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88-476: During the civil war between the government and the outlaw Sulla (83–82 BC), Verres had been a junior officer in a Marian legion under Gaius Papirius Carbo . He saw the tides of the war shifting to Sulla, and so, Cicero alleged, went over to Sulla's lines bearing his legion's paychest. Afterwards, he was protected to a degree by Sulla, and allowed to indulge a skill for gubernatorial extortion in Cilicia under

176-460: A dictatorship is often associated with brutality and oppression. As a result, it is often also used as a term of abuse against political opponents. The term has also come to be associated with megalomania . Many dictators create a cult of personality around themselves and they have also come to grant themselves increasingly grandiloquent titles and honours. For instance, Idi Amin Dada , who had been

264-457: A quaestor , and in doing so made contacts with a number of Sicilian towns. In fact a large amount of his clientele at the time came from Sicily, a link that would prove invaluable in 70 BC, when a deputation of Sicilians asked Cicero to level a prosecution against Verres for his alleged crimes on the island. The first speech was the only one to be delivered in front of the praetor urbanus Manius Acilius Glabrio . In it, Cicero took advantage of

352-412: A state of emergency ; rule by decree ; repression of political opponents ; not abiding by the procedures of the rule of law ; and the existence of a cult of personality centered on the leader. Dictatorships are often one-party or dominant-party states. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in different kinds of regimes, such as one-party or dominant-party states and civilian governments under

440-462: A transition to genuine democracy during or after their term. The label has been applied to leaders such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey (1923–38), Josip Broz Tito of SFR Yugoslavia (1953–80), and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore (1959–90). The association between a dictator and the military is a common one. Many dictators take great pains to emphasize their connections with the military and they often wear military uniforms. In some cases, this

528-699: A British army lieutenant prior to Uganda 's independence from Britain in October 1962, subsequently styled himself " His Excellency , President for Life , Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO , MC , Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular ". In the movie The Great Dictator (1940), Charlie Chaplin satirized not only Adolf Hitler but

616-462: A bribe from the city of Messana to release them from their duty of providing a ship for the Roman fleet and that he fraudulently discharged men from fleet service, did not mark them down as discharged, and pocketed their active duty pay. Pirates that were captured were sometimes sold under the table by Verres as slaves, rather than being executed, as Cicero argues was the proper punishment. To camouflage

704-489: A certain age and level of experience before running for any particular office. Sulla also wanted to reduce the risk that a future general might attempt to seize power, as he himself had done. To this end he reaffirmed the requirement that any individual wait for ten years before being re-elected to any office. Sulla then established a system where all consuls and praetors served in Rome during their year in office, and then commanded

792-503: A friend and ally of Verres, would be in charge of the extortion court in the new year, and so saw a benefit to such a gaming of the system. In addition, Hortensius himself, along with Quintus Metellus , Marcus's older brother, had been elected consuls for the same year, and would thus be in prime position to intimidate the witnesses when the case resumed after the expected lull. As such, Verres and his supporters were supremely confident of victory. Indeed, Cicero remarked that, immediately after

880-506: A general collapse and Marius army scattered in rout. Marius lost 28,000 men (killed, captured, turned coat or fled) while Sulla claimed to have only lost 23 men. Marius survived the Battle of Sacriportus and retreated with 7,000 men to Praeneste . The first to arrive were lucky and could enter through the gates, but as the Sullan forces got closer the terrified townspeople of Praeneste shut

968-573: A longer history for political-military figures in both Latin America and Spain. Franco also used the phrase " By the Grace of God " on coinage or other material displaying him as Caudillo , whereas Hitler and Mussolini rarely used such language or imagery. Over time, dictators have been known to use tactics that violate human rights. For example, under the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, government policy

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1056-553: A man called Albinovanus, hatched a plan with the Sullans to assassinate Norbanus and his senior officers (to show his good faith). At a feast Albinovanus had organized Norbanus' officers were murdered. Norbanus was unable to attend the feast and survived. After the assassination and the Lucanians defection, Ariminum went over to Sulla as well. Norbanus abandoned his army and fled from Italy. Meanwhile, Sulla and his army had arrived at

