Sulla Takes Over Rome
The year was 89 BC. General Sulla had put down a rebellion in the Roman province of Campania. The war hero came back to Rome and become counsel. He intended to use his consulship to “serve as the ticket to an even juicier prize”, writes Tom Holland in Rubicon . And what might that prize be? Command of the war over Mithridates, a rebel king on the eastern end of the Roman empire. Another war with the prospect of great riches and popularity... But the Senate, as always, was a snake pit. Sulla, who got the Mithridatic command, joined his troops at the end of his consulship. Even before the war started, he found himself relieved of his post by the Senate! But the Senate had miscalculated: they’d driven Sulla “into a corner where there were six battle-hardened legions ready at hand”. They’d taken it for granted that Sulla wouldn’t do the unthinkable, namely use the Roman army as his private militia. From Sulla’s perspective, he was justified. How could the Senate arbitr...