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<v Speaker 1>Section sixteen of the grochy Marius and Solla by A. H. Beesley.

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<v Speaker 1>This librovox recording is in the public domain. Read by Pamelinagami,

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<v Speaker 1>chapter fourteen, the personal rule and death of Sullah. Sullah was,

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<v Speaker 1>to all intents and purposes, a king in Rome. He

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<v Speaker 1>harangued the people on what he had achieved and told

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<v Speaker 1>them that if they were obedient, he would make things

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<v Speaker 1>better for them, but that he would not spare his

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<v Speaker 1>enemies and would punish every one who had sided with them.

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<v Speaker 1>Since Scipio violated his covenant, then began a reign of terror.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only did he kill his enemies, but gave over

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<v Speaker 1>to his creatures men against whom he had no complaint

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<v Speaker 1>to make. At last, the young noble Gaius Metellus asked

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<v Speaker 1>him in the Senate, tell Us, Sullah, when there is

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<v Speaker 1>to be an end of our calamities, we do not

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<v Speaker 1>ask thee to spare those whom thou hast marked out

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<v Speaker 1>for punishment, but to relieve the suspense of those whom

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<v Speaker 1>thou hast determined to save. Sullah replied that he did

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<v Speaker 1>not yet know. Then said Metellus, let us know whom

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<v Speaker 1>thou intendest to destroy? Selah answered by issuing a first

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<v Speaker 1>proscription list, including eighty names. People murmured at the illegality

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<v Speaker 1>of this, and in two days, as if to rebuke

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<v Speaker 1>their presumption, he issued a second of two hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty and as many more the next day. Then he

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<v Speaker 1>told the people from the rostrum that he had now

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<v Speaker 1>proscribed all that he remembered, and those whom he had

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<v Speaker 1>forgotten must come into some future proscription. Such a speech

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<v Speaker 1>would seem incredible if put into the mouth of any

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<v Speaker 1>other character in history, but it is in keeping with

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah's passionless and nonchalant brutality. The ashes of Marius he

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<v Speaker 1>ordered to be dug up and scattered in the Annio,

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<v Speaker 1>the only unpractical act we ever read of him. Committing

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<v Speaker 1>death was ordained for everyone who should harbor or save

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<v Speaker 1>a proscribed person, even his own brother's son, or parent.

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<v Speaker 1>But he who killed a proscribed man, even if it

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<v Speaker 1>was a slave who slew his master or a son

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<v Speaker 1>his father, was to receive two talents. Even the son

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<v Speaker 1>and grandson of those proscribed were deprived of the privileges

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<v Speaker 1>of citizenship, and their property was confiscated, not only in

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<v Speaker 1>Rome but in all the cities of Italy. This went on.

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<v Speaker 1>Lists were posted everywhere, and it was a common saying

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<v Speaker 1>among the ruffianly executioners. His fine home was the death

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<v Speaker 1>of such an one, his gardens of another, his hot

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<v Speaker 1>baths of a third. For they hunted down men for

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<v Speaker 1>their wealth more than from revenge. One day a quiet

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<v Speaker 1>citizen came into the forum and, out of mere curiosity,

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<v Speaker 1>read the proscription list. To his horror, he saw his

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<v Speaker 1>own name, wretch. He cried that I am my alban

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<v Speaker 1>Villa pursues me, and he had not gone far when

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<v Speaker 1>a Ruffian came up and killed him. The famous Julius

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar was one of those in danger. He would not

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<v Speaker 1>divorce his wife at the bidding of Sullah, who confiscated

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<v Speaker 1>her property, if not his as well, being so far

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<v Speaker 1>merciful for some reason which we do not know. One

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<v Speaker 1>case has been made memorable by the fact that Cicero

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<v Speaker 1>was the council for one of the sufferers. Two men

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<v Speaker 1>named Roscius procured the assassination of a third of the

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<v Speaker 1>same name by Sullah's favorite freedman, Chrysogonus, who then got

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<v Speaker 1>the name of Roscius put on the proscription list and

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<v Speaker 1>seizing on his property, expelled them and Sun from it. He,

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<v Speaker 1>having friends at Rome, fled to them and made the

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<v Speaker 1>assassins fear that they might be compelled to disgorge, so

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<v Speaker 1>they suddenly charged the son with having killed his father.

