Rome after Sulla

Description

Rome 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? Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Figures Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Sullan politics and the early 70s bc Sallust’s Historiae, Sulla and stability Part One Negotiating the End of Sulla 2 80 bc The pro Roscio Vanishes Sulla in 80 bc: consul or tyrant? Saying what can’t be said: unfulfillable promises 3 79 bc The Turning Tide The exiled, the excluded and Lepidus’ son, Scipio Lepidi filius Control Part Two Counter-revolution 4 Urban Conflict and Etrurian Tumult Formulating 78–77 bc Appian on 78–77 bc: a harbinger of things to come Sallust’s Lepidus: like and unlike Catiline The judgement of Livy: exile, civil war and political morality By what name? 5 More Than Catiline, Less Than Caesar The Politics of M. Aemilius Lepidus, cos. 78 bc The political aims of Lepidus: the evidence The year 78 bc 6 After Sulla; After Lepidus Injustice Popular politics Unresolved trauma Part Three Sallust and the Political Culture of Rome after Sulla 7 Autocracy and Stability Moving Beyond the ‘Problems’ of the Speech of Lepidus 8 Dominatio and Deceit Sallust on Pompey 9 Hostile Politics (I) Political Discourse after Sulla The construction of a hostile politics Sallust and the political discourse of the 70s 10 Hostile Politics (II) Sallust’s Historiae Epilogue Legitimacy and the End of the Republic Appendix A Evidence for the Activities of M. Aemilius Lepidus, cos. 78 bc Appendix B ‘Problems’ in Sallust’s Speech of Lepidus Notes Works Cited Index locorum Index