Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a Roman general and dictator during the last century
of the Roman Republic. Lucius was born into an impoverished branch of the Cornelii, and he
lived a poor and dissolute existence until he received two family inheritances that finally gave him the
financial stature to run for office. Sulla came from a patrician family, served as consul, and led
military campaigns in North Africa, and against Mithradates of Pontus. In his abscence he was
declared a public enemy in Rome by his opponents. Sulla returned with his army to Italy and
marched on Rome. His defeat o…