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<v Speaker 1>The most frightful circumstance about the case is not the

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<v Speaker 1>piteous injustice suffered by the Sun, but the abject way

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<v Speaker 1>in which Cicero speaks of Sullah, comparing him to Jupiter, who,

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<v Speaker 1>despite his universal beneficence, sometimes permits destruction, not on purpose,

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<v Speaker 1>but because his sway is so worldwide, and scouting the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of its being possible for him to share personally

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<v Speaker 1>in such wrongs. It has been well said, we almost

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<v Speaker 1>touched the tyrant with our finger. Cicero soon afterwards left Rome,

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<v Speaker 1>probably from fear of Sullah. It is said that the

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<v Speaker 1>names of four thousand, seven hundred persons were entered on

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<v Speaker 1>the public records as having fallen in the proscriptions, besides

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<v Speaker 1>many more who were assassinated for private reasons. Whole towns

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<v Speaker 1>were put up for auction, says one writer, such as Polatum, Prineste, Interomna,

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<v Speaker 1>and Florentia. By this we may understand that they lost

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<v Speaker 1>all their land their privileges and public buildings, perhaps even

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<v Speaker 1>the houses themselves. Others, such as Voltaire and Aretium, were

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<v Speaker 1>deprived of all privileges except that of commercium or the

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<v Speaker 1>right of trade. Sulla's friends attended such auctions and made

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<v Speaker 1>large fortunes. One of his centurions, named Luscius, bought an

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<v Speaker 1>estate for ten million sesterces or eighty eight thousand, five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and forty pounds of our money. One of his

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<v Speaker 1>freedmen bought for twenty pounds twelve shillings an estate worth

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<v Speaker 1>sixty one thousand pounds Crassus Verres, and Sulli's wife, Mattella,

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<v Speaker 1>became in this way infamously rich. In spite of such

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<v Speaker 1>nominal prices, the sale of confiscated estates produced three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty million sistercees or nearly three million pounds of

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<v Speaker 1>our money. Sullah approved of such purchases, for they bound

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<v Speaker 1>the buyers to his interests and insured their wishing to

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<v Speaker 1>uphold his acts after his death. With the same view

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<v Speaker 1>of creating a permanent sullen party in Italy, and at

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<v Speaker 1>the same time, to fulfill his pledges to the soldiers,

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<v Speaker 1>he allotted to them all public lands in Italy hitherto undistributed,

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<v Speaker 1>and all confiscated land not otherwise disposed of. In this

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<v Speaker 1>way he punished and rewarded at a stroke no fewer

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<v Speaker 1>than one hundred and twenty thousand allotments were made and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three legions provided for. There was in it a

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<v Speaker 1>plausible mimicry of the democratic scheme of colonies, which Sola

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<v Speaker 1>must have thoroughly enjoyed. Thus, in Italy he provided a

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<v Speaker 1>standing army to support his new constitution. In Rome itself,

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<v Speaker 1>by enfranchising ten thousand slaves whose owners had been slain,

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<v Speaker 1>he formed a strong body of partisans, ever ready to

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<v Speaker 1>do his bidding. These were all named Cornelii. A man

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<v Speaker 1>is known by his adherents, and the worst men were

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah's proteges. Cataline's name rose into notoriety among these horrors.

