Roman Civil War: Master of the Republic (Part 4)

Tom Holland (0:12)

On the 6th of July, 83 BC, the largest and holiest building in Rome was struck by lightning. The ancient temple of Jupiter loomed on the summit of the Capitoline Hill, here beneath the ceiling sheathed in gold. Amid trophies of statues and shields, the guardian of Rome had his shrine. But now Jupiter had decided to destroy his temple with a thunderbolt. What was the cause of the gods' anger? As the crowds gathered to watch the disaster, the flames belowed sparks and smoke across the forum. This was the heart of Rome, stretching all the way from the capital, Hill of the Gods, to the Palatine, Hill of Power. The forum, along with the Circus Maximus, was one of two open spaces within the city walls where Rome's citizens could mix freely. Here was the Commitium, where citizens gathered to hear orators address them from the rostra, the curved speaker's platform made from the prowess of long-ago captured ships. Immediately adjacent to it was the Curia, where the Senate met, and a little to its south, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, where the assemblies would be summoned to debate and vote on laws.

Along this axis of buildings and open spaces lay the great theater of the Republic's political life, Rome's most potent expression of her citizens' liberties and values.

All the more portentous then, that as the fire on the capital raged, it died the forum below it, angry red. Red, the colour of Mars, the god of war and bloodshed.

So if you think that was a very melodramatic reading, charged with the sort of port wine-soaked tones of one of London's greatest club men, you would be right. That was from Rubicon by our very own Tom Holland, describing an ominous moment in the descent of the Roman Republic into its first civil war. The gods are angry. But Tom, with whom?

Dominic Sandbrook (2:30)

Well, I mean, that is the question, isn't it? Because we left you last time with the Republic in the shadow of two great patrician strong men.

And the first of these is Sulla, a man who is at once completely charming and utterly sinister.

He's very cultured. He's unbelievably brutal. He is a conservative, but he is also a revolutionary because he is the first man ever to lead a Roman army on Rome. So Sulla had led his army on Rome in 88 BC. And in the intervening years, between his march on Rome and the burning of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, he has achieved remarkable things. So he has taken the war to Mithridates, who was this bold and ruthless and vindictive king who had conquered the Roman province of Asia and invaded Greece. And in only three years, Sulla had reversed all of Mithridates' conquests. He had brought Greece and the province of Asia once again, to acknowledge the might of Rome. And Mithridates had retreated to within his own borders, and he was obliged to accept Roman weapon inspectors to make sure that he wasn't rebuilding his offensive capabilities. And so you would think that back in Rome, the news of Sulla's triumphs would be greeted with praise and with thanksgiving and with all kinds of celebrations, but not a bit of it because back in Rome, the city is ruled by Sulla's enemies. And they have responded to Sulla's great feats by declaring him a public enemy and raising his house and running his family and friends out of the city.

And Sulla is not happy about this. This is not a man that you offend recklessly. And in 84, he had written a letter to the Senate, and Arien, the Greek historian, describes what he said. He said, he would be back very soon to take his vengeance on behalf of all those who had been wronged, and on behalf of Rome itself, upon the guilty men. So a very, very ominous threat.

Tom Holland (4:53)

Oh, a chilling warning. So Sulla has lots of enemies, but there's one in particular, isn't there? Particularly formidable, but also the particular object of his hatred, and for completely understandable reasons. Now, we talked about him last time. This is a man called Sinner, who is very able, very ruthless, very opportunistic, who is, you know, just as dedicated to the pursuit of victory and total defeat of his opponent as Sulla is. And remind us about Sinner. So Sinner, he had been elected as consul, hadn't he, just before Sulla went off to fight his war.

Dominic Sandbrook (5:29)

And Sulla had said, you've got to swear an oath that you won't attack me. And Sinner had said, fine. And then the moment Sulla went, he stabbed Sulla in the back. And basically for the past three years, while Sulla has been away fighting Mithridates, Sinner has been the dominant figure in Roman politics. And he had upheld his power in a completely unconstitutional manner by holding consulship after consulship after consulship in succession. And by 84 BC, when Sulla sent that threatening letter, Sinner was on to his fourth consecutive consulship. And this is basically the closest to being ruled by a permanent autocrat that the Roman Republic has yet experienced.