Editing Sulla (section)

==Early career==

After meeting the minimum age requirement of thirty, he stood for the [[quaestorship]] in 108&nbsp;BC. Normally, candidates had to have first served for ten years in the military, but by Sulla's time, this had been superseded by an age requirement. He was then assigned by lot to serve under the consul [[Gaius Marius]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=11}}

=== Jugurthine War (107–106 BC) ===
[[File:Faustus Cornelius Sulla, AR denarius, 56 BC, RRC 426-1.jpg|thumb|Denarius minted by Sulla's son [[Faustus Cornelius Sulla (quaestor 54 BC)|Faustus]] in 56 BC. It features the head of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] on the obverse and the [[Bocchus I|Bocchus]] monument on the reverse, showing the moment of the capture of Jugurtha. The reverse was also a reproduction of Sulla's first signet ring.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|pp=449–451}}{{sfn|Harlan|1995|pp=100–106}}]]

The [[Jugurthine War]] had started in 112&nbsp;BC when [[Jugurtha]], grandson of [[Massinissa]] of [[Numidia]], claimed the entire kingdom of Numidia in defiance of Roman decrees that divided it among several members of the royal family. After the massacre of a number of Italian traders who supported one of his rivals, indignation erupted as to Jugurtha's use of bribery to secure a favourable peace treaty; called to Rome to testify on bribery charges, he plotted successfully the assassination of another royal claimant before returning home.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=11}} After the war started, several Roman commanders were bribed ([[Lucius Calpurnius Bestia (consul)|Bestia]] and [[Spurius Postumius Albinus (consul 110 BC)|Spurius]]); and one ([[Aulus Postumius Albinus (consul 99 BC)|Aulus Postumius Albinus]]) was defeated. In 109, Rome sent [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus|Quintus Caecilius Metellus]] to continue the war. [[Gaius Marius]], a lieutenant of Metellus, returned to Rome to stand for the consulship in 107&nbsp;BC. Marius was elected consul and, through assignment by tribunician legislation, took over the campaign.{{sfn|Evans|1995|pp=74 et seq}} Sulla was assigned by lot to his staff.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=11–12}}

When Marius took over the war, he entrusted Sulla to organise cavalry forces in Italy needed to pursue the mobile Numidians into the desert. If Sulla had married one of the Julii Caesares, this could explain Marius' willingness to entrust such an important task to a young man with no military experience, as Marius too had married into that family.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=12}}{{sfn|Evans|1995|p=184}}

Under Marius, the Roman forces followed a plan very similar to that of Metellus, capturing and garrisoning fortified positions in the African countryside.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=13}} Sulla was popular with the men; charming and benign, he built up a healthy rapport while also winning popularity with other officers, including Marius.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=14}} Ultimately, the Numidians were defeated in 106&nbsp;BC, due in large part to Sulla's initiative in capturing the Numidian king. Jugurtha had fled to his father-in-law, King [[Bocchus I]] of [[Mauretania]] (a nearby kingdom); Marius invaded Mauretania, and after a pitched battle in which both Sulla and Marius played important roles in securing victory, Bocchus felt forced by Roman arms to betray Jugurtha.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=16}} After the Senate approved negotiations with Bocchus, it delegated the talks to Marius, who appointed Sulla as envoy plenipotentiary.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=18}} Winning Bocchus' friendship and making plain Rome's demands for Jugurtha's deliverance, Sulla successfully concluded negotiations and secured Bocchus' capture of Jugurtha and the king's rendition to Marius' camp.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=19–21}} The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sulla's political career. Years later, in 91&nbsp;BC, Bocchus paid for the erection of a gilded equestrian statue depicting Sulla's capture of Jugurtha.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=38}}

=== Cimbrian War (104–101 BC) ===
{{Main|Cimbrian War}}
[[File:Mario vincitore dei Cimbri.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Marius as victor over the invading [[Cimbri]]. ]]

In 104&nbsp;BC, the [[Cimbri]] and the [[Teutones]], two Germanic tribes who had bested the Roman legions on several occasions, seemed again to be heading for Italy. Marius, in the midst of this military crisis, sought and won repeated consulships, which upset aristocrats in the Senate; it is likely however that they acknowledged the indispensability of Marius' military capabilities in defeating the Germanic invaders.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=23}} Amid a reorganisation of political alliances, the traditionalists in the Senate raised up Sulla – a patrician, even if a poor one – as a counterweight against the newcomer Marius.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=24}}

