The Impact of Sulla on Italy and the Mediterranean World
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1 THE IMPACT OF SULLA ON ITALY AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD F e d e r i c o s a n t a n g e l o U n iv e r s i t y Co l l e g e L o n d o n P hD T h e s i s Subm itted M arch 2006 UMI Number: U591982 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591982 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 Abstract This Ph.D. thesis is a study of the role of the general and statesman Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 BC) in the making of the Roman Empire. The first chapter describes the crisis of Roman imperial strategy that became apparent in the age of Sulla, leading to two subsequent wars, the Social War in Italy and the Mithridatic War in the Greek East, then followed by a Civil War at Rome. In both contexts large sectors of the local elites nearly succeeded in bringing Roman hegemony to an end. After defeating their attempt, Rome had to redefine her relationship with them. Sulla played a crucial and often overlooked role in this phase. The second chapter deals with Sulla’s contribution to the administration of the Empire. He brought about a fiscal reform in the province of Asia that created enormous difficulties for the local communities, the direct consequence of which was to compel them to seek the patronage or the support of members of the senatorial elite. In Italy, Sulla severely punished the communities that opposed his rise to power. In this case too they had to seek the support of members of the Roman governing class in order to limit the impact of Sulla’s retaliation. The third chapter deals with the ideological aspect of the history of this period. Sulla made an important contribution to the ideology of Roman imperialism, and he made innovative use of some aspects of Roman religion. In the Greek East he portrayed himself and the Romans as descendants of Aphrodite/Venus, suggesting an interesting pattern where affinity and difference between Greeks and Romans coexisted and interacted. In Italy he developed this connection with Venus by representing himself as a new founder of Rome, a theme that is echoed in several piece of evidence. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents....................................................................................................... 3 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 6 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 7 1. Punishment and Rewards. Sulla, the Empire and its Elites ........................... 12 1.1. A silent crisis, a noisy collapse................................................................ 13 1.2. A complex strategy : Sulla between Attica and B oeotia.......................27 1.3. After a great blunder : the elites of Asia Minor..................................... 44 1.4. Warfare and Politics: Sulla in Italy ..........................................................61 1.5. Retaliation and politics: the proscriptions..............................................71 1.6. Sulla’s infamous associates...................................................................... 80 1.7. Was there ever a ‘Sullan’ Senate?.............................................................90 2. Between War and Peace. Sulla and New Organisation for the Empire 105 2.1. Resettling the province of A sia............................................................ 105 2.2. Statesmanship and retaliation: between Capua and Praeneste 133 2.3. Sullan colonisation in Italy: back to the basics.................................... 144 2.4. Pompeii and Campania fe lix .....................................................................154 2.5. Etruria: a contrasting picture..................................................................167 2.6. The Sullan veterans and Catiline’s conspiracy ..................................... 176 3. Sulla, Religion, and the E m pire..................................................................... 185 3.1. Why ‘Sulla Fphaphroditoi ? .................................................................... 185 3.2. A new founder for R om e...................................................................... 200 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................... 209 Appendix I : The ‘Sullan Senators’........................................................................... 214 Appendix I I : Sulla in the Epigraphical Evidence ...................................................226 Bibliography 229 4 List of Abbreviations AE EAnne'e epigraphique , Paris 1888-. C IL Corpus Inscriptionum Eatinarum, consilio et auctoritate Academiae litterarum regiae Borussicae editum , Berlin 1863-. ED Fouilles de De/phes, Paris 1902-. H R R 2 H. Peter, Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae , Leipzig 19142. ID Inscriptions de Delos, Paris 1926-1972. IG Inscriptiones Graecae , Berlin 1873-. IG R Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanaspertinentes, Paris 1906-1927. ILURP A. Degrassi, Inscriptiones Eatinae liberae rei publicae (Biblioteca di Studi Superiori 40), Florence 1963. IvDidyma A. Rehm, Didyma II. Die Inschriften , Berlin 1958. IvEph Die Inschriften von Ephesos (Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien 11.1, 12-17.1-4), Bonn 1979-1984. Ivllion P. Frisch, Die Inschriften von Ilion (Inschriften griechischen Stadte aus Kleinasien 3), Bonn 1975. IvKnidos W. Bliimel, Die Inschriften von Knidos, I (Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien 41), Bonn 1992. IvEaodikeia T. Corsten, Die Inschriften von Eaodikeia am Eykos, I (Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien 49), Bonn 1997. IvMylasa W. Bliimel, Die Inschriften von Mylasa, I-II (Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien 34), Bonn 1987-1988. IvPriene F. Hiller von Gaertringen, Inschriften von Priene, Berlin 1906. IvStratonikeia M. C. Sahin (ed.), Die Inschriften von Stratonikeia , I (Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien 21-22.1-22.2), Bonn 1981- 1989, 3 vol. MAMA Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, Manchester-London 1928-. MRR T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic , New Y ork-A danta, 1951-1986. 5 OGIS W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscriptions selectae. Supplementum Sylloges inscriptionum Graecarum, Leipzig 1903-1905. RC C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period. A. Study in Greek Epigraphy, New Haven-London-Prague 1934. RDGE R. K. Sherk (ed.), Roman Documents from the Greek East. Senatus consulta and epistulae to the Age of Augustus, Baltimore 1969. R E Paulys Real-E ncyclopadie der classischen Altertumsmssenschaft, Stuttgart 1893-. RRC M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge 1974. RJ M. H. Crawford (ed.), Roman Statutes (BICS Supplement 64), London 1996, 2 vols. SE G Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Amsterdam 1923-. ST H. Rix, Sabellische Texte, Heidelberg 2002. SyllT W. Dittenberger, Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum, Leipzig 1915- 19243. Editorial Note I have consistently Latinised Greek toponyms (e.g. Pergamum instead of Pergamon), except when the Greek toponym is used in Latin too (e.g. Claros, Delos), or there is no Latin equivalent for it (e.g. Akraiphia). On the other hand, I have not altered the Greek personal names known from inscriptions (e.g. Menippos, Medeios, Diodoros Pasparos, etc.), as they are usually quoted by modern scholars in their original form. 6 a mia madre Acknowledgements Writing this thesis under the supervision of Michael Crawford has been a memorable experience, regardless of the value of the final outcome. I could hardly express in words my gratitude for what he has taught me (both intentionally and not) over these years. To put it shordy, I just feel that this research would have been unthinkable without his support, advice, and inspiration. Riet van Bremen has been much more than a second supervisor - she has so often been an ideal reader. Benet Salway offered me valuable advice at an early stage of this research. I am very grateful to Gilles Pecout and Sylvia Estienne for the warmth of their hospitality at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. For information, advice and criticism at various stages of my work I am very grateful to Emilio Gabba, Giovanni Geraci, Emanuele Greco, Malcolm Heath, Francois Hinard, Philip Kinns, John North, Andrea Raggi, Ulrike Roth, the judges of the Grote Prize, and especially to Jean-Louis Ferrary. Francesco Papagni provided me with an excellent translation of A. Krawczuk’s Koloni^acja sullanska. Marie Ver Eecke let me have a copy of her doctoral dissertation on Romulus in the late Republic and generously discussed it with me. Crucial financial support has been provided by the AHRC, the University of Bologna, and the Marie Curie Fellowship Programme. The British