A primary source (also called original . the execution of Granius, shortly before his own death). Lucius other name: Sulla Details individual; military/naval; official; Roman; Male. The collection currently contains . [30] Sulla was popular with the men, charming and benign, he built up a healthy rapport while also winning popularity with other officers, including Marius. He then attacked the Samnites and routed one of their armies near Aesernia before capturing the new Italian capital at Bovianum Undecimanorum. 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. As such, he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and thus the Senate. Continuing towards Scipio's position at Teanum Sidicinum, Sulla negotiated and was almost able to convince Scipio to defect. Editor: Paul Halsall. Identifying and locating primary sources can be challenging. Learning in Black and White. Primary sources are original . Copyright statement. The Steamboat Adventure. Sulla then settled affairs "reparations, rewards, administrative and financial arrangements for the future" in Asia, staying there until 84BC. The breakdown allowed Sulla to play the aggrieved party and place blame on his enemies for any further bloodshed. Books. Ariobarzanes had been driven out by Mithridates VI of Pontus, who wanted to install one of his own sons (Ariarathes) on the Cappadocian throne. primary name: Sulla, Lucius Cornelius other name: Cornelius L f P n Sulla Felix . Thus, Sulla was presented with a choice. It is intended to serve the needs of teachers and students in college survey courses in modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures. Reason #4: studying primary sources helps students become better citizens. Modern sources have been somewhat less damning, as the Mithridatic campaigns later showed that no quick victory over Pontus was possible as long as Mithridates survived. Turning south, he engaged the Pontic army allegedly 90,000[101] on the plain of Orchomenus. While Sulla was moving in the south, Scipio fought Pompey in Picenum but was defeated when his troops again deserted. Primary sources are often in manuscript collections and archival records. [2023] Welcome to The Internet History Sourcebooks Project, a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. You may copy and distribute the translations and commentaries in this resource, or parts of such translations and commentaries, in any medium . Later political leaders such as Julius Caesar would follow his precedent in attaining political power through force. Social: Facebook Page YouTube Page Instagram Page. [99], Discovering a weak point in the walls and popular discontent with the Athenian tyrant Aristion, Sulla stormed and captured Athens (except the Acropolis) on 1 March 86BC. Pompey, the son of Pompey Strabo, raised a legion from his clients in Picenum and also joined Sulla; Sulla treated him with great respect and addressed him as imperator before dispatching him to raise more troops. Throughout the research process, you'll likely use various types of sources. Sulla would ratify Mithridates' position in Pontus and have him declared a Roman ally. The first of the leges Corneliae concerned the interest rates, and stipulated that all debtors were to pay simple interest only, rather than the common compound interest that so easily bankrupted the debtors. [81] He sent his army back to Capua[82] and then conducted the elections for that year, which yielded a resounding rejection of him and his allies. porterville unified school district human resources; Tags . [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. Making of America. After the battle, Marius withdrew to Praeneste and was there besieged. Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did. He was both eloquent and clever, and he made friends easily. In a dispute over the command of the war against Mithridates, initially awarded to Sulla by the Senate, but withdrawn as a result of Marius' intrigues, Sulla marched on Rome in an unprecedented act and defeated Marian forces in battle. His son, Faustus Cornelius Sulla, issued denarii bearing the name of the dictator,[151] as did a grandson, Quintus Pompeius Rufus. Sulla can be seen as setting the precedent for Julius Caesar's dictatorship, and for the eventual end of the Republic under Augustus. Lucius Cornelius Sulla (l. 138 - 78 BCE) enacted his constitutional reforms (81 BCE) as dictator to strengthen the Roman Senate's power. This distinction is important because it will affect how you understand these sources. to A.D. 68 (1959; 2d ed. Primary sources are documents, images, relics, or other works that provide firsthand details of a historical or scientific event. At the same time, the younger Marius sent word to assemble the Senate and purge it of suspected Sullan sympathisers: the urban praetor Lucius Junius Brutus Damasippus then had four prominent men killed at the ensuing meeting. onwards. A gifted and innovative general, he achieved numerous successes in wars against foreign and domestic opponents. Contact: Research Help Desk, University Library Colorado State University-Pueblo 2200 Bonforte Blvd. They are often based on primary sources. The Roman general and dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 B.C.) [86] He then left Italy with his troops without delay, ignoring legal summons and taking over command from a legate in Macedonia. "[147] Plutarch claims he had seen Sulla's personal motto carved on his tomb on the Campus Martius. The cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera ssp. [23] The means by which Sulla attained the fortune which later would enable him to ascend the ladder of Roman politics are not clear; Plutarch refers to two inheritances, one from his stepmother (who loved him dearly) and the other from his mistress Nicopolis. 