Rome after SullaRome after Sulla offers a new perspective on the damaged, volatile, and conflictual political culture of the late Roman republic. The book begins with a narrative of the years immediately following the dictatorship of Sulla (80-77 BC), providing both a new reconstruction of events and original analysis of key sources including Cicero's pro Roscio, Appian, the Livian tradition, and Sallust's Historiae. Arguing that Sulla's settlement was never stable, Rome after Sulla emphasises the uncertainty and fear felt by contemporaries and the problems caused in Rome by consciousness of the injustices of the Sullan settlement and its lack of moral legitimacy. The book argues that the events and the unresolved traumas of the first civil war of the Roman republic triggered profound changes in Roman political culture, to which Sallust's magnum opus, his now-fragmentary Historiae, is our best guide. An in-depth exploration of a new, more Sallust-centred vision of the late republic contributes to the historical picture not only of the legacy of Sulla, but also of Caesar and of Rome's move from republic to autocratic rule. The book studies a society grappling with a question broader than its own times: what is the price of stability? |
Contents
| 1 | |
Part One Negotiating the End of Sulla | 15 |
Part Two Counterrevolution | 43 |
Part Three Sallust and the Political Culture of Rome after Sulla | 91 |
Appendix A Evidence for the Activities of M Aemilius Lepidus cos 78 bc | 145 |
Appendix B Problems in Sallusts Speech of Lepidus | 151 |
Notes | 155 |
| 189 | |
| 207 | |
| 217 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Appian argues army augurate autocracy autocratic Badian Bellum Catilinae Bellum Iugurthinum Brutus Burton Caesar Catiline Chapter Chrysogonus Cicero claims concordia consular consuls consulship context contiones corn dole corn law Cotta Criniti cultural deceit dictatorship discourse of hostile discussion elections emphasizes Etruria evidence exiles Exuperantius fear felicitas Florus Gruen Hinard hostile politics interrex Keaveney late republic later legislation legitimacy Lepidus Lepidus and Catulus lex frumentaria Licinianus Livian tradition Macer Marcello Marius McGushin Memmius military Morstein-Marx Pasoli Penna plebs Plut Plutarch political discourse Pompey Pompey's post-Sullan pro Marcello proscribed proscriptions reader reference repetundae res publica restoration rhetoric Roman politics Rome Roscio Rosenblitt Sall.Hist Sallust Sallust's Historiae Sallustian Santangelo says scholarly scholars Seager senate senatorial Sertorius speech of Lepidus stability suggests Sulla’s Sullan regime Sullan settlement Syme Tacitus Thein trauma tribunes tribunician power urban phase urban plebs victory violence вс