Cornelia Sulla or Cornelia Silla was the eldest daughter of the Roman statesman and general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla ha ...
and his first wife
Julia
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e ...
.
Biography
Early life
It is believed that she was Sulla's daughter by his first wife Julia. She likely had a full brother named Lucius Cornelius Sulla who died young.
Her mother died while she was young, and her father would remarry four times, from these marriages Cornelia had three siblings;
Faustus Cornelius Sulla,
Fausta Cornelia and
Cornelia Postuma.
Marriages
Cornelia married
Quintus Pompeius Rufus, the son of Sulla's consular colleague in 88 BC,
Quintus Pompeius Rufus. The marriage produced two children,
Pompeia (who became
Julius Caesar's second or third wife) and Quintus Pompeius Rufus. Her husband was killed during a riot led by the tribune
Publius Sulpicius Rufus
Publius Sulpicius Rufus (124–88 BC) was a Roman politician and orator whose attempts to pass controversial laws with the help of mob violence helped trigger the first civil war of the Roman Republic. His actions kindled the deadly rivalry betwe ...
in 88 BC. She remarried
Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, who became consul in 77 BC, a year after the death of Sulla.
Violent upheavals soon ensued out of the ongoing rivalry between Sulla and his former mentor the ageing
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...
. In 86 BC, while Sulla was in Asia Minor pursuing his war against King
Mithridates VI of Pontus, he was stripped of his ''
imperium
In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic ...
'' by Marius and his colleagues, and forced into exile.
Cornelia and her new husband took rapid steps to safeguard Sulla's estates from the resulting mock trials and proscriptions during Marius's seventh consulship. She then joined her father in exile.
In popular culture
Cornelia appears in Colleen McCullough's series, ''
Masters of Rome
''Masters of Rome'' is a series of historical novels by Australian author Colleen McCullough, set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Su ...
''.
See also
*
Cornelia (gens)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelia (daughter of Sulla)
1st-century BC Roman women
1st-century BC Romans
Year of death unknown
Cornelii Sullae
100s BC births
Children of Sulla