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. 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. [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. He had close connections to the imperial family and was the husband of Antonia, Claudius's daughter, and might thus have been seen as a threat to Nero. The Roman Republic and territories in 100 B.C. He then reinforced this decision by legislation, retroactively justifying his illegal march on the city and stripping the twelve outlaws of their Roman citizenship. He was devoted to pleasure but more devoted to glory. Gaius Marius, a lieutenant of Metellus, returned to Rome to stand for the consulship in 107BC. . Sulla then left for Capua before joining an army near Nola in southern Italy.[74]. Finally, Sulla revoked the power of the tribunes to veto acts of the Senate, although he left intact the tribunes' power to protect individual Roman citizens. Examples include interview transcripts, statistical data, and works of art. For now, Cinna and the Marian political faction would have to wait, but revenge would prove far deadlier than anything that had come before it. The Battle of Chaeronea was fought in early summer around the same time the Athenian acropolis was taken. He then fought successfully against Germanic tribes during the Cimbrian War, and Italian allies during the Social War. Sulla is generally seen as having set the precedent for Caesar's march on Rome and dictatorship. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. Marius and Sulla are very curious figures in the late Roman Republic. [57], The same year, Bocchus paid for the erection of a statue depicting Sulla's capture of Jugurtha. 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. A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand information. The next year, 96BC, he assigned "probably pro consule as was customary" to Cilicia in Asia Minor. Primary sources are first-hand accounts of events. Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo, merely an ex-aedile and one of Sulla's long-time enemies, had contested the top magistracy. [73] The consuls, fearful of intimidation of Sulpicius and his armed bodyguards, declared a suspension of public business (iustitium) which led to Sulpicius and his mob forcing the consuls to flee. Sulla's descendants continued to be prominent in Roman politics into the imperial period. They are now largely lost, although fragments from them exist as quotations in later writers. This brief guide is designed to help students and researchers find and evaluate primary sources available online. The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla - Primary Source Edition Paperback - September 30, 2013 by Augustus Henry Beesly (Author) 3.4 out of 5 stars 4 ratings Also useful for understanding Sulla's career are the article by E. Baddian . Years later, in 91BC, Bocchus paid for the erection of gilded equestrian statue depicting Sulla's capture of Jugurtha. He defeated Norbanus at the Battle of Mount Tifata, forcing the consul to withdraw. Negotiations broke down after one of Scipio's lieutenants seized a town held by Sulla in violation of a ceasefire. With the capture and execution of Carbo, who had fled Sicily for Egypt, both consuls for 82BC were now dead. [47], Sulla's campaign in Cappadocia had led him to the banks of the Euphrates, where he was approached by an embassy from the Parthian Empire. However, despite this portrayal, particularly from Plutarch's accounts, it is difficult to determine just how culpable Marius and Sulla were for the chaos that engulfed the Roman Republic From this distance, Sulla remained out of the day-to-day political activities in Rome, intervening only a few times when his policies were involved (e.g. He brought Pompeii under siege. Marius arranged for Sulla to lift the iustitium and allow Sulpicius to bring proposals; Sulla, in a "desperately weak position [received] little in return[,] perhaps no more than a promise that Sulla's life would be safe". Marius (C. Marius) - Roman consul, seven times from 107 B.C. Beyond personal enmity, Caesar Strabo may also have stood for office because it was evident that Rome's relations with the Pontic king, Mithridates VI Eupator, were deteriorating and that the consuls of 88 would be assigned an extremely lucrative and glorious command against Pontus. The two greatest of these were Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Research Process and Acumen: Experience with primary sources can support future academic success. [6] Keaveney places his departure to 93. Sulla had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship. They were, however, successful in holding Macedonia, then governed by propraetor Gaius Sentius and his legate Quintus Bruttius Sura. Gnaeus Carbo attempted to lift the Siege of Praeneste but failed and fled to Africa. Further, Sulla failed to frame a settlement whereby the army (following the Marian reforms allowing nonland-owning soldiery) remained loyal to the Senate, rather than to generals such as himself. Tip: If you are unsure if a source you have