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<v Speaker 1>He was said not only to have murdered his own brother,

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<v Speaker 1>but to requite Sullah for legalizing the murder by including

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<v Speaker 1>his brother's name in the list of the proscribed to

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<v Speaker 1>have committed. The most horrible act of the civil war,

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<v Speaker 1>the torture of Marcus Marius Gratadianus. This man, because he

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<v Speaker 1>was a cousin of Marius was offered up as a

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<v Speaker 1>victim to the manes of Catullus, of whom the elder

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<v Speaker 1>Marius had said he must. This poor wretch was scourged

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<v Speaker 1>and had his limbs broken, his nose and hands cut off,

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<v Speaker 1>and his eyes gouged out of their sockets. Finally, his

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<v Speaker 1>head was cut off, and Cicero's brother writes that Cataline

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<v Speaker 1>carried it in his hand, streaming with blood. But no

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<v Speaker 1>one would attach much importance to what the Ciceros said

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<v Speaker 1>of Cataline, and two circumstances combined to point to his

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<v Speaker 1>innocence of such extreme enormities. One is that it was

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<v Speaker 1>the son of Catullus who begged as a boon from

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah the death of this Marius, and his name was

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<v Speaker 1>very likely confused with Catalines in the street rumors of

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<v Speaker 1>the time. And the other and more direct piece of

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<v Speaker 1>evidence is that Catiline was tried in the year sixty

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<v Speaker 1>four for murders committed at this time and was acquitted.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a curious thing that the obloquy which has

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<v Speaker 1>clung to Cataline's name on such dubious reports, has never

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<v Speaker 1>attached in the same measure to the undoubted horrors and

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<v Speaker 1>abominations of Sullah's career. Sullah, though he meant above all

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<v Speaker 1>to have his own way, had no objection to use

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<v Speaker 1>constitutional forms where they could be conveniently employed. He made

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate pass a resolution approving his acts, and as

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<v Speaker 1>there were no consuls in eighty two, after the death

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<v Speaker 1>of Marius and Carbo, he retired from Rome for a

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<v Speaker 1>while and told the Senate to elect an interrex in

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<v Speaker 1>conformity with the prescribed usage under such circumstances. Then he

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<v Speaker 1>wrote to the interrects and recommended that a dictator should

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<v Speaker 1>be appointed, not for a limited time, but till he

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<v Speaker 1>had restored quiet in the Roman world, and with a

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<v Speaker 1>touch of that irony which he could not resist displaying

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<v Speaker 1>in and out of season, went on to say that

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<v Speaker 1>he thought himself the best man for the post. Thus,

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<v Speaker 1>in November eighty two, he was formally invested with despotic

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<v Speaker 1>power over the lives and property of a his fellow citizens.

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<v Speaker 1>Could contract or extend, the frontiers of the state, could

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<v Speaker 1>change as he pleased, the constitution of the Italian towns

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<v Speaker 1>and the provinces, could legislate for the future, could nominate

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<v Speaker 1>proconsuls and proprietors, and could retain his absolute power as

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<v Speaker 1>long as he liked. He might have dispensed with consuls altogether,

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<v Speaker 1>but he did not care to do this. The consuls

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<v Speaker 1>whom he allowed to be elected for eighty one were,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, possessed of merely nominal power. Twenty four lictors

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<v Speaker 1>preceded him in the streets. He told the people to

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<v Speaker 1>hail him as Felix declared that his least deliberate were

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<v Speaker 1>his most successful actions. Signed himself epaphroditis when he wrote

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<v Speaker 1>to Greeks, named his son and daughter Faustus and Fausta,

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<v Speaker 1>boasted that the gods held converse with him in dreams,

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<v Speaker 1>and sent a golden crown and acts to the goddess,

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<v Speaker 1>whom he believed to be as patroness. Like Wallenstein, he

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<v Speaker 1>mingled indifference to bloodshed with extreme superstition and boundless self confidence.

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<v Speaker 1>But as the historian remarks, a man who is superstitious

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<v Speaker 1>is capable of any crime, for he believes that his

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<v Speaker 1>gods can be conciliated by prayers and presents. The greatest

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<v Speaker 1>crimes have not been committed by men who have no

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<v Speaker 1>religious belief, no doubt to his mind. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>sort of judicial retribution in all this bloodshed, and as

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<v Speaker 1>he tried to make himself out the favorite of the gods.

