Lucius Cornelius Sylla or Sulla: born in Roma 138 BC, died in 78 BC in Puteoli

A Roman general of great military renown, but of cruel and profligate character; who was remarkable for having served under Marius, in Numidia, where he received the surrender of Jugurtha; for his subsequent contexts with Marius; his successes against the armies of Mithridates; his occasioning hirmelf to be proclaimed perpetual dictator; his Prorcriptions and massacres.
He died, of a horrible disease, in the year 676 of Rome, and 78 yeare before the birth of Christ.

Sylla
Glyptotheque of Munich

During his youth, Sylla was extremely profligate: he passed much of his time in the company of buffoons, mimics, and jesters; yet he had sufficient perseverance to acquire a competent knowledge both of Latin and Grecian literature.

When he had arrived at manhood, his figure was well formed, and erect. His eyes were blue, fierce, and menacing; and his face was of so singular a colour, that it is supposed to have given origin to his name, the word syl signifying a yellow kind of earth, which, when burnt, becomes red. Plutarch asserts that his face was of a deep red colour, interspersed with spots of white; and says that an Athenian jester once compared it to a mulberry sprinkled with meal.

The first public employment which Sylla appears to have obtained, was that of quaestor to Marius, when the latter, as consul, was sent into Numidia, to carry on the war against Jugurtha. After some partial successes, the Roman army was surprised by Jugurtha, and his father-in-law, Bocchus, king of Mauritania; and was obliged, for a little while, to retreat; but it, soon afterwards, returned upon the assailants, and put them to fight, with great loss. Much of the success, in this struggle, was attributed to the talents and bravery of Sylla, who now acquired the confidence and even the friendship of his general; though he had before been despised on account of his profligate habits. The enemy attacked the Romans a second time, and were totally defeated. After this, Bocchus, desirous of throwing off his alliance with Jugurtha, entered, privately, into a treaty with Marius; and, through the influence of Sylla, obtained permission to send ambassadors to Rome, to sue for peace, and to entreat that he might be admitted into friendship and alliance with the Romans.

Jugurtha, not long afterwards, was at the court of Bocchus; and the latter sent information to Sylla, that, if he would come, with a few troops, to the Numidian camp, Jugurtha should be delivered into his hands. Rash and dangerous as it was to trust himself in the power of a barbarian, and of one who, in this very act, was affording a proof of his treachery, Sylla accepted the invitation. In fact, when both Jugurtha and Sylla were within his power, and when Bocchus knew that he must betray one of them, he, for some time, hesitated which of the two it should be. His fear of the Romans, however, prevailed, and be sacrificed Jugurtha.

With the subjugation of this prince, the Numidian war was terminated. Marius enjoyed the triumph for it; but Sylla, by constantly using, as the seal of his letters and dispatches, an engraved representation of Bacchus delivering up Jugurtha, contrived to insinuate, to the Romans, that all the merit of it was due to him. Marius was much offended by this, but Sylla was not yet of sufficient age or character to be an object of his envy. He was employed during both the second and third consulate of Marius; and, in the latter, he had the command of a thousand men.

Sylla was afterwards employed in Italy, by Catulus, the colleague of Marius; and so great was his success, in several brilliant enterprises, and so much celebrity did he acquire, that he was, at length, induced to imagine that he possessed sufficient influence to obtain a share in the government. He, therefore, left the camp, and returned to Rome. Here he offered himself a candidate for the office of praetor, but was not successful. In the ensuing year he again offered himself, and, in consequence, as it is said, partly of his assiduities, and partly to his having bribed several of the electors, he was returned.

During his praetorship, he entertained the Romans with some extraordinary exhibitions in the Circus; but particularly with a combat between a hundred lions, and some Mauritanian hunters. Combats with ferocious animals, were a barbarous species of exhibition, in which the Romans greatly delighted, and with which Sylla was enabled to gratify them, to an almost unprecedented extent, in consequence of his connexions with Bocchus.