found is primary, talk to your instructor, librarian, or archivist. To do so would mean total humiliation at the hands of his opponents, the end of his political career, and perhaps even further danger to his life. Proscribing or outlawing every one of those whom he perceived to have acted against the best interests of the Republic while he was in the east, Sulla ordered some 1,500 nobles (i.e. In, Constitutional reforms of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic, L. Cornelius (392) L. f. P. n. Sulla Felix ('Epaphroditus'), Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sulla&oldid=1142439185. Primary Source 10. After Sulla had recovered the government by force of arms, everybody became robbers and plunderers. Publius Cornelius Rufinus, one of Sulla's ancestors and also the last member of his family to be consul, was banished from the Senate after having been caught possessing more than 10 pounds of silver plate. Of those who contracted the bubonic plague, 4 out of 5 died within eight days. The two primary sources for this paper are Sallust's Sulla then served as legate under his former commander and, in that stead, successfully subdued a Gallic tribe which revolted in the aftermath of a previous Roman defeat. Scipio's men quickly abandoned him for Sulla; finding him almost alone in his camp, Sulla tried again to persuade Scipio to defect. Archelaus then hid in the nearby marshes before escaping to Chalcis. [102] According to the ancient sources, Archelaus commanded between 60,000 and 120,000 men;[103] in the aftermath, he allegedly escaped with only 10,000. They are original research, thinking, or discovery on a topic or event, and are written or created by people who actually experienced the event . This mixture was later referred to by Machiavelli in his description of the ideal characteristics of a ruler. Washington, DC, March 19, 2013 - The U.S. invasion of Iraq turned out to be a textbook case of flawed assumptions, wrong-headed intelligence, propaganda manipulation, and administrative ad hockery, according to the National Security Archive's briefing book of declassified documents posted today to mark the 10 th anniversary of the war. sulla primary sources. [127] Sulla himself was defeated and forced to flee into his camp, but his lieutenant Crassus on the right wing won the battle in the night. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to the truth of what actually happened during an historical event or time period. [63] All of these victories would have been won before the consular elections in October 89. [56] When the pro-Italian plebeian tribune Marcus Livius Drusus was assassinated in 91BC while trying again to pass a bill extending Roman citizenship, the Italians revolted. [59] Sulla served as one of the legates in the southern theatre assigned to consul Lucius Julius Caesar. Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Categories . [31] Ultimately, the Numidians were defeated in 106BC, due in large part to Sulla's initiative in capturing the Numidian king. [50][51], In 94BC, Sulla repulsed the forces of Tigranes the Great of Armenia from Cappadocia. By the end of the war, the SSA had conscripted over 2.8 million American men. "[157] This duality, or inconsistency, made him very unpredictable and "at the slightest pretext, he might have a man crucified, but, on another occasion, would make light of the most appalling crimes; or he might happily forgive the most unpardonable offenses, and then punish trivial, insignificant misdemeanors with death and confiscation of property. [6] He also disbanded his legions and, through these gestures, attempted to show the re-establishment of normal consular government. At the start of his second consulship in 80BC with Metellus Pius, Sulla resigned his dictatorship. Almost breaking before Marius' makeshift forces, Sulla then stationed troops all over the city before summoning the Senate and inducing it to outlaw Marius, Marius' son, Sulpicius, and nine others. But it was from 59, Nero's fifth year as emperor that things started to go seriously . There, while giving a speech, he had three or four thousand Samnite prisoners butchered, to the shock of the attending senators. Examples of tertiary sources include encyclopedias and dictionaries, chronologies, almanacs, directories, indexes, and bibliographies. Although he was able to regain the command, his political setup in Rome collapsed almost as soon as he left Italy, and the war would . [137][15] In a manner that the historian Suetonius thought arrogant, Julius Caesar later mocked Sulla for resigning the dictatorship. This prophecy was to have a powerful hold on Sulla throughout his lifetime. If the latter, he may have married into the Julii Caesares. [155] Plutarch notes that Sulla considered that "his golden head of hair gave him a singular appearance. [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. Here are the names and relevant periods for some of the main ancient Latin and Greek sources for Roman history. Taking Action: Benefits for students that extend beyond the classroom. . A primary source is a first-hand or contemporary account of an event or topic. Sulla, hearing this, feigned an attack while instructing his men to fraternise with Scipio's army. Published by at 29, 2022. He left one of his allies, Quintus Lucretius Afella to maintain the siege at Praeneste and moved for Rome. [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.