1144-483: A manner that the historian Suetonius thought arrogant, Julius Caesar would later mock Sulla for resigning the dictatorship. Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power . A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity . The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency . Like

1232-666: A personal rule, have been described as dictators. The word dictator comes from the Latin word dictātor , agent noun from dictare (say repeatedly, assert, order). A dictator was a Roman magistrate given sole power for a limited duration. Originally an emergency legal appointment in the Roman Republic and the Etruscan culture , the term dictator did not have the negative meaning it has now. It started to get its modern negative meaning with Cornelius Sulla 's ascension to

1320-476: A population of 7 million) during his four-year dictatorship. As a result, Pol Pot is sometimes described as "the Hitler of Cambodia" and "a genocidal tyrant". Because of its negative and pejorative connotations, modern authoritarian leaders very rarely (if ever) use the term dictator in their formal titles, instead they most often simply have title of president . In the 19th century, however, its official usage

1408-485: A promise that they would never again fight against him or rejoin Carbo. However, Scipio broke his promise immediately after their release and went straight to Carbo in Rome. Sulla then defeated Norbanus for a second time. Norbanus, however, escaped back to Rome and had Metellus Pius and all other senators marching with Sulla declared enemies of the state. In Rome the elections for the consulship of 82 were held; Gaius Marius

1496-418: A proscribed person was punishable by death, while killing a proscribed person was rewarded. Family members of the proscribed were not excluded from punishment, and slaves were not excluded from rewards. As a result, "husbands were butchered in the arms of their wives, sons in the arms of their mothers". The majority of the proscribed had not been enemies of Sulla, but instead were killed for their property, which

1584-408: A provincial army as a governor for the year after they left office. Finally, in a demonstration of his absolute power, Sulla expanded the " Pomerium ", the sacred boundary of Rome, unchanged since the time of the kings. Sulla's reforms both looked to the past (often re-passing former laws) and regulated for the future, particularly in his redefinition of majestas (treason) laws and in his reform of

1672-583: A response to similar killings which Marius and Cinna had implemented while they controlled the Republic during Sulla's absence. Proscribing or outlawing every one of those whom he perceived to have acted against the best interests of the Republic while he was in the East, Sulla ordered some 1,500 nobles ( i.e., senators and equites ) executed, although it is estimated that as many as 9,000 people were killed. The purge went on for several months. Helping or sheltering

1760-414: A result of this war, Sulla was installed as dictator of Rome , but many Italian towns and cities were heavily damaged: for instance, Sullan forces inflicted extensive damage upon Forlì ( Forum Livii ), which had allied with Marius. The reconstruction took decades. In total control of Rome and Italy, Sulla instituted a series of proscriptions (a program of executing those whom he perceived as enemies of

1848-476: A similar title, "El Caudillo " ("the Head", 'the chieftain') and for Stalin his adopted name, meaning "Man of Steel", became synonymous with his role as the absolute leader. For Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco, the use of modest, non-traditional titles displayed their absolute power even stronger as they did not need any, not even a historic legitimacy either. However, in the case of Franco, the title "Caudillo" did have

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1936-405: A very hard-fought and drawn-out battle, emerged victorious. It was afterwards estimated that ca. 50,000 men lost their lives on the battlefield that day. Damasippus, Carrinas and Censorinus were brought to Sulla the following day and executed. Their heads and those of Lamponius and Telesinus were displayed to Marius at Praeneste. Sulla subsequently entered Rome as a saviour (he had saved Rome from

2024-606: Is perfectly legitimate; for instance, Francisco Franco was a general in the Spanish Army before he became Chief of State of Spain, and Manuel Noriega was officially commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces . In other cases, the association is mere pretense. Some dictators have been masters of crowd manipulation , such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Others were more prosaic speakers, such as Joseph Stalin and Francisco Franco . Typically,

2112-567: The Lex Aurelia iudiciaria passed and take the juries away from the Senate was to acquit Verres on all charges. Further, to counteract Hortensius' attempts to draw the trial out, Cicero begged the court's indulgence to allow him to alter the trial's flow from the usual format. In normal trials, both prosecution and defense would make a series of adversarial speeches before witnesses were called. Cicero realized that this would inevitably drag out