Starting in 104&nbsp;BC, Marius moved to reform the defeated Roman armies in southern Gaul. 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.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=25}} The next year, Sulla was elected [[military tribune]] and served under Marius,{{sfn|Broughton|1951|p=564}} and assigned to treat with the Marsi, part of the Germanic invaders, he was able to negotiate their defection from the Cimbri and Teutones.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}} His prospects for advancement under Marius being stalled, however, Sulla started to complain "most unfairly" that Marius was withholding opportunities from him. Demanding transfer to Catulus' (Marius' consular colleague) army, he received it.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}}

In 102&nbsp;BC, the invaders returned and moved to force the Alps. Catulus, with Sulla, moved to block their advance; the two men likely cooperated well.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=26}} But Catulus' army was defeated in the eastern Alps and withdrew from Venetia and thence to the southern side of the [[river Po]]. At the same time, Marius had annihilated the Cimbri's allies, the Teutones, at the [[Battle of Aquae Sextiae]]. Marius, elected again to the consulship of 101, came to Catulus' aid; Sulla, in charge of supporting army provisioning, did so competently and was able to feed both armies. The two armies then crossed the Po and attacked the Cimbri.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=27}} After the failure of negotiations, the Romans and Cimbri engaged in the [[Battle of the Raudian Field]] in which the Cimbri were routed and destroyed.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=27–28}}

Victorious, Marius and Catulus were both granted [[Roman triumph|triumphs]] as the commanding generals.{{sfn|Broughton|1951|pp=570–572}} Refusing to stand for an aedileship (which, due to its involvement in hosting public games, was extremely expensive), Sulla became a candidate for the praetorship in 99&nbsp;BC. He was, however, defeated. In memoirs related via Plutarch, he claimed this was because the people demanded that he first stand for the aedilate so – due to his friendship with Bocchus, a rich foreign monarch, – he might spend money on games.{{sfnm|Tatum|2003|1p=206, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Sull.''|loc=5.1}}|Keaveney|2005|2pp=28–29}} Whether this story of Sulla's defeat is true is unclear.{{sfn|Tatum|2003|p=206, calling it "revisionary nonsense"}} Regardless, Sulla stood for the praetorship again the next year and, promising he would pay for good shows, was elected praetor for 97&nbsp;BC; he was assigned by lot to the urban praetorship.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=28–29}}

=== Cilician governorship (96–93 BC) ===
[[File:Sulla Glyptothek Munich 309.jpg|thumb|So-called "Sulla", a copy (probably from the time of Augustus) after a portrait of an important Roman from the second century BC, with similarities to the so-called "Marius", suggesting that both statues were conceived and exhibited together as either siblings or rivals; [[Munich]], [[Glyptothek]].]]

His term as praetor was largely uneventful, excepting a public dispute with [[Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo]] (possibly his brother-in-law) and his magnificent holding of the ''ludi Apollinares''. The next year, 96&nbsp;BC, he was assigned – "probably ''pro consule'' as was customary" – to [[Cilicia]] in [[Asia Minor]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=30}}<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2012|ps=, stating merely, "He was assigned Cilicia ''pro consule''".}}</ref>

While governing Cilicia, Sulla received orders from the Senate to restore [[Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia|Ariobarzanes]] to the throne of [[Cappadocia]]. Ariobarzanes had been driven out by [[Mithridates VI of Pontus]], who wanted to install one of his own sons ([[Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia|Ariarathes]]) on the Cappadocian throne. Despite initial difficulties, Sulla was successful with minimal resources and preparation; with few Roman troops, he hastily levied allied soldiers and advanced quickly into rugged terrain before routing superior enemy forces. His troops were sufficiently impressed by his leadership that they hailed him ''[[imperator]]''.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=31–32}}

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]]. Sulla was the first Roman magistrate to meet a Parthian ambassador. At the meeting, he took the seat between the Parthian ambassador, [[Orobazus]], and Ariobarzanes, seeking to gain psychological advantage over the Parthian envoy by portraying the Parthians and the Cappadocians as equals, with Rome being superior.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=32}} While the Parthian ambassador, Orobazus, was executed upon his return to Parthia for allowing this humiliation, the Parthians ratified the treaty, establishing the Euphrates as a clear boundary between Parthia and Rome.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=32–33}} At this meeting, Sulla was told by a [[Chaldea]]n seer that he would die at the height of his fame and fortune. This prophecy was to have a powerful hold on Sulla throughout his lifetime.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2009|pp=174–179}}{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=33}}

In 94&nbsp;BC, Sulla repulsed the forces of [[Tigranes the Great]] of [[Armenia]] from Cappadocia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2009|p=173}} He may have stayed in the east until 92&nbsp;BC, when he returned to Rome;{{sfn|Badian|2012}} Keaveney places his departure in the year 93&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=35}} Sulla was regarded to have done well in the east: he had restored Ariobarzanes to the throne, been hailed ''imperator'' by his men, and was the first Roman to treat successfully with the Parthians. With military and diplomatic victory, his political fortunes seemed positive. However, his candidature was dealt a blow when he was brought up on charges of extorting Ariobarzanes. Even though the prosecutor declined to show up on the day of the trial, leading to Sulla's victory by default, Sulla's ambitions were frustrated.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=35}}

=== Social War ===
{{Main|Social War (91–87 BC)}}
[[File:Aeclanum (Ruins-03).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Ruins of the town of [[Aeclanum]] in southern Italy, conquered in 89&nbsp;BC by Sulla.]]

