Lucius Cornelius Sisenna facts for kids

Lucius Cornelius Sisenna (born around 120 BC, died 67 BC) was a Roman soldier and a historian. He wrote about events year by year, which is why he is called an annalist. He held an important government job called praetor in 78 BC.

Life of Sisenna

We don't know much about Sisenna's early life or his family. His family, the Cornelii Sisennae, were likely not related to the very old and famous Roman families called gens Cornelia. Some historians think his family might have come from a region in Italy called Etruria.

Sisenna probably supported Sulla, a powerful Roman general, during the civil wars in the 80s BC. These were wars fought between different groups of Romans. Sisenna was friends with important people who worked with Sulla, like Lucullus. It seems Sisenna showed a lot of favor to Sulla in his writings.

Soon after Sulla became a dictator (a ruler with total power), Sisenna was elected as a praetor for 78 BC. A praetor was a high-ranking Roman official, like a judge or a governor. This suggests that Sisenna gained political advantages because Sulla won the war.

After being a praetor, Sisenna might have governed Sicily in 77 BC, but we are not completely sure. Later, he became a legate for Pompey's military mission to fight pirates. A legate was an officer in the Roman army, often a general's assistant. Sisenna was killed while fighting on the island of Crete in 67 BC.

Sisenna's Histories

Sisenna is best known for a book he wrote called Histories. This book is now lost, meaning it doesn't exist anymore, except for a few small parts. These parts were mostly saved by a scholar named Nonius Marcellus who lived much later.

Sisenna's Histories likely had at least 12 books, and maybe as many as 23. It covered important events from about 90 BC to 78 BC. This included the Social War, which was a conflict between Rome and its Italian allies. It also covered Sulla's civil wars in the 80s BC. Another famous Roman historian, Sallust, started his own Histories in 78 BC. It seems Sallust's work was meant to continue Sisenna's story.

Sisenna's book was very popular in ancient times. It became a very important source of information for the period of the 80s BC. Many famous Roman writers, like Cicero, Sallust, Tacitus, and Velleius Paterculus, mentioned Sisenna's work. Other historians like Livy, Appian, and Cassius Dio probably used his book a lot too.

Even though his book was widely read, we don't have many direct opinions about Sisenna's writing style. Cicero said that Sisenna was a very smart man who loved his studies. Cicero also claimed that Sisenna's history was much better than all the ones written before it. Sallust also praised Sisenna, calling his description of Sulla's life "the best and most carefully written." However, Sallust also pointed out that Sisenna was too biased towards Sulla.

Cicero also mentioned that Sisenna liked to use unusual and old-fashioned words. He tried to "improve ordinary speech" and kept using "strange and unheard-of words."