2200-577: The Expedition of the Thousand in 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi officially assumed the title of "dictator" (see Dictatorship of Garibaldi ). Shortly afterwards, during the 1863 January uprising in Poland, "Dictator" was also the official title of four leaders, the first being Ludwik Mierosławski . Past that time, however, the term dictator assumed an invariably negative connotation. In popular usage,

2288-608: The Gracchian popularis reforms, was an optimate; though his coming to the side of the traditional Senate originally could be described as more reactionary when dealing with the Tribunate and legislative bodies, while more visionary when reforming the court system, governorships and membership of the Senate. As such, he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and thus the Senate. Sulla retained his earlier reforms, which required senatorial approval before any bill could be submitted to

2376-800: The Marsi and Pompey to raise further legions in Picenum, also recruiting soldiers from Calabria and Apulia . As the campaigning season opened, Sulla advanced along the Via Latina towards the capital and Metellus supported by Pompey led Sullan forces into northern Italy. Carbo threw himself against Metellus whilst the young Marius defended the city of Rome itself. Marius the Younger marched his army south-east into Campania and met Sulla's forces at Sacriportus (near Signia). After an initial engagement Sulla decided to pitch camp. While Sulla's men were preparing

2464-847: The People's Republic of China during China's Cultural Revolution , where Mao set out to purge dissidents, primarily through the use of youth groups strongly committed to his cult of personality , and during Augusto Pinochet 's junta in Chile . Some dictators have been associated with genocide on certain races or groups; the most notable and wide-reaching example is the Holocaust , Adolf Hitler 's genocide of eleven million people, of whom six million were Jews. Later on in Democratic Kampuchea , General Secretary Pol Pot and his policies killed an estimated 1.7 million people (out of

2552-542: The Plebeian Council (the principal popular assembly), and which had also restored the older, more aristocratic "Servian" organization to the Centuriate Assembly (assembly of soldiers). Sulla, himself a patrician and thus ineligible for election to the office of Plebeian Tribune , thoroughly disliked the office. As Sulla viewed the office, the Tribunate was especially dangerous and his intention

2640-604: The Marian forces, made his way to join Sulla. When Pompey met Sulla, he addressed him as Imperator . Publius Cornelius Cethegus , a firm supporter of Marius, now also joined the Sullan cause. To check his enemies' unresisted advance, Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (consul 85 BC) sent his newly elected puppet consuls, Gaius Norbanus and Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus , both with armies, against Sulla. When Sulla arrived in Campania he found

2728-574: The Samnites, Rome's ancient enemy). A meeting of the Senate was convened in the Temple of Bellona ; as Sulla was addressing the senators, the sound of terrified screams drifted in from the Campus Martius . Sulla calmed the senators by attributing the screams to 'some criminals that are receiving correction.' In reality, what the Senate had heard was the sound of 8,000 prisoners who had surrendered

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2816-454: The Senate. Near the end of 81 BC, Sulla, true to his traditionalist sentiments, resigned his dictatorship, disbanded his legions and re-established normal consular government. He stood for office (with Metellus Pius ) and won election as consul for the following year, 80 BC. He dismissed his lictors and walked unguarded in the Forum, offering to give account of his actions to any citizen. In

2904-495: The Sullan siege. Unfortunately for them, Sulla and his army put themselves in their path in a very defensible position. Damasippus, Censorinus and Carrinas then joined their men with the Samnites and Lucanians and together they decided to march on Rome. When Sulla found out he immediately pursued them. Outside the walls of Rome, the last decisive battle of the civil war, the Battle of the Colline Gate , took place; Sulla, after

2992-408: The Younger (the son of the great Gaius Marius) and Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (re-elected for the second time) were elected. At the end of the campaigning season of 83 BC, Marcus Lucullus , one of Sulla's legates, defeated a numerically superior force (50 cohorts to his 16) at Fidentia . The new consuls for the year 82 BC were Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, for his third term, and Gaius Marius the Younger, who

3080-645: The accused's position in the Senate. This gave Cicero's career a boost, in a large part because this allowed him a freedom to speak not usually granted to a newly enrolled member of the Senate. Sulla%27s civil war Sulla's civil war was fought between the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla and his opponents, the Cinna-Marius faction (usually called the Marians or the Cinnans after their former leaders Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna ), in

