Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part One

Gaius Marius had a very fierce competitor in the person of one of his former officers, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. What was more, not only were the men competitors-but they despised each other. Gaius Marius was the epitome of the loyal Roman general. He had come from the backwater of Arpinum and had no nobility whatsoever in his background. He rose through the ranks on sheer ability alone. By the time of our story here, Marius had won election to the highest magisterial office of consul an unprecedented six times. Most men -both by precedent and circumstance alone, were lucky to attain the office of consul once in their lives. Marius had also married into the Julian patrician lineage, which was in a state of decline at the time, but still very proud. The Julian line claimed it had its origin with the goddess Venus. This family will also become very important later. Marius, with his provincial upbringing and lack of pedigree, was a great example of what glory an outsider could achieve in the Republic.

Sulla, by contrast had a noble birth, however, when his father died he was left in poverty. In the days of Sulla's wild youth his means were incredibly small compared to his ambitions. He had been going downhill for awhile, living in forlorn quarters and in the company of some wild companions-comics, prostitutes and drag queens were all part of his retinue in those days. Sulla would display a lasting affection for drag queens all his life. "Metrobius, the female impersonator, had seen better days, but Sulla never ceased to insist that he was in love with him all the same."(Plutarch, Sulla.36). Sulla may indeed have loved drag queens-but as we shall see-he wasn't very in touch with his own feminine, nurturing side at all. Sulla was a heavy drinker. In him, some could see the barroom philosopher combined with the abilities of a gigolo. Sulla did have a kind of magnetic sexual appeal-according to most accounts of him. He had a good physique, stunning blue eyes and golden colored hair. As handsome as he was, his physical appearance was marred by only one thing-he had a violent, purple complexion and when he became angry odd white spots would appear all over his face.

This flaw did not seem to matter in the least to one of two women who would come to have a huge impact on the trajectory of his life. One of Rome's wealthiest courtesans had become so enamored of him that she left him everything she owned in her will. About the same time Sulla's wealthy patron died, his stepmother also died, also appointing him as sole heir to her estate. Sulla was thirty years old, an age when many in the aristocracy of Rome had already been climbing the precarious moutain slopes of fame and glory in Rome, when he at last had the money he needed to launch his political career. The office Sulla needed to attain to challenge Marius-was the consulship-the office Marius had achieved six times already. If Sulla could only win election to this office, then he would have enormous authority.

A consul was not a dictator or king, but was the closest thing the Republic had to one. The consul wore a toga bordered with the same purple associated with royalty and a special chair of state. The consul would also be accompanied by twelve men called lictors, each carrying on his shoulder, the fasces -symbolizing his authority not as a dictator, but as an elected official of the people. Rome did have a fasces associated with the office of dictator (I will talk about this later too) that had an axe attached to the regular bundle of scourging rods. Of course, even if Sulla were to win election to this office he would have to move fast. The fasces of a consul was not a symbol of tyranny, as it would come to be known, but of an authority bestowed freely by the people. The consul served a one year term only, and was joined in office by colleagues who were his exact equal. There was a great tension in the competitive ideals of the Republic, which were cut-throat in their intensity-and the way magistrates of the Republic had to act in office-with a great deal of attention paid to being -or at least looking as if they were acting with propriety. But it would be the only chance Sulla would have to get the eastern command in the Mithridatic war. If he could get this position he hoped to use it to get power and glory that would eclipse that of his hated rival, Gaius Marius.

For anyone who reads this blog-I very much appreciate you sticking with me here. Lately I have been struggling with health issues and insomnia. I do hope to have the next post here very soon, as it is ready to go. The image is a bust of General Gaius Marius. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!