Constitutional reforms of Sulla facts for kids

The constitutional reforms of Sulla were a set of new laws made by the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla between 82 and 80 BC. These laws completely changed the way the Roman Republic was run.

Before Sulla became dictator, Roman politics had become very violent. Rome had just fought the Social War against its Italian allies. Rome won, but only after giving the Italians what they wanted: Roman citizenship. After this war, there was even more trouble in Rome. Sulla led his army into Rome twice in ten years. He removed his opponents from power in a harsh way.

After Sulla's civil war and years of internal fighting, the Roman Republic was in chaos. Sulla tried to fix this by creating a "new republic." He wanted to give more power to government officials (called magistrates). He also wanted to make sure they followed the law. He set up new courts with a larger Senate to act as juries.

However, Sulla's new laws did not last long. Two of his former helpers, Pompey and Crassus, undid most of his changes less than ten years after Sulla died. It was hard to make officials follow the rules Sulla set. Also, Sulla's own actions, like marching his army on Rome, showed that a powerful general could ignore the rules. Romans also found it hard to accept laws made by someone who took power by force.

Background

A portrait of Sulla, on a coin from 54 BC. This coin was made by his grandson.

From 133 BC, Roman politics became more and more violent. People often used force against their political rivals. Just before Sulla became consul in 88 BC, Rome fought the bloody Social War. They fought against their Italian allies who wanted Roman citizenship. Rome won, but only after giving citizenship to the Italians.

In 88 BC, Sulla was a consul. He marched his army into Rome. He removed the plebeian tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus by force. Sulpicius had tried to take Sulla's military command away from him. Sulla was supposed to lead the army in the First Mithridatic War. Sulpicius did this to get support from Gaius Marius, who wanted the Italians to have full citizenship. After taking Rome, Sulla forced many politicians, including Marius, into exile. Then he left to fight Mithridates in the East.

While Sulla was away, he and his supporters lost control of Rome. Marius returned and became consul with Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Marius died soon after, but Cinna ruled Rome for four years. He killed his enemies and forced Sulla's family to flee. The usual Roman government had broken down after 88 BC. Sulla's civil war began when Sulla returned with his army. He fought against the government in Rome. Sulla wanted to create a new kind of republic. Even during the civil war, Sulla and others talked about changing the constitution. Sulla won the war. He then passed the lex Valeria. This law made him dictator. He was given the power to write laws and fix the republic.

Sulla's New Laws

Many newer studies say that Sulla's changes were not just about going back to old ways. Instead, he created a "new republic." His reforms looked like a return to old Roman customs, but many were not. Sulla was not trying to "turn back the clock" to any specific time in Roman history.

Sulla wanted a strict system of laws. These laws would be enforced by courts made up of senators. This was different from the traditional Roman Republic. The old republic relied on discussions in the Senate and debates among the people. It also used rituals to find agreement. Sulla's reforms were not a perfect plan. He made changes as needed to fix problems he saw in the state.

Senate and Assemblies

Sulla greatly increased the number of senators. Before the civil war, there were about 300 senators. Sulla increased this to as many as 600. New senators came from the equites (a wealthy class) and important families in Italian towns. Before Sulla's changes, there were very few senators left. For example, only five former consuls were alive and active in 82 BC.

Sulla also increased the number of quaestors elected each year from eight to twenty. Becoming a quaestor automatically made someone a senator. This meant many new senators would not hold higher offices. Their main job was to serve as jurors in the many new permanent jury courts.

There would be at least seven courts, each led by a praetor. These courts had large juries to make it harder for people to offer bribes. In the past, these juries were made up of equestrians. But Sulla made sure they were chosen from the senatorial class.

Sulla's changes created two groups within the Senate. There was an inner circle of powerful leaders. Then there were many others who spent their time as jurors. Leading senators who held high offices had to stay in Rome. They could not command troops abroad during their year in office. This made Senate debates more formal. It also meant consuls could often disagree. The role of praetor also changed. Praetors were in charge of courts during their time in office. Then they were sent to govern a province right away. In the past, censors chose senators based on their achievements or good character. Sulla's Senate was mostly made up of his supporters and those who won quaestorship elections.

Sulla's reforms also changed how the main voting assembly, the comitia centuriata, worked. More voting groups were set aside for rich citizens. According to Appian, Sulla also required that all new laws had to be approved by the Senate first. Then they had to be voted on by the centuries, not the tribes. However, this rule about the centuries did not last long. Sulla himself brought a law before the tribes. Sulla focused on taking away the tribunes' power to suggest new laws. He allowed higher officials (curule magistrates) to bring laws before the tribes. Before Sulla, tribunes usually suggested most laws. After Sulla, consuls and praetors often introduced bills to the people.

Magistracies

Sulla made the traditional order of holding offices (called the cursus honorum) a legal requirement. For example, to become consul, one had to have been a praetor first. He also required a ten-year break before being re-elected to the same office. There were also minimum ages for various offices.

Among his other changes, Sulla greatly reduced the power of the plebeian tribunes. He made it a job with little power and no future. Tribunes could no longer stop public business with their veto. They also lost the power to suggest new laws. Anyone elected as a tribune could not hold any other elected office in the future. Their only power was to protect citizens from unfair actions by officials.

