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Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born in Rome in 138 BCE as Lucius Cornelius Sulla, later earning the nickname Felix (“Happy”). He was a Roman commander and politician – an optimist. In 82 BCE Sulla was given dictatorial power and in the following years he carried out a series of political reforms.
Youth and appearance
He came from the impoverished branch of the patrician Cornelius family (Cornelii). Due to the lack of funds, Sulla spent his early youth among comedians, actors, dancers and musicians. Plutarch mentions that Sulla surrounded himself with debauchery, actors, music and wine until the end of his life (also during his marriage to Valeria). Sulla was blond with blue eyes and a white face covered with red marks.
It seems certain that Sulla received a good education. Salustius describes him as well-read and intelligent and proficient in Greek, which was a sign of a good education in Rome. It is not certain where Sulla got his fortune, which enabled him to pursue a political career and gain new levels of cursus honourum. Plutarch mentions two inheritances, one from his stepmother and the other from a low-born but wealthy woman.
According to the accounts of Plutarch, Sulla had blonde red hair, blue eyes and an unusually white complexion with red spots. This is how the historian describes it:
His personal appearance, in general, is given by his statues; but the gleam of his gray eyes, which was terribly sharp and powerful, was rendered even more fearful by the complexion of his face. This was covered with coarse blotches of red, interspersed with white.
– Plutarch, Sulla, II
Political career
In 107 BCE Sulla was appointed quaestor by the consul Gaius Marius. He took part in the expedition of Marius against the Numidians, where distinguished himself by taking the Numidian king Jugurthacaptive, thus ending the war. This success sped up Sulla’s career.
Under the command of Marius, and later proconsul Quintus Catulus, he took part in battles against the Germanic tribes of the Cimbrii and Teutons in 105-101 BCE that migrated towards Italy. Marius took command of the Roman army as the best Roman general. Sulla served as tribunus militum in the legions in the first part of the campaign. Under the command of the proconsul Quintus Catulus, he was a legate (legatus). In 101 BCE there was the Battle of Vercellae, in which the enormous Germanic army was defeated and Marius and Catulus were granted the right to triumph. It is worth adding that Catulus was not good support for Gaius Marius, often showing a lack of faith in the victory.
Governorship of Cilicia
Sulla returned to Rome in 97 BCE to become praetor urbanus, and in 96 BCE he became pro consule and governor of Cilicia in Anatolia. Cilicia, the Romans recently joined the empire, because from there they controlled the marauding pirates in the area. Previously, the Rhodes had dealt with them, but the Romans significantly limited the rights of the latter due to the attitude they took during the Macedonian War. Sulla was the first magistratus to receive a Party ambassador – Orobazus. During the audience, Sulla sat down between the Party representative and Pontus’ ambassador, which was to seal the party’s fate. The place in the middle was honourable, which Sulla probably did not know. After his return to the country, the Parthian ambassador was sentenced to execution for allegedly allowing the outmanoeuvre. Later, the clairvoyant, in connection with this event, foretold Sulla’s death at the height of his power and fortune. This prophecy would then weigh on him throughout his life.
War with allies
In 91 BCE Sulla was recalled to Rome and appointed army commander in the war with the allies (bellum sociale) in 90-88 BCE This was the conflict between the Roman Republic and Italian allies (socii). These were one of the bloodiest fights in the