After the expiration of the first year of his praetor ship, Sylla was appointed governor of the Roman provinces in Asia. Mithridates, king of Pontus, more known in history for his cruelty, than even for his great exploits, had, by assassination or by poison, destroyed nearly all the princes of Cappadocia, and had placed a son of his own upon the throne of that kingdom, under the guardianship of Gordius, one of his courtiers. This Gordius, Sylla defeated; and, by so doing, was enabled to restore Ariobarzanes to the throne of Cappadocia.

On his return to Rome, an irreconcilable quarrel, which had taken place betwixt himself and Marius, was revived, by the circumstance of Bocchus having caused several images of victory to be placed in the capitol, and, among them, a representation of Jugurtha in chains, as delivered up to Sylla. Irritated by what he considered so directly personal an insult, Marius was resolved to pull the images down; and the friends of Sylla assembled to protect them. The whole city was in commotion, and, in the unsettled state of the Roman government, a civil war might have been the consequence of this private quarrel, had not the increasing sedition been, for a while, suspended, by the breaking out of what was called the Social war.

Sylla was one of the commanders employed in this war; and he performed so many memorable exploits, that most of the Roman citizens considered him a great general; his friends asserted that he was the greatest, and his enemies, that he was the most fortunate of generals. He had no objection to even the last of these epithets; for he considered that it added an air of grandeur, and even of divinity to his actions. Fortune was worshipped by the Romans as a goddess, and he considered himself flattered by being thought under the superintendance of so favourite a deity.

When the solemnity of the triumph was ended, Marius assembled the senate in the capitol. Here, either through inadvertence or insolence, he entered in his triumphal robe. But, perceiving that the members of the senate were justly offended, by such an insult, he retired and put on his ordinary habit.

There was scarcely a man in Rome, of more unamiable or more inconsistent character. He was rapacious, yet liberal; submissive, and even obsequious, to those from whom he hoped to derive advantage; but harsh and severe towards such as were in need of his services. On the slightest grounds he would sometimes inflict even torture; and, at other times, he would overlook the commission of the greatest enormities. But the chief object of his inveteracy was Marius, whose destruction he unremittingly studied to effect.

In the year of the city 665, he was elected consul, and was extremely anxious to obtain the management of the war against Mithridates, king of Pontus.

This was also an object of anxiety to Marius. A virulent contest took place betwixt the friends of each party. Sylla being, at this time, encamped, with the Roman army, before Nola, in Campania, the intrigues of the tribune Sulpicius, obtained, for Marius, the appointment. No sooner was Sylla informed of this, than he assembled his troops, reminded them of the victories they had obtained under his command, stated that rich spoils might be gained in the war against Mithridates, and exaggerated the disgraceful campaign of Marius. A loud shout followed, and an exclamation, Let us hasten to Rome, and avenge the cause of oppressed liberty. This was a term used by all parties, as a watchword for promoting their own views, and, in this instance, was equally adopted by the adherents of Sylla and of Marius. The trumpets were sounded, the troops marched to Rome, and, after a faint resistance from the soldiers under Marius, made themselves masters of the capitol. On the ensuing day, Sylla caused a decree to be passed, declaring Marius's appointment void, and that no law should, thenceforth, be proposed by the tribunes, until it had been approved by the senate; and another decree for the death of Marius, of his son, of Sulpicius, and nine other senators of the same party.

The contests which resulted from the private quarrel between Sylla and Marius, proved more injurious to the republic than all the wars in which it had previously been engaged: these contests were even represented, by the augurs, to have been prefigured by prodigies of various kinds. A few of them may be mentioned, for the purpose of showing the excessive credulity of the Roman people. Fire was seen to blaze from the ensign staves: three ravens brought their young ones into the city, devoured them there, and carried the remains back to their nests. While the senate were assembled, a sparrow, in the sight of the whole body, brought, in her mouth, a grasshopper; and, after she had torn it asunder, she left one part with them, and carried the other part away. From the last incident, the augurs declared that a fatal dispute was to be expected between the town and the country: the inhabitants of the town they described to be noisy, like the grasshopper; and those of the country, domestic, like the sparrow.