3168-488: The almost unconditional freedom to speak in court to demolish Verres' case. Cicero touched very little on Verres' extortion crimes in Sicily in the first speech. Instead, he took a two-pronged approach, by both inflating the vanity of the all- senator jury and making the most of Verres' early character. The second prong concerned Verres' defence's attempts to keep the case from proceeding on technicalities. Verres had secured

3256-479: The appearance of "bought" justice, particularly when Senators were the accused, or the interests of a popular or powerful Senator were threatened. There had also been, concurrent with this, an almost perpetual scandal of wealthy senators and knights bribing juries to gain verdicts favorable to them. By 70, as the trial against Verres was proceeding, Lucius Aurelius Cotta had introduced a law that would reverse Sulla's restrictions on jury composition, once again opening

3344-411: The camp (digging a ditch, throwing up earthworks) Marius suddenly attacked. Sulla's veterans simply stuck their pila into the ground to create a makeshift barricade and drew their swords. When they had organized their battle lines the Sullans counter-attacked. Marius' force were put on the defensive, their left began to waver and five cohorts of foot soldiers and two of horse deserted to Sulla. This cause

3432-592: The city. Damasippus called a meeting of the Senate and there, in the Curia itself, the marked men were cut down by assassins. Some, such as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus were killed on the senate steps as they tried to flee, and the Pontifex Maximus , chief priest of Rome, Quintus Mucius Scaevola was murdered in the Temple of Vesta ; the bodies of the murdered were then thrown into the Tiber . Meanwhile in

3520-458: The city. He was saved through the efforts of his relatives, many of whom were Sulla's supporters, but Sulla noted in his memoirs that he regretted sparing Caesar's life, because of the young man's notorious ambition. The historian Suetonius records that when agreeing to spare Caesar, Sulla warned those who were pleading his case that he would become a danger to them in the future, saying: "In this Caesar there are many Mariuses." Sulla, who opposed

3608-444: The consul Norbanus blocking the road to Capua . Eager not to appear a war-hungry invader, Sulla sent deputations to Norbanus offering to negotiate, but these were rejected. Norbanus then moved to block Sulla's advance at Canusium and became the first to engage him in the Battle of Mount Tifata . Here Sulla inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marians, with Norbanus losing six thousand of his men to Sulla's seventy. Norbanus withdrew with

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3696-518: The dictator's people seize control of all media, censor or destroy the opposition, and give strong doses of propaganda daily, often built around a cult of personality . Mussolini and Hitler used similar, modest titles referring to them as "the Leader". Mussolini used "Il Duce " and Hitler was generally referred to as "der Führer ", both meaning 'Leader' in Italian and German respectively. Franco used

3784-491: The dictatorship following Sulla's civil war , making himself the first Dictator in Rome in more than a century (during which the office was ostensibly abolished) as well as de facto eliminating the time limit and need of senatorial acclamation. He avoided a major constitutional crisis by resigning the office after about one year, dying a few years later. Julius Caesar followed Sulla's example in 49 BC and in February 44 BC

3872-524: The docket, to take place before Verres' trial, one concerning a governor of Bithynia for extortion. The point of the attempted derailment of the case hinged on Roman custom. At the time the case was being argued, the year was coming to a close and soon a number of public festivals (including one in honor of Pompey the Great ) would commence. All work ceased on festival days, according to Roman customs, including any ongoing trials. Cicero alleged that Hortensius

3960-549: The election of Hortensius and Metellus, one of his friends had heard the former consul Gaius Scribonius Curio publicly congratulate Verres, declaring that he was now as good as acquitted. Cicero, too, had a unique strategy in mind for his prosecution. In 81 BC, the Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix had changed the composition of criminal courts, allowing only Senators to serve as jurymen. This had, apparently, caused friction and at least

4048-507: The fact that this was going on, Cicero further accuses Verres of administratively shuffling around the pirates to cities that had no knowledge of them and substituting others in their place on the execution block. Moreover, Cicero alleges that Verres placed a crony of his, Cleomenes by name, as commander of a fleet expedition to destroy a group of pirates in the area (the reason being, Cicero argues, to keep him out of reach as Verres cuckolded him) and that Cleomenes, due to incompetence, allowed

