![ROMAN REPUBLIC. L. Cornelius Sulla Felix, Denarius, 84-3 BC [ARR-71] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ARR-71-1.jpg)
Description
Roman Republic, Lūcius Cornēlius L.f. P.n. Sulla Fēlīx (Sulla) of gens Cornēlī Sullae, Roman Statesman and Military General, Silver Denarius (3.76g, 18mm), Military Mint moving with Sulla 84-83 BC. Obverse: Diademed head of Venus facing to the right, vis-à-vis with the figure of Cupid holding palm frond aloft, “L· SVLL[A]” below. Rev. Capis and lituus central flanked by trophies of arms left and right, “IMPER” above, “ITERV” below. Crawford 359/2; Sydenham 761a. A nice example of a numismatic issue of Sulla, the dictator that set the standard for the march on Rome and dictatorship of Julius Caesar, a few light marks, well centred with all devices clear, near Very Fine, scarce.
Lūcius Cornēlius ‘Lūcī fīlius’ ‘Pūblius nepōs’ Sulla Fēlīx (Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, son of Lucius, grandson of Publius) was born in 138 BC a member of one of the greatest houses of Ancient Rome, gens Cornēlia, more specifically the major Patrician family branch of gens Cornēlī Sullae. He was the son of Lūcius Cornēlius Sulla and the grandson of Pūblius Cornēlius Sulla, praetor in 186 BC, and, despite being born into a powerful family, had a disadvantaged upbringing as the family had fallen to an impoverished condition at the time of his birth. Without elaborating on such an extensive figure in history, Sulla advanced the ‘cursus honōrum’ (“political ladder”), becoming a noteworthy statesman and military general – his early career saw service under the multiple-year consul Gāius Marius during the Jugurthine Wars 107-106 BC and Cimbrian Wars 104-101 BC, as well as serving as Legate under consul Lūcius Porcius Cato during the Social War 91-87 BC. In 88 BC Sulla was honoured with his first term as consul and was given command of the campaigns against the hostile Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontos, but was met with political opposition by one of the plebeian tribunes, Pūblius Sulpicius Rūfus, as well as Gāius Marius. These events eventuated in Sulla’s first march on Rome in 88 BC where he summoned the Senate to outlaw Marius, Marius’ son, Sulpicius, and nine others – these actions were somewhat inconsequential as after leaving to return his eastern campaign, political turmoil continued in his absence, spearheaded by Marius and Lūcius Cornēlius Cinna. The wars with the Kingdom of Pontus concluded with the Roman victory and Sulla returned to combat the Cinna-Marius faction with his Mithridatic veteran legions and the plunders of Asia – a civil war now known as ‘Sulla’s Civil War’. Following his overall victory after the Battle of the Colline Gate, Sulla instituted a proscription (a program of executing and confiscating the property of those whom he perceived as enemies of the state), to which, as described by Plutarch, “Sulla now began to make blood flow, and he filled the city with deaths without number or limit”. In 82 BC, he was given the title ‘dictātor lēgibus faciendīs et reīpūblicae cōnstituendae causa’ (“dictator for the making of laws and for the settling of the constitution”), a power used to institute political reforms.
The actions of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix are generally seen as the precedent for Gāius Iūlius C.f. C.n. Caesar’s march on Rome in 49 BC and his successive dictatorships between 49 and 44 BC – Sulla’s example proved that, with the military power, it could be done, inspiring others to do so.