Sulpicius was betrayed by one of his slaves, and beheaded; and the conduct of Sylla towards this slave, was strangely inconsistent. He had issued a proclamation of freedom to any of the slaves of Sulpicius, who should cause his apprehension: he, accordingly, gave this man his liberty, but he immediately afterwards ordered him to be thrown from the Tarpeian rock, as a punishment for having betrayed his master.

Marius fled to the sea-coast, and his son escaped into Africa, leaving Sylla without opponent. The latter arranged the affairs in the city, with as much expedition as possible, and then set out, with his troops, to act against Mithridates, who had obtained possession of Asia Minor, and of a considerable part of Macedonia and Greece. Sylla first sailed to Greece; and he commenced his operations by investing the city of Athens, which, at this time, was held by Ariston, one of the generals of Mithridates.

He was anxious to obtain possession of this place in as short a time as possible, that he might return to Rome; for, in the unsettled state of the Roman government, he was fearful lest, during his absence, some change, to his prejudice, might be effected in the opinions of the people. He therefore brought against it warlike implements of every description, at that time in use; and left no kind of assault unattempted. To effect his purpose, be found that greater sums of money were requisite, than he possessed; and, to obtain these, he plundered the Grecian temples of their most sacred and valuable treasures. He even wrote to Delphi, to request that the treasures of Apollo, in that sanctuary, might be placed in his hands; stating, that he would either preserve them inviolate, or that, if he applied them, for the use of his army, he would return, for them, their full value.

The officer whom he sent to Delphi, expressed, to the persons who had the care of the temple, his deep regret, in being thus compelled to deprive them of their sacred deposits. The priests, after consulting together, on the subject, alarmed him, by stating that Apollo disapproved of their being taken away; for that they had heard the sound of his lyre, in the inmost sanctuary. Hoping that he should be able to inspire his master with the same religious terror which he had himself experienced, the officer wrote to him an account of this mysterious sound. Sylla, however, was too cunning to be duped by such a stratagem. He replied, that he was surprised the officer should not know that music was the voice of joy and not of resentment. He, therefore, begged of him, without hesitation, to take, the treasures, as Apollo had indicated his satisfaction "in their being given up. They were, accordingly; all carried away; and some idea of their immense value, may be formed, when it is stated that, amongst them, there was one vase of silver, so large and heavy that no carriage could be found strong enough to bear it; it was, consequently, cut to pieces and carried off in fragments.

By means of these treasures, Sylla was not only enabled to support all the ordinary expences of the war, but to seduce, to the Roman interest, many of the troops of the enemy; and, lavishly to supply the wants of his own. Much of this, however, was very short-sighted policy; for, while he was teaching the troops of his adversary to desert from their ranks, he did not contemplate that he was giving similar authority to his own; and, by ministering to the vices of his soldiers, he was not aware that, by degrees, he was making himself their slave.

Sylla experienced great difficulty in obtaining possession of Athens. Ariston, the Athenian governor, held the place until the inhabitants were reduced to a condition of indescribable distress. Their provisions being exhausted, they were obliged not only to eat the herbs and roots which grew wild about the citadel, but even to devour sodden leather, oil-bags, and skins of the most filthy and disgusting kind. The senators and priests went, in a body, to Ariston, to implore that he would enter into a treaty of capitulation with Sylla; but he ordered his soldiers to receive them with a shower of arrows. The cruelty and the impolicy of this conduct were soon shown. Sylla gave directions that the city should be stormed. The Roman soldiers scaled the walls, and, at mid night, entered it in a manner the most dreadful that can be imagined. They were permitted, without restraint, to plunder and destroy. With swords in their bands, they rushed along the streets; and there, and in the houses, they slew thousands of the inhabitants. After a while, however, partly by the entreaties of the survivors, partly by the intercession of honourable-minded men in his own army, and partly by his thirst for blood having been satiated, Sylla was induced to suspend the work of slaughter. I forgive (said he) the many, for the sake of the few; the living, for the sake of the illustrious dead.