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<v Speaker 1>So by formally announcing the close of the proscription lists

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<v Speaker 1>for June first, eighty one b c. He spread some

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<v Speaker 1>veil of legality over his shameless violence. There is something

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<v Speaker 1>particularly revolting in the business like and systematic way in

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<v Speaker 1>which he went about his murderous work, appointing a fixed

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<v Speaker 1>time for it to end, a fixed list of the victims,

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<v Speaker 1>a fixed price to be paid per head, a fixed

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<v Speaker 1>exemption for the murderers from his own law. De sicaries.

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<v Speaker 1>Modern idolators of a policy of blood and iron may

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<v Speaker 1>profane history by their glorification of human monsters, but no

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<v Speaker 1>sophistry can blind and independent reader to the real nature

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<v Speaker 1>of Sulla's character and acts. He organized murder and filled

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<v Speaker 1>Italy with idle soldiers instead of honest husbandmen. He did

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<v Speaker 1>so in the interests of a class, a class whose

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<v Speaker 1>incapacity for government he had discovered, and yet, knowing that

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<v Speaker 1>his re establishment of this class could only be temporary,

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<v Speaker 1>he fortified it by every means in his power, and then,

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<v Speaker 1>after a theatrical finale, returned to the gross debaucheries in

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<v Speaker 1>which he reveled. Anything more selfish or cynical cannot be conceived,

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<v Speaker 1>and those who call vile acts by their plain names

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<v Speaker 1>will not feel inclined to become Sullah's apologists. When he died,

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<v Speaker 1>he left behind him it is said what he may

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<v Speaker 1>have meant as his epitaph, an inscription containing the purport

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<v Speaker 1>of three lines in the Medea. Let no man deem

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<v Speaker 1>me weak or womanly or nerveless, but of quite another mood,

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<v Speaker 1>a scourge to foes beneficent two friends. Pompeius, the only

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<v Speaker 1>man who had successfully bearded him, was the only friend

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<v Speaker 1>not mentioned in his will. If anything could palliate his

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<v Speaker 1>remorseless selfishness, it is the candor with which he confessed it.

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<v Speaker 1>He had made a vast private fortune out of his

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<v Speaker 1>countryman's misery. When he surrendered his dictatorship, he offered a

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<v Speaker 1>tenth of his property to Hercules, and gave a banquet

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<v Speaker 1>to the people on so profuse a gaale that great

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<v Speaker 1>quantities of food were daily thrown into the Tiber. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of the wine was forty years old, perhapsps wine of

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<v Speaker 1>that vintage, which was gathered in when Gaius Gracchus died

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<v Speaker 1>in the Middle of the banquet, his wife Metelli Sicond, and,

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<v Speaker 1>in order that as PONTIFEXI might prevent his home being

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<v Speaker 1>polluted by death, he divorced her and removed her to

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<v Speaker 1>another house whilst still alive. Soon afterwards he married another wife, who,

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<v Speaker 1>at a gladiatorial show, came and plucked his sleeve in order,

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<v Speaker 1>as she said, to obtain some of his good fortune.

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<v Speaker 1>The rest of his life was spent near Kumai and hunting,

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<v Speaker 1>writing his memoirs, amusing himself with actors, and practicing all

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of debauchery. Ten days before he died, he settled

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<v Speaker 1>the affairs of the people of Puteole at their request,

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<v Speaker 1>and was busy in collecting funds to restore the capital

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<v Speaker 1>up to the last. Some say he died of the

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<v Speaker 1>disease which destroyed Herod. Some say there is no such disease.