Relations between Rome and its allies (the ''[[socii]]''), had deteriorated over the years up to 91&nbsp;BC. From 133&nbsp;BC and the start of [[Tiberius Gracchus]]' land reforms, Italian communities were displaced from ''de jure'' Roman public lands over which no title had been enforced for generations.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=104}} Various proposals to give the allies Roman citizenship over the decades had failed for various reasons, just as the allies also "became progressively more aware of the need to cease to be subjects and to share in the exercise of imperial power" by acquiring that citizenship.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=105}} The Cimbric war also revived Italian solidarity, aided by Roman extension of corruption laws to allow allies to lodge extortion claims.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=109}} When the pro-Italian plebeian tribune [[Marcus Livius Drusus (reformer)|Marcus Livius Drusus]] was assassinated in 91&nbsp;BC while trying again to pass a bill extending Roman citizenship, the Italians revolted.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|pp=111, 114}}

The same year, Bocchus paid for the erection of a statue depicting Sulla's capture of Jugurtha. This may have been related to Sulla's campaign for the consulship. Regardless, if he had immediate plans for a consulship, they were forced into the background at the outbreak of war.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=40}} At the start of the war, there were largely two theatres: a northern theatre from Picenum to the Fucine Lake and a southern theatre including Samnium.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=41}} Sulla served as one of the legates in the southern theatre assigned to consul [[Lucius Julius Caesar (consul 90 BC)|Lucius Julius Caesar]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=41}}

In the first year of fighting, Roman strategy was largely one of containment, attempting to stop the revolting allies from spreading their rebellion into Roman-controlled territory. Sulla, in southern Italy, operated largely defensively on Lucius Julius Caesar's flank while the consul conducted offensive campaigning. Late in the year, Sulla cooperated with Marius (who was a legate in the northern theatre) in the northern part of southern Italy to defeat the Marsi: Marius defeated the Marsi, sending them headlong into Sulla's waiting forces.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=41}} Sulla attempted also to assist Lucius' relief of the city of [[Aesernia]], which was under siege, but both men were unsuccessful.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=41–42}}

The next year, 89&nbsp;BC, Sulla served as legate under the consul [[Lucius Porcius Cato]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=43}} But after Cato's death in battle with the Marsi,{{sfn|Broughton|1952|p=32}} Sulla was [[Prorogatio|prorogued]] ''pro consule'' and placed in supreme command of the southern theatre. He brought [[Pompeii]] under siege. After one of the other legates was killed by his men, Sulla refused to discipline them except by issuing a proclamation imploring them to show more courage against the enemy. While besieging Pompeii, an Italian relief force came under [[Lucius Cluentius]], which Sulla defeated and forced into flight towards [[Nola]]. Killing Cluentius before the city's walls, Sulla then invested the town and for his efforts was awarded a [[Grass Crown|grass crown]], the highest Roman military honour.{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=43}} Pompeii was taken some time during the year, along with [[Stabiae]] and [[Aeclanum]]; with the capture of Aeclanum, Sulla forced the Hirpini to surrender. He then attacked the Samnites and routed one of their armies near [[Aesernia]] before capturing the new Italian capital at [[Bovianum Undecimanorum]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|pp=43–44}} All of these victories would have been won before the consular elections in October 89.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=125}}

Political developments in Rome also started to bring an end to the war. In 89&nbsp;BC, one of the tribunes of the plebs passed the ''[[lex Plautia Papiria]]'', which granted citizenship to all of the allies (with exception for the Samnites and Lucanians still under arms).{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=126}} This had been preceded by the ''lex Julia'', passed by Lucius Julius Caesar in October 90&nbsp;BC, which had granted citizenship to those allies who remained loyal.{{sfn|Gabba|1994|p=123}} Buttressed by success against Rome's traditional enemies, the Samnites, and general Roman victory across Italy, Sulla stood for and was elected easily to the consulship of 88&nbsp;BC; his colleague would be [[Quintus Pompeius Rufus (consul 88 BC)|Quintus Pompeius Rufus]].{{sfn|Keaveney|2005|p=44}}