4136-408: The gates. Marius himself had to be hoisted in on a rope, while hundreds of Marians trapped between the walls and the Sullans were massacred. Sulla then left his lieutenant Lucretius Afella besieging Praeneste and moved on the now-undefended Rome. Upon his defeat Marius sent word to the praetor Lucius Junius Brutus Damasippus in Rome, to kill any remaining Sullan sympathisers left before Sulla could take

4224-556: The institution of dictatorship itself. A benevolent dictatorship refers to a government in which an authoritarian leader exercises absolute political power over the state but is perceived to do so with regard for the benefit of the population as a whole, standing in contrast to the decidedly malevolent stereotype of a dictator. A benevolent dictator may allow for some civil liberties or democratic decision-making to exist, such as through public referendums or elected representatives with limited power, and often makes preparations for

4312-610: The island for the Sullan cause. Marcus Lucullus, bottled up in Placentia , was able to break the siege. Norbanus coming to the rescue of the besiegers tried to surprise Lucullus by a forced-march, but Lucullus was ready for him and slaughtered his exhausted troops. Having taken and looted the town of Sena, Crassus and Pompey severely defeated Carrinas who had marched against them, killing 3,000 Marian soldiers and forcing him to seek refuge in Spoletium . On his way to Praeneste, Sulla

4400-484: The juries up to Senators, Equites and tribuni aerarii as a check on such over-lenient juries. Cicero devoted a significant amount of time in his oration to the perception of Senatorial juries, arguing that not only was Verres on trial for his malfeasance in Sicily, but the Senate was on trial as well for charges of impropriety, and that whatever verdict they handed down to Verres would reflect on them to either their credit or shame. The surest way, Cicero argued, to get

4488-537: The north, Metellus working in tandem with Pompey fought the consul Carbo and his legates Gaius Carrinas and Gaius Marcius Censorinus . Metellus defeated Carrinas at the River Aesis, only to be blockaded by Carbo himself. Upon hearing that Marius the Younger had been defeated at Sacriportus, Carbo withdrew to Ariminum , severely harassed by cavalry attacks on his rearguard by Pompey. Some time later Metellus and Pompey defeated Censorinus near Sena Gallica and sacked

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4576-734: The north. Sulla divided his army in two, sending one division to Saturnia by way of the Via Clodia while he commanded the other division to Clusium along the Via Cassia . Carbo decided to take on Sulla himself. Their two armies met near Clussium, where an indecisive all-day battle was fought. The next day Sulla retreated because he was informed that the Samnites and Lucanians were threatening Afella's army at Praeneste. The other Sullan force had meanwhile been completely successful, defeating its opponent near Saturnia. Lucius Marcius Philippus enjoyed another success on Sardinia , slowly winning

4664-402: The number of magistrates elected in any given year, and required that all newly elected quaestors gain automatic membership in the Senate. These two reforms were enacted primarily to allow Sulla to increase the size of the Senate from 300 to 600 senators. This also removed the need for the censor to draw up a list of senators, since there were always more than enough former magistrates to fill

4752-648: The outlawed nobles and old Sullan supporters who had survived the Marian-Cinna regime flocked to his banner. The most prominent among them were Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius , Marcus Licinius Crassus , and Lucius Marcius Philippus . Metellus and Crassus did so at the head of their own independently-raised armies. Philippus, who was governing Sardinia , secured the island for the Sullan cause. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), son of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo , raised three legions from among his father's veterans in his native Picenum and, defeating and outmanoeuvering

4840-491: The pirates to enter into Syracuse harbor and sack the town. Further, after the abject failure of Cleomenes' expedition, to keep the blame off himself for allowing the fleet to go out undermanned and ill-led, Verres ordered all the ships' captains except for Cleomenes to be executed. More charges were levelled outside of this naval affair. They include: Of the planned orators, only Cicero had an opportunity to speak. Cicero detailed Verres' early crimes and Verres' attempts to derail

4928-417: The power to initiate legislation. Sulla then prohibited ex-tribunes from ever holding any other office, so ambitious individuals would no longer seek election to the Tribunate, since such an election would end their political career. Finally, Sulla revoked the power of the tribunes to veto acts of the Senate, although he left intact the tribunes' power to protect individual Roman citizens. Sulla then increased

