The end of the Roman Republic is often imagined as Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon and marching on Rome in 49 BCE, however another ambitious Roman statesman and general achieved the same feat, establishing himself as dictator of Rome over thirty years earlier. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, more commonly known as Sulla, was born into a patrician family in 138 BCE. He began his political career in 108 BCE by running for quaestorship, a position overseeing the state treasury. Sulla’s political standing quickly grew due to his military successes in the Jugurthine War, where he helped to capture the enemy king, Jugurtha, in the Cimbrian War, where he subdued invading Germanic tribes, and in the Social War, where he besieged Pompeii. These great victories allowed him to become consul, the most powerful position in the Roman Republic, in 88 BCE.

Amidst his rapid military and political success, tension between Sulla and two prominent politicians, Marius and Sculpius, began to form. Sculpius proposed a bill to distribute new Italian citizens into tribes for voting. Sulla opposed this bill, causing Sculpius to seek Marius’ support. Sculpius then passed his bill through urban violence in Rome, using his armed bodyguards to force Sulla to flee. Sculpius additionally attempted to transfer the lucrative command of the Mithridatic War from Sulla to Marius. Angered by Sculpius and Marius’ alliance, Sulla marched on Rome with his soldiers to free the city from tyrants, exiling Marius, Marius’ son, and Sculpius. This illegal and violent march on Rome terrified the Senate, mainly due to Sulla’s soldiers’ loyalty to him rather than the Republic. Rome was also fearful of additional violence within the walls of the city.

These fears came true as Marius returned to Rome with his soldiers, who rampaged through the streets, murdering hundreds while Sulla was away at war. Marius’ death in 86 BCE and Sulla’s victory over the Mithridates triggered a Civil War in Rome, lasting until 82 BCE when Sulla gained complete control of Rome again. During his reign, Sulla executed thousands of his enemies. Sulla then appointed himself dictator over Rome in 82 BCE and ruled until 78 BCE, when he retired just before his death.

Sulla’s violence and control of Rome permanently fractured the Republic. His bloody marches on Rome to secure total control of the republic set the precedent for its destruction. Just as Sulla raised an army of soldiers loyal only to himself to establish complete control of Rome, Julius Caesar, who had seen Sulla’s rise to power, followed in his footsteps and declared himself dictator for life. Caesar’s rise to power and the events that followed destroyed the republic in Rome that had thrived for centuries, beginning the era of the empire.