During the siege of Athens, Archelaus, one of the generals of Mithridates, had advanced, through Thrace, with more than a hundred thousand men. Notwithstanding the approach of so powerful a force, Sylla was obliged to conduct his soldiers into the plains of Boeatia, for the purpose of their obtaining rest and refreshment. Many persons have considered this to have been a great military error, as he was thereby exposed to attack by the numerous cavalry of the enemy. But he had no alternative, than either to have his army destroyed by famine, or to risk the event of a disadvantageous battle.

Scarcely had the Romans entrenched and fortified their camp, when they were surrounded by a force at least seven times greater than their own. In the utmost consternation, they retired within their trenches; and it was in vain that Sylla endeavoured to rouse and animate them. An error, however, which, in many other instances besides this, has been the ruin of an army, was committed by the enemy. Despising a force so much inferior to their own, they were wholly negligent of discipline. For the purpose of obtaining plunder, they often dispersed themselves through the country, and sometimes to great distances, leaving but few men in the camp. Sylla was too experienced a general not to take every possible advantage of their neglect. Watching a favourable opportunity, he suddenly attacked, and with complete success, such of them as were left; and, in a subsequent battle, he routed the whole remainder, destroying all, except about ten thousand men, who fled and escaped.

Not long afterwards he defeated, near Orchomenos, an army still more numerous. In the onset of this battle, the Romans had been excessively terrified; and a considerable body of them had fled. But Sylla, with great presence of mind, leaped from his horse, seized one of the standards, and rushed through the midst of the fugitives towards the enemy, exclaiming: Here, Romans, is the bed of honour, in which I am to die. When you are asked where you betrayed your general, say it was at Orchomenos. This prompt address arrested their flight: Sylla drew off his troops, for a little while, reanimated their courage, and, in a subsequent attack, totally routed the enemy. After this battle he conveyed his forces into Asia Minor.

During his absence from Rome, his political opponents had used every exertion to undermine him in the estimation of the people. And information was now conveyed to him, that the consuls Cinna and Garbo had caused a great number of his friends to be slain; that his houses and villas had all been burnt; and that his wife and children had, with difficulty, escaped. The perplexity of Sylla, on receiving this intelligence, may be imagined. He knew not how team: he dreaded the consequences, to himself, of not immediately appearing in Rome; and yet he could not leave unfinished so important an object as the Mithridatic war. From this embarrassment, however, he was soon relieved by intelligence that Archelaus was inclined to enter into a treaty with him. A peace with Mithridates was, shortly afterwards, effected; and, when Sylla had completed the requisite arrangements in Asia, he sailed, with his whole fleet, from Ephesus to Athens, and thence to Italy.

Cinna and the elder Marius both died, and the chief opponents of Sylla now were the younger Marius, and the consuls, Cornelius Scipio and C. Junius Norbanus. Sylla had landed at Tarentum, a town in Calabria; and, as soon as his arrival in Italy had been made known, Marius and Norbanus marched against him, with a force of nearly two hundred thousand men, whilst his own troops were not more than forty thousand in number. Sylla, however, had the fullest confidence both in himself and his men. After having, in vain, made proposals of peace, to Norbanus, he attacked him in his camp, defeated him, and compelled him to seek for safety within the walls of Capua. This victory drew over to him, nearly all the nobility: and, partly by bribery, and partly by conflict in the fleld, he contrived to defeat, in succession, all the troops that were brought against him. It was accurately said of Sylla, that in him, his enemies had to contend both with a fox and a lion; but that the fox was the more formidable of the two.

In a subsequent battle, which was fought near Rome, and which was contended with greater obstinacy than any in which he had previously been engaged, he appears to have been exposed to great personal danger. He rode a white horse of uncommon fleetness and spirit; and two of the soldiers, in the ranks of his opponents, levelled their spears at him. One of the servants of Sylla, happening to be near him, and perceiving their intention, suddenly lashed his master's horse, and made him spring forward, so that the spears only grazed the animal's tail, and fell harmless to the ground. At one time the whole left wing of his army was routed, and Sylla was obliged to mix with the fugitives, in order to regain his camp. In this part of the battle he lost many of his friends; and great numbers of people, who had gone from Rome to witness the conflict, were trodden under foot and killed. At last, how ever, he succeeded in rallying his men, and obtained a decisive victory.

He now marched into the city; and, having collected together and secured his prisoners, several thousands in number, be assembled the senate in the temple of Bellona. During an harangue which he made to that body, on the state of the public affairs, his soldiers (as they had been commanded) rushed upon the prisoners and murdered them all. The screams of so great a number of persons, massacred in one place, were most terrific. The senators, overwhelmed with astonishment and dismay, enquired what had occasioned them; but Sylla, with great apparent indifference, bade them mind their own business, and not trouble themselves with what was going on: the noise they had heard only came from some malefactors, whom he had ordered to be punished.

It is impossible to form a correct judgment of the characters of men, until we know that they act without constraint. Some circumstances have been recorded of Sylla, which might have led us to suppose that he was not destitute of the sentiments of gratitude and moderation: but when these are examined, it will be found that, in every case, where they appear, he either stood in need of the assistance of his friends, or had reason to dread the power of his enemies. But, as soon as he had triumphed over all opposition, he gave full sway to his cruelty and in gratilude. His barbarity has not often been equalled. In the death of Marius the Romans believed that they were delivered from tyranny; but, in receiving Sylla, they found that they had only exchanged tyrants.

No sooner had Sylla re-established himself in the Roman government, than the city was kept in a state of incessant alarm, by his proscriptions and massacres. These were so long continued, that, at length, Caius Metellus, a young nobleman, ventured, in the senate, to ask him : Tell us, Sylla, when our calamities are to terminate? How far do you mean to proceed? and when may we hope you will cease? We do not ask of you to spare those whom you have already marked out for destruction; but we do ask for an exemption from anxiety, for those whom you have determined to save. Sylla merely replied that he did not yet know whom he should save. Then (answered Metellus) let us know who those are whom you intend to destroy. He said he would do so, and immediately named eighty persons. The public expressed great indignation at his conduct, notwithstanding which, two days afterwards he proscribed two hundred and twenty more, and, on the third day, an equal number. He then told the people, that he had now proscribed all whom he could recollect; and that such as he had forgotten, must be included in some future proscription.

With regard to the prescription, the invention of which has been attributed to Sylla, it is to be observed that the names of the individuals, marked out for destruction, were written on tablets or boards, and fixed up at the forum, with the offer of a reward to such persons as should apprehend or destroy them, and a denunciation of punishment to such as should canceal them. And the property of the person proscribed was forfeited. The number of person who perished under the proscriptions of Sylla, are said to have been four thousand seven hundred, of whom two thousand were senators and knights.

But the cruelties of Sylla did not cease with the prescription. At Praeneste, a city not far distant from Rome, he caused many of the inhabitants to be accused of disaffection to him; and, at first, executed them singly; but, finding that he had not leisure for such formalities, he had them collected together, about twelve thousand in number, and ordered them all, except one, to be put to death. The person thus excepted had formerly entertained Sylla at his house. But afflicted by his cruelties, he declared that he would not be indebted for his life to the destroyer of his country, and, voluntarily rushing among the crowd, suffered with the rest.