5016-558: The previous day being executed on Sulla's orders; none of the captured were spared from execution. Soon after the Battle of the Colline Gate, Sulla had himself declared Dictator , and now held supreme power over the Republic. Marius tried to escape through the drains under Praeneste, but failed and committed suicide. The town surrendered; most of the defenders were executed, but Sulla spared the lives of its Roman citizens. Sulla and his lieutenants then campaigned all through Italy, mopping up

5104-412: The proceedings past the new year, and so he requested that he be allowed to call witnesses immediately to buttress his charges, before the speeches were made. The first speech had touched more on the sharp practice of Verres and his attorney, Hortensius, in trying to derail or delay the trial. In the second, infinitely more damning speech, Cicero laid out the full charge sheet. The second speech apparently

5192-486: The province's governor, Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella in 81 BC. By 73 BC he had been placed as governor of Sicily, one of the key grain-producing provinces of the Republic ( Egypt at this time was still an independent Hellenistic kingdom). In Sicily, Verres was alleged to have despoiled temples and used a number of national emergencies, including the Third Servile War , as cover for elaborate extortion plots. At

5280-554: The remaining resistance. The cities of Aesernia , Norba and Volterrae , all Marian strongholds were destroyed. The survivors of the Marian cause were given refuge on Sicily by Marcus Perperna , in Africa by Domitius Ahenobarbus and in Spain by Quintus Sertorius . Sulla sent Pompey to Sicily with a large force (six legions, 120 warships and 800 transport ships). According to Plutarch, Perpenna fled and left Sicily to Pompey. Carbo

5368-448: The remnants of his army to Capua . Sulla pursued him, but was stopped by Norbanus' consular colleague, Scipio Asiagenus, who was encamped at Capua. Scipio was unwilling to risk a battle with his opponent's battle-hardened army and welcomed Sulla's offer to negotiate. Quintus Sertorius , one of Scipio's legates, did not trust Sulla, and advised Scipio to force a decisive action. Instead, he was sent to Norbanus to explain that an armistice

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5456-495: The rest of his life (history records he was killed during the proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate over a sculpture desired by Mark Antony ). Cicero collected the remaining material, including what was to be his second speech dealing with Verres' actions in Sicily, and published it as if it had actually been delivered in court. Further, due to the legal system in Rome, Senators who won prosecutions were entitled to

5544-419: The same time, Marcus Tullius Cicero was an up-and-coming political figure. After defending Sextus Roscius of Ameria in 80 BC on a highly politically charged case of parricide , Cicero left for a voyage to Greece and Rhodes. There, he learned a new and less-strenuous form of oratory from Molon of Rhodes before rushing back into the political arena upon Sulla's death. Cicero would serve in Sicily in 75 BC as

5632-481: The second half of the 19th century, the term dictator had occasional positive implications. For example, during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , the national leader Lajos Kossuth was often referred to as dictator, without any negative connotations, by his supporters and detractors alike, although his official title was that of regent-president. When creating a provisional executive in Sicily during

5720-497: The senate. To further solidify the prestige and authority of the Senate, Sulla transferred the control of the courts from the equites, who had held control since the Gracchi reforms, to the senators. This, along with the increase in the number of courts, further added to the power that was already held by the senators. Sulla also codified, and thus established definitively, the cursus honorum , which required an individual to reach

5808-400: The services of the finest orator of his day, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus for his defence. Immediately, both Verres and Hortensius realized that the court as composed under Glabrio was inhospitable to the defence, and began to try to derail the prosecution by procedural tricks that had the effect of delaying or prolonging the trial. This was done by first trying to place a similar prosecution on

5896-474: The siege of Praeneste. He blocked an attempt by Damasippus to reach Marius the Younger. After Damasippus failure Carbo lost heart and fled to Sicily. With their leader gone, the remainder of the Marian forces united for one final stand. The Samnite general Pontius Telesinus and the Lucanian general Marcus Lamponius, commanding a very large army of Samnites and Lucanians, were trying to get to Praeneste to break