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<v Speaker 1>Others say that he broke a blood vessel when in

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<v Speaker 1>a rage. He is described as having blue eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>a pale face so blotched over that he was likened

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<v Speaker 1>to a mulberry sprinkled with meal. His death in seventy

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<v Speaker 1>eight b C. Was the signal for that break up

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<v Speaker 1>of his political institutions, to which he had wilfully shut

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<v Speaker 1>his eyes. The great men of Rome began to wrangle

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<v Speaker 1>over his very body before it was cold. Lepidus, whom Pompeius,

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<v Speaker 1>against Sullah's wishes, had helped to the consulship, opposed a

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<v Speaker 1>public funeral. The other consul supported it. Sullah had, with

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<v Speaker 1>his usual shrewdness, divined the character of Lepidus, and told

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<v Speaker 1>Pompeius that he was only making a rival powerful. Pompeius

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<v Speaker 1>supposed Lepidus now, for he knew that the partisans of

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<v Speaker 1>Sullah would insist on doing honor to his memory. Appian

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<v Speaker 1>describes the funeral at length. The body was borne on

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<v Speaker 1>a litter adorned with gold and other royal array, amid

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<v Speaker 1>the flourish of trumpets, and with an escort of cavalry.

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<v Speaker 1>After them followed a concourse of armed men, his old soldiers,

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<v Speaker 1>who had thronged from all parts and fell in with

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<v Speaker 1>the procession as each came up. Besides these there was

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<v Speaker 1>as vast a crowd of other men as was ever

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<v Speaker 1>seen at any funeral. In front were carried the axes

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<v Speaker 1>and the other symbols of office which had belonged to

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<v Speaker 1>him as dictator. But it was not till the procession

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<v Speaker 1>entered Rome that the full splendor of the ceremonial was seen.

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<v Speaker 1>More than two thousand crowns of gold were born in front,

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<v Speaker 1>gifts from towns, from his old comrades in arms, and

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<v Speaker 1>his personal friends. In every other respect too, the pomp

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<v Speaker 1>and circumstance of the funeral was past description in awe

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<v Speaker 1>of the veterans. All the priests of all the sacred

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<v Speaker 1>fraternities were there in full robes, with the vestal virgins,

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<v Speaker 1>and all the senators and all the magistrates, each in

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<v Speaker 1>his garb of office. Next, in array that contrasted with theirs,

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<v Speaker 1>came the Knights of Rome and Column. Then all the

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<v Speaker 1>men whom Sullah had commanded in his wars, and who

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<v Speaker 1>had vied with each other in hastening there carrying gilded

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<v Speaker 1>standards and silver plated shields. There was also a countless

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<v Speaker 1>host of flute players, making now most tender, now most

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<v Speaker 1>wailing music. A cry of benediction raised by the senators

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<v Speaker 1>was taken up by the knights and the soldiers, and

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<v Speaker 1>re echoed by the people. For some mourned his loss

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<v Speaker 1>in reality, and others feared the soldiers and dreaded him

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<v Speaker 1>in death as much as in life. The present scene

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<v Speaker 1>recalling dreadful memories that he had been a friend to

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<v Speaker 1>his friends, they could not but admit, but to the rest,

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<v Speaker 1>even when dead, he was still terrible. The body was

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<v Speaker 1>exhibited before the rostra, and the greatest orator of the

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<v Speaker 1>time spoke the funeral oration for Faustus. Sullah's son was

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<v Speaker 1>too young to do so. Then some strong senators took

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<v Speaker 1>up the litter on their shoulders and bore it to

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<v Speaker 1>the Compass Martius, where kings only were wont to be buried.

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<v Speaker 1>There it was placed on the funeral pyre, and the

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<v Speaker 1>knights and all the armies circled round it in solemn procession.

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<v Speaker 1>And that was Sullah's ending. To the student of history,

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<v Speaker 1>the story of such a funeral seems like the prostration

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<v Speaker 1>of a nation of barbarians before the car of some

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<v Speaker 1>demon god. If the strong personality of the man, with

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<v Speaker 1>all that dauntless bravery, that unerring sagacity, that trenchant tongue,

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<v Speaker 1>still after two thousand years, fascinates attention, if we are

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<v Speaker 1>forced to own that for sheer power of will and intellect,

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<v Speaker 1>he stands in the very foremost rank of men. Yet

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<v Speaker 1>we feel also that in the case of such superhuman

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<v Speaker 1>wickedness tyrannicide Wood, if it ever could cease to be

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<v Speaker 1>a crime end of Section sixteen