The Romans must have been a most degraded people, to have submitted to cruelties like these; but the unsettled state of their government, their want of unanimity, the ambition of the higher orders, and the power which had been gradually attained by the population, men ignorant of even the first principles of government, and who were liable to be led astray and to follow the dictates of any unprincipled leader who chose to court their favour :-the natural tendency of all this was to place the reins of government in the hands of some self-interested leader. And they were now in the hands of one whose power was without control.

The two consuls being dead, Sylla retired into the country for a few days, and then gave orders that it was requisite for the people to appoint a dictator; stating that, if they chose to lay this burden upon him, he would accept it for the good of the republic. He well knew that, after such an intimation, they would not dare to do otherwise than elect him. He was accordingly named dictator, although, before this time, no instance had occurred of a dictator having been created by the people. Besides, the administration of this office had hithertobeen limited to six months; but he was appointed to it for an unlimited time. All the powers of the most absolute monarchy being now, in fact, vested in him, he occasioned an act of amnesty, or indemnification, to be passed, for all that he had done. He obtained also a decree, by which he was formally invested with the power of life and death, of confiscating property, of building or demolishing cities; and of giving or taking away kingdoms at his pleasure.

The power thus conferred upon him, be exercised in so arbitrary and despotic a manner, that no one who possessed large estates could consider himself safe. And the revenues of whole cities and provinces were, in many instances, expended upon mimics, buffoons, dancers, and persons of the most abandoned and profligate character.

For the purpose, however, of recovering some degree of popularity, he made several laws which were beneficial to the state; and, at length, when he was satiated with blood, he decreed to himself the honour of a public triumph. This was rendered magnificent, by an extraordinary display of wealth, and of spoils obtained in Greece and Asia, and a long procession of captives. At the termination of his triumph, Sylla, in a set speech to the people, recited an account of his own actions, and concluded with an order that, for the future, he should be called Felix, or the fortunate. But Paterculus observes that he might more correctly have deserved this appellation, if he had ceased to live, on the day that he had completed his conquests.

In the six hundred and seventy-third year of the city, Sylla, though dictator, caused himself to be elected consul, in conjunction with Metellus Pius. At last, after he had ruled with absolute sway for nearly three years; had put an infinite number of persons to death, had violated the constitution, and had changed the whole form of government, he astonished the people by resigning his power, and leaving the forum as a private man. And he left it without any mark of detestation from the people, except from one young man, who followed him to some distance, using, against him, the most irritating and abusive language. Sylla, however, merely replied, This young man will prevent any one, here after, from voluntarily resigning so great a power as I have possessed. And his observation was verified by the conduct of Julius Caesar, who asserted that Sylla had indicated great weakness in having thus resigned his power.

If we could view the conduct of Sylla in a favour able light, we might, perhaps, say, that he had suffered himself to be intoxicated by success: that, having attained the highest pinnacle of human greatness, he had been mistaken in his notions both of security and of happiness; and that, consequently, he had made a bad use of his prosperity. But that reflection and experience, having convinced him of his error; and, finding that no one could be truly happy who endeavoured to make others miserable, he had returned to that station of life which was really most advantageous. And this notion might be partly confirmed by the moderation with which he conducted himself before the proscriptions and after his abdication. But, on the other hand, when we consider his vindictive spirit, his thirst of power, his avarice, his perfidy, and his wanton and deliberate cruelty, we must conclude that he abdicated, not from magnanimity, but from uneasiness and perturbation of mind.

It may, perhaps, have been in a hope to relieve his mind from the weight of misery with which it was loaded, that he resolved to consecrate to Hercules a tenth part of the property he had acquired. But no relief to a bad conscience could reasonably be expected from an act like this. The consecration of a small portion of substance, obtained by inces sant acts of injustice and oppression, can never have been acceptable to the deity. His mind was wholly unreformed.

