Sulla

Bibliographic Data

ID23405806
AuthorsRobin Seager (0000-0003-4772-9707, University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year1994
Pages165-207
Publication date1994-02-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Cambridge Ancient History (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/chol9780521256032.007
OpenAlexW4234785022
Open LibraryOL21834395M
ISBN9780521256032
LanguageIT
Citations received23
References cited472

SULLA, SULPICIUS AND MARIUS, 88 b.c. As the year 89 drew to its close, the predominant feeling at Rome may well have been one of relief. The fall of Asculum meant that the Social War was to all intents and purposes won, though isolated pockets of resistance lingered. Yet even the most cursory essay in divination should have revealed grave causes for concern about the future. The war had been bitterly contested, and resentment was bound to simmer. Rome's concessions had been churlish and grudging. It seems that not all the Italians had yet been enfranchised, and the confinement of those who had within a minority of tribes made it clear that the Romans were determined to limit to the best of their ability the value of the prize that their allies had wrested from them. Thus the Italian question had by no means been settled: the struggle for even the most nominal equality still had much of its course to run, though the Italians could take comfort from the knowledge that there were still men at Rome who, for whatever motive, were prepared to champion their interests. Nor did the manner in which the outbreak of war had been exploited in pursuit of private enmities give any grounds for hope that in internal affairs a spirit of conciliation would now prevail. The murder of Livius Drusus had gone unpunished, and the contentious operations of the quaestio Variana had inflicted wounds that were still unhealed. The war had enforced a temporary lull in political infighting, but now that it was over revival of the feuds of 90 could only exacerbate an already delicate situation and diminish further the always remote likelihood of a unified and statesmanlike approach to the problems of Italy.

Art · Champion · Divination · Feeling · Literature · Political science · Politics · Resentment · Resistance (ecology) · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology