Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a prominent figure in the late 8th century republic of Ancient Rome, rising to power through his strategic establishment of allies and his significant military accomplishments. As a member of the advantageous patrician class, Sulla rose to power via the hierarchical Roman political ladder (Cursus Honourum). Sulla was the dominant victor of the Italian social war in 91-88 BCE, conducted war against the Mithridates and successfully headed the first civil war in Roman history against Marius. Through his many victorious military accomplishments, he gained support from the Roman senate, was later elected consul and then transitioned into dictatorship. He became a renowned Ancient Roman dictator in 82 BC where he established …show more content…
Through this, Sulla hoped to limit individual progression through the political system, to thus re-establish the senate’s total power over Rome. Moreover, Sulla established a more effective judicial structure through establishing a new court system and defining the difference between criminal and civil law (Kamm, N.d) (The Roman Empire, n.d.) (Watkins, n.d.). “Sulla... reorganized the constitution to put power effectively back into the hands of the upper classes (Kamm, N.d).” Furthermore, Sulla also granted the senate power over criminal proceedings (The Roman Empire, n.d.). This shows that Sulla’s purpose was to give power to the senate, however as the senate was comprised of only patricians this excluded the plebeian social class from the Roman political system. Through these reforms, Sulla secured power for the upper-classes of Rome, leaving the lower classes poorly represented in the political structure. With the belief that he had re-secured the power of the republic, Sulla abdicated his dictatorship in 79 BCE (Watkins, n.d.). Yet Sulla’s reforms to the political and legal system in Rome led to negative impacts to the Roman public. Through these reforms Sulla believed he had create a secure government for Rome’s