On this occasion he made a sumptuous entertainment for the people; The whole population are said to have been invited; and the profusion was such, that, for many successive days, a great quantity of provisions was thrown into the river. A few months afterwards, he entertained them with an exhibition of gladiators; and, during this exhibition, a beautiful woman, named Valeria, who, but a few days before, had been divorced from her husband, made herself known to Sylla, and was afterwards married to him. The occurrence was a very remarkable one. The young lady, who is described to have been of unblemished reputation, placed herself near him, and, resting her hand gently upon his shoulder, took a little of the knap from off his robe, and then returned to her seat. Sylla was much surprised at the familiarity, and the lady told him, that it was not from disrespect she had done this, but because she was desirous to partake in his good fortune. He was pleased with the answer, and, having ascertained that she was respectably connected, married her.

Sylla, however, still continued to spend much of his time with persons of the most dissipated character; gave, to such persons, the most extravagant banquets; and often sate drinking, whole days, with actors, musicians, and buffoons. And, notwithstand the cruelty of his disposition, and the innume rable murders he had committed, he was suffered to live unmolested.

The horrible disease which terminated in his death, may, perhaps, be considered a divine visitation, for his almost unexampled wickedness. His dissipated life, (say the ancient writers,) occasioned such a corruption of his flesh, that his body became covered with vermin: persons were employed, both day and night, to cleanse him, but in vain. His clothing, his baths, his basins, and his food, were covered with them. He bathed many times a day, to cleanse himself, but to no purpose. The corruption increased so fast upon him, that it was found impossible, by any remedies, to overcome or even to check it.

Notwithstanding this wretched condition, an occurrence which took place a few days before his death, proved that he was resolved to continue his cruelty even to the last. The quaestor Granius had refused to pay a sum of money which he owed to the state. Sylla sent for him into his chamber, and had him strangled there. But the death of this man proved the more immediate cause of his own death; for, the violence with which he spoke, in giving the order, strained him so much, that he vomited a great quantity of blood and corrupted matter. He passed the night in extreme agony, and, on the ensuing morning, expired, at the age of sixty years.

His enemies were desirous to prevent his having the usual honour of a public funeral; but this was over-ruled by his friends; for, notwithstanding his detestable character, he had some adherents, who continued to show respect for him even after his death. He died at Cumae; but his body was conveyed to Rome upon a rich bier, and clad in a triumphal robe. It was preceded by four-and-twenty lictors carrying their fasces. The troops followed, with their eagles and colours; and a multitude of trumpets made the air resound with doleful notes. At Rome, the college of vestals, the high priests, the senate, the magistrates, the Roman knights, and an immense crowd of people, joined in the train, singing funeral hymns. The procession moved on to the forum, where an oration was pronounced over the body; and thence to the Campus Martius, where the funeral pile was erected. So great a quantity of spices were brought to be burned, that, besides a much as filled two hundred and ten large baskets, there were two full-length human figures, entirely formed of cinnamon and frankincense.

After the body was laid upon the funeral pile, a brisk wind arose, which fanned the flame, and occasioned it to be almost immediately consumed. A monument was erected to his memory, in the Campus Martius; and the epitaph is said to have been written by himself. It was as follows: No friend ever did me so much good, nor any enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with interest.

Sylla wrote a series of memoirs or commentaries his own life. These are mentioned by Plutarch, but they are not now extant.

The life and death of this extraordinary man; in affording a most impressive and instructive lesson. Though possessed of talents which might have claimed the admiration of the world, he so exceesively abused them, that, neither poverty in his youth, nor satiety in his latest years, could set any bounds to his licentiousness. To this, after the in numerable acts of cruelty which he committed to attain pre-eminence in the state, he is supposed to have, at last, wholly surrendered himself, in order to silence all remorse of conscience; and this is stated, by some writers, to have been the more immediate cause of the horrible disease which terminated his life.

Authorities-Plutarch, Sallust, Paterculua, and Appian.