A Dictator of Old

[Zeno]

From the latest book I am indulging in called: Cicero - The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician. This is a short excert from the book dealing with Sulla, a military leader/politician, and takes place in about 82 B.C., after Sulla smashes a few armies and enters Rome.

Draw whatever conclusions you wish, or, none at all -


‘He [Sulla] regulated his position by reviving the disused post of Dictator, which gave him supreme authority in the government. He had himself appointed for an indefinite period, instead of the traditional six months, and set himself the task of reforming and restoring the institutions of the Republic.

Another massacre of the ruling class now took place. Under Marius, men of the political right had been struck down. Now it was the turn of the left. After a period of indiscriminate slaughter, a young Senator complained to Sulla, “We are not asking you to pardon those you have decided to kill; all we ask is that you free from suspense those you have decided not to kill.”

The Dictator took the point and agreed to put some order into the mayhem. He posted proscription lists on white tablets in the Forum, which gave the names of those he wanted dead. Anybody was legally entitled to kill a proscribed person and on the presentation of convincing evidence (usually a head) could claim a substantial reward of 1,200 denarii. As a rule, the heads of those killed were displayed in the Forum.’