Rome after Sulla. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
Rome after Sulla offers a new perspective on the damaged, volatile, and conflictual political culture of the late Roman republic. The book begins with a narrative of the years immediately following the dictatorship of Sulla (80-77 BC), providing both a new reconstruction of events and original analysis of key sources including Cicero’s pro Roscio, Appian, the Livian tradition, and Sallust’s Historiae. Arguing that Sulla’s settlement was never stable, Rome after Sulla emphasises the uncertainty and fear felt by contemporaries and the problems caused in Rome by consciousness of the injustices of the Sullan settlement and its lack of moral legitimacy.
It argues that the events and the unresolved traumas of the first civil war of the Roman republic triggered profound changes in Roman political culture, to which Sallust’s magnum opus, his now-fragmentary Historiae, is our best guide. An in-depth exploration of a new, more Sallust-centred vision of the late republic contributes to the historical picture not only of the legacy of Sulla, but also of Caesar and of Rome’s move from republic to autocratic rule. Rome after Sulla studies a society grappling with a question broader than its own times: what is the price of stability?
Reviews
“In Rome after Sulla, J. Alison Rosenblitt explores the years immediately following Sulla’s dictatorship, especially the years 80-77 BC and the insurrection of M. Aemilius Lepidus (cos. 78 BC) ... [this book] makes a strong argument that Sulla’s bloody dictatorship did not bring a period of stability to Rome, but instead left the Republic traumatized, divided, and ready to begin its slow descent into collapse. The book is well written and argued, and will surely be of interest to anyone interested in the late Republic.” – Fred K. Drogula, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
“... this volume makes an important contribution to the study of several pivotal late republican texts, and R.’s success in re-centring Sallust and the years 80-77 in reconstructions of Sulla’s legacy is welcome.” – Carolyn Tobin, Journal of Roman Studies
“…es besteht kein Zweifel, dass wir der Autorin einen innovativen und gut argumentierten Beitrag zum Verständnis der römischen Republik in ihrer Krisenzeit verdanken. Die Forschung wird sich mit den von ihr eröffneten Perspektiven intensiv auseinander zusetzen haben.“ – Herbert Heftner, Historische Zeitschrift
“… [a] fine, instructive and important study” – Alexander Yakobson, Scripta Classica Israelica
“R. is certainly right in that the Sullan ‘settlement’ was inherently unstable… This was a profound cultural change, and one that in turn helps us better understand how later on the Republic fell away so rapidly: politically, constitutionally, morally it was already hollowed out.” – Sir Michael Fallon, Classics for All
“This is a book that is unafraid to ask difficult questions of the late Republic, and to provide often nuanced explorations of the important moments and sources that shape our understanding of this period.” – Anthony Smart, Classical World
“…the book is extremely interesting and its methodology is sound. It covers a period with relatively little scholarship and has a right focus on Sallust, an author generally somehow not fully explored in studies regarding this period. It is recommended reading for all scholars dealing with the history of late Roman Republic.” – Dario Nappo, Classical Journal online