Overthrowing the Sullan System

During the brutal dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (82-79 B.C.), numerous “reforms” were imposed on Roman government institutions, intended to cement the control of the senatorial class and prevent future threats to that control.

In Rome After Sulla, Dr. Rosenblitt (Regent’s Park College, Oxford) explores the events of the years immediately following Sulla’s retirement (79 B.C.) and death (78 B.C.). Despite his efforts, Sulla’s “system” was inherently unstable, and began to unravel almost as soon as he left power, with renewed social unrest reappearing.

Rosenblitt makes considerable use of the mostly reconstructed Histories of Sallust – Gaius Sallustius Crispus – who witnessed these events as a child and teenager, and who later, as a partisan of Caesar, helped overthrow the Republic before retiring to write history.

After an introduction laying out the basics of the dissension, which left the Romans traumatized by the brutalities of civil war and the dictatorship, Rosenblitt then concentrates on the events of 80-78 B. C., dividing the book into three parts.

Part One, “Negotiating the End of Sulla”, examines the year or two just after Sulla’s resignation, as the Romans tried to test the limits of the new regime and tie up loose ends.

Part Two, “Counter-Revolution”, looks at the rise of resistance to the new regime, manifested most obviously in an unsuccessful coup by the Consul M. Aemilius Lepidus in 78 B.C., which nevertheless led to more chipping away at the Sullan settlement, which she briefly surveys down to the accession of Crassus and Pompey the Great as consuls in 70 B.C.

In Part Three, “Sallust and the Political Culture of Rome after Sulla”, Rosenblitt uses evidence from Sallust to explore how these events affected Roman society over the following years, leading to further disorders and unrest and ultimately the collapse of the Republic.

Rome After Sulla is an important read for anyone with an interest in the end of the Republic.

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Note: Rome After Sulla is also available in hard cover and e-editions.

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