These changes to the magistracies had a big impact. Citizens no longer had tribunes calling meetings, giving political speeches, or voting on tribune-suggested laws. The process of electing officials did not change much. Politicians still campaigned before the people. The people still had the power to make laws. But they were now mostly called upon to approve laws that the Senate had already agreed to. These laws were suggested by the highest officials.

Limits were also placed on governors in the field. Instead of being sent to fight a war, governors had to go to a specific province. They had to stay there and follow the Senate's instructions until they were replaced. The punishments for breaking these rules were very strict.

Other Reforms

In religion, Sulla canceled a law from 104 BC that let the people elect priests. He brought back the older system where priests chose new priests themselves. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline hill had burned down in 83 BC. It was rebuilt and named after a close friend of Sulla's, Quintus Lutatius Catulus.

Sulla also stopped the government's free grain handouts and food price controls in the city. As dictator, he also expanded Rome's sacred city boundary, the pomerium.

What Happened to Sulla's Laws?

Sulla gave up his dictatorship at the end of 81 BC. He then became consul for 80 BC. He saw his dictatorship as a special job to set up a proper government. He imagined himself as a lawgiver. He became a normal consul in the first year of his "new republic." After his consulship, he retired and died in 78 BC. His funeral was held in Rome at public expense. One of the consuls at the time, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, was not happy about this.

Changes to Tribunes and Courts

Sulla's republic did not last. His new laws were too different and too new for Rome after he died. The idea of senatorial juries holding officials accountable was weakened by Sulla's own actions. He had marched on Rome and was not held accountable himself. In the year he died, people were already trying to undo Sulla's limits on the popular tribunes. This included Sulla's changes to grain handouts. Consul Lepidus passed a law to bring back or expand the grain dole. Later that year, Lepidus raised an army against the Senate and his fellow consul. This was because they blocked his political changes. Sulla had required consuls to manage affairs in the city. But within two years, disagreements between consuls started another civil war.

A few years later, in 75 BC, one of the consuls, Gaius Aurelius Cotta, removed the rule that tribunes could not hold future office. The people were very happy about this. Sulla's removal of the grain dole also caused problems in Rome. Consuls were attacked over the price of grain. The next year, Lucius Quinctius, a tribune, pushed for tribunes to get their rights back. Sulla's grain dole reforms were further changed in 73 BC. Consuls passed a law to buy more grain from Sicily. People kept pushing for tribunes' rights.

Just eight years after Sulla's death, his former helpers, Pompey and Crassus, became consuls in 70 BC. They gave the plebeian tribunes back their old powers. They also brought back elections for the censorship. The power to make laws was quickly taken back. A law was passed that same year, forgiving supporters of Lepidus' revolt from 78 BC.

However, the consulship of Pompey and Crassus in 70 BC was not a full attack on Sulla's legacy. Some parts of his reforms remained. For example, priests were still chosen by other priests until 63 BC. The consuls did not actively support changing the makeup of the permanent court juries. The increased number of officials also stayed. Sulla's laws on treason remained. His laws that took away civil rights from the families of those he had punished also stayed. These rights were only given back under Caesar's rule in 49 BC.

Major reasons why the republic failed before Sulla were political violence and the Roman leaders' inability to handle outside threats. The civil war itself did not end when Sulla became consul in 80 BC. Some groups continued to fight against Sulla's government in Spain and Italy. With the Third Servile War against Spartacus' slave revolt and the threat from Mithridates (whom Sulla had not fully defeated), it was clear the "new republic" was failing. These problems were made worse by political unrest during consular elections every year between 66 and 62 BC. There was also more corruption because Sulla had weakened the old ways of overseeing officials and governors.

Longer Term Effects

Sulla's changes also had lasting effects. They permanently changed the Senate. The Senate became much larger, with about 600 members, thanks to the twenty quaestors added each year. The way the Senate was set up under Sulla also made it hard for his court system to work.

The Senate had two groups that often switched roles. One group watched over the actions of government officials through the courts. The other group acted as officials themselves. This system could only work if the two groups stayed separate. But people constantly moved between being a juror and being an official.

The larger Senate after Sulla's reforms, along with more officials with military power in the city, made the Senate less effective. It became hard to influence and unpredictable. Also, its larger size:

prevented the senate from being a place for serious political debate. An increase in the membership also fatally undermined the prestige of a body that had until then been far more exclusive. [Sulla's plan was one] in which centre stage is taken up by elected, imperium-holding magistrates, who are in turn bound to the respect of a set of laws. Far from being the champion of senatorial auctoritas [influence], Sulla took decisive steps for [its] political marginalization[.]

Sulla stopped the regular election of censors and the counting of citizens they did. This also lasted a long time. After the census in 70 BC (done by Pompey and Crassus), the next full census did not happen until 28 BC. That one was done by Augustus and Marcus Agrippa when Augustus was setting up his one-man rule.

See also

• Constitution of the Roman Republic
• Sulla's civil war