted that he was acting with the support of Pompey and Crassus.

Question 34

What did Pompey do after the end of his consulship?

Answer 34

1. Pompey held no immediate command, after his consulship, as opponents did not want to allow him further glory, 2. He subsequently harnessed the support of tribunes to propose fresh overseas commands, 3. First, against the pirates, who posed a perennial problem, and then to replace Lucullus in command of the war against Mithridates, who fled to Crimea and soon committed suicide.

Question 35

What did Pompey do in Greece?

Answer 35

1. He re-founded Greek cities and redrew the map of provinces, in so doing, he increased his personal clientele, 2. He also massively increased the public revenues of Rome through taxation.

Question 36

What happened when Pompey returned to Rome? What had he expected?

Answer 36

1. When Pompey returned from the east, he might have thought that he could claim to be the leading man of the state, 2. However, never the most accomplished politician, he would find that events had passed him by, 3. He had been away from Rome too long.