5984-524: The state and confiscating their property). Sulla immediately proscribed eighty persons without communicating with any magistrate. As this caused a general murmur, he let one day pass, and then proscribed two hundred and twenty more, and again on the third day as many. In an harangue to the people, he said, with reference to these measures, that he had proscribed all he could think of, and as to those who now escaped his memory, he would proscribe them at some future time. The proscriptions are widely perceived as

6072-399: The terms " tyrant " and " autocrat ", dictator came to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive rule. In modern usage the term dictator is generally used to describe a leader who holds or abuses an extraordinary amount of personal power. Dictatorships are often characterised by some of the following: suspension of elections and civil liberties ; proclamation of

6160-496: The town. Neapolis fell to the Sullans through treachery; virtually the whole population was massacred. Consequently, Appian remarks that the towns nearest to Rome surrendered without a fight. As Sulla surrounded Rome with his troops, the gates were opened by the people and he took Rome without a fight, the remaining Marians having fled. Most of southern Italy now belonged to Sulla, though some cities, such as Praeneste, remained under siege. Sulla now set out for Etruria to

6248-488: The trial. Soon after the court heard Cicero's speeches, Hortensius advised Verres that it would be hard for him to win at this point, and further advised that the best course of action was for Verres to essentially plead no contest by going into voluntary exile (an option open to higher-ranking Romans in his situation). By the end of 70 BC, Verres was living in exile in Massilia, modern-day Marseilles , where he would live

6336-408: The troops to murder Flaccus in 84 BC. In the meantime, the two Roman armies camped next to each other, and Sulla, not for the first time, encouraged his soldiers to spread dissension among Flaccus’ army. Many deserted to Sulla before Flaccus had arranged to pack up and move on to north, to threaten Mithridates’ northern dominions. In the meantime Sulla moved to intercept the new Pontic army and end

6424-516: The war at Orchomenus . With Mithridates defeated for the moment and Cinna now dead as a result of a mutiny in Ancona, Sulla was determined to regain control of Rome from his enemies. In the spring of 83 BC Sulla landed his army in two divisions in southern Italy: one division at Brundisium and another at Tarentum . At Tarentum Sulla made sacrifices to the gods. As soon as he had set foot in Italy,

6512-479: The year 86 BC. Marius died a fortnight after and Cinna was left in sole control of Rome. Having managed this achievement, the Marians sent out Lucius Valerius Flaccus with an army to relieve Sulla of his command in the east. Flaccus had been given as second in command Gaius Flavius Fimbria , an individual whom history records had few virtues. According to Plutarch's biography on Sulla, Gaius Flavius Fimbra eventually agitated against his commanding officer and incited

6600-484: The years 83–82 BC. The war ended with a decisive battle just outside Rome itself. After the war the victorious Sulla made himself dictator of the Roman Republic . Sulla had achieved temporary control of Rome and Marius's exile to Africa following his first march on Rome, but departed soon afterwards to lead the First Mithridatic War . This departure allowed Gaius Marius and his son Gaius Marius

6688-664: The younger to return to Rome with an army and, with Lucius Cornelius Cinna , to wrest control of Rome back from Sulla's supporter Gnaeus Octavius during Sulla's absence. Based on the orders of Marius, some of his soldiers went through Rome killing the leading supporters of Sulla, including Octavius. Their heads were exhibited in the Forum. After five days, Cinna ordered his more disciplined troops to kill Marius's rampaging soldiers. All told some 100 Roman nobles had been murdered. Marius declared Sulla's reforms and laws invalid, officially exiled Sulla, had himself elected to Sulla's eastern command, and Cinna and himself elected consuls for

6776-525: Was able to ambush reinforcement on their way to Carrinas in Spoletium, killing 2,000 Marian soldiers. Carbo sent another army from Etruria to raise the siege of Praeneste. They were ambushed along the way by Pompey, who forced them back. A Marian attack on Metellus near Faventia went horribly wrong for them. This caused the Lucanians in Norbanus' army to contemplate to defect to Sulla. Their commander,

6864-515: Was an ally of Domitius, was captured and executed and Hiempsal II restored to the throne of Numidia. Sulla sent Gaius Annius Luscus with several legions to take the Spanish provinces from Quintus Sertorius. After a brief resistance Sertorius and his men were expelled from the Iberian peninsula. Unfortunately for the Sullans, Sertorius would be back the following year (see: Sertorian War ). As

6952-475: Was confiscated and auctioned off. The proceeds from auctioned property more than made up for the cost of rewarding those who killed the proscribed, making Sulla even wealthier. Possibly to protect himself from future political retribution, Sulla had the sons and grandsons of the proscribed banned from running for political office, a restriction not removed for over 30 years. The young Gaius Julius Caesar , as Cinna's son-in-law, became one of Sulla's targets and fled

7040-636: Was enforced by secret police and the Gulag system of prison labour camps. Most Gulag inmates were not political prisoners, although significant numbers of political prisoners could be found in the camps at any one time. Data collected from Soviet archives gives the death toll from Gulags as 1,053,829. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan 's military dictator Omar al-Bashir over alleged war crimes in Darfur . Similar crimes were committed during Chairman Mao Zedong 's rule over

7128-399: Was hoping to draw the trial out long enough to run into the festival period before Cicero would have an opportunity to conclude his case, thereby making it a statistical impossibility that Glabrio and the jury would deliver a verdict before the new year, when the magistrates were replaced with their newly elected successors. Hortensius and Verres both knew, Cicero argued, that Marcus Metellus,

7216-604: Was in force and negotiations were under way. Sertorius made a small detour and captured the town of Suessa, which had gone over to the Sullan faction. When Sulla complained about this breach of trust, Scipio sent back the hostages Sulla had given as a sign of good faith. This behaviour by Scipio outraged Scipio's troops, who were already upset having to face Sulla's veterans. A deal was made between Scipio's soldiers and Sulla and they defected en masse , further swelling his ranks. The Consul and his son were found cowering in their tents and brought to Sulla, who released them after extracting

7304-454: Was meant to have been his rebuttal speech had the trial continued, as it alludes to witnesses as already having testified in front of Glabrio's court. Cicero enumerated a number of charges against Verres during his tenure as governor of Sicily . The main ones that serve as the greatest portion of the text concern a naval scandal that Verres had fomented as a complex means of embezzlement . These were that he subverted Roman security by accepting

7392-621: Was more common: The usage of the term dictator in western media has been criticized by the left-leaning organization Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting as "Code for Government We Don't Like". According to them, leaders that would generally be considered authoritarian but are allied with the United States such as Paul Biya or Nursultan Nazarbayev are rarely referred to as "dictators", while leaders of countries opposed to U.S. policy such as Nicolás Maduro or Bashar al-Assad have

7480-623: Was only 26–28 years old at the time. In the respite from campaigning provided by winter, the Marians set about replenishing their forces. Quintus Sertorius levied men in Etruria , old veterans of Marius came out of retirement to fight under his son, and the Samnites gathered their warriors in support of Carbo, hoping to destroy Sulla, the man who defeated them in the Social War . Meanwhile, Sulla had sent Crassus to recruit troops from among

7568-420: Was proclaimed Dictator perpetuo , "Dictator in perpetuity", officially doing away with any limitations on his power, which he kept until his assassination the following month. Following Caesar's assassination, his heir Augustus was offered the title of dictator, but he declined it. Later successors also declined the title of dictator, and usage of the title soon diminished among Roman rulers. As late as

7656-620: Was soon discovered and arrested by Pompey, who "treated Carbo in his misfortunes with an unnatural insolence", taking Carbo in fetters to a tribunal he presided over, examining him closely "to the distress and vexation of the audience", and finally, sentencing him to death. Domitius Ahenobarbus held the Roman province of Africa (modern day Tunisia) for the Marians. While Pompey was still in Sicily, Sulla sent him orders to capture Africa as well. Pompey sailed to Utica (the province's Capital) and there he defeated Domitius . King Hiarbas of Numidia , who

7744-479: Was to not only deprive the Tribunate of power, but also of prestige. (Sulla himself had been officially deprived of his eastern command through the underhand activities of a tribune.) Over the previous three hundred years, the tribunes had directly challenged the patrician class and attempted to deprive it of power in favor of the plebeian class. Through Sulla's reforms to the Plebeian Council, tribunes lost

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