Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the first century AD. He was a ''

consul ordinarius A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

'' in AD 33 as the colleague of

Galba Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...

, the future emperor. Felix was the son of Sulla Felix, a member of the

Arval Brethren In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide eviden ...

who died in AD 21, thus a direct descendant of the dictator

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 had ...

. His mother was Sextia and his older brother was Faustus Cornelius Sulla. Felix may be the Lucius Sulla

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

describes under the year 21 as coming into conflict with the future general Domitius Corbulo over who was of higher rank at a gladiatorial show. "Corbulo had age, national usage, and the feelings of the older senators in his favor," writes Tacitus. "Against him Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius and other kinsmen of Sulla strenuously exerted themselves." The matter was brought to the Senate where arguments filled the room until

Drusus Drusus may refer to: * Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus) (10 BC–AD 54), Roman emperor from 41 to 54 * Drusus Caesar (AD 8–33), adoptive grandson of Roman emperor Tiberius * Drusus Julius Caesar (14 BC–AD 23), son of Roman emperor Tiberiu ...

intervened and brought the body back to order. The matter was resolved when both Sulla and Scaurus apologized to Corbulo.

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

argues for this identification, and as Scaurus is identified as Felix's uncle and step-father, concludes that Scaurus had married his mother Sextia after the death of his father, and the grandfather of Felix and the father of Scaurus had married the same woman. An inscription recorded at

Pisidian Antioch Antioch in Pisidia – alternatively Antiochia in Pisidia or Pisidian Antioch ( el, Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Πισιδίας) and in Roman Empire, Latin: ''Antiochia Caesareia'' or ''Antiochia Colonia Caesarea'' – was a city in th ...

describes Felix as brother-in-law to

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...

;

interprets this as proof that he was briefly married to Agrippina between the death of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus in the year 41 and her marriage to

Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus was a prominent figure in the Roman Empire during the first century. He held the consulship twice, and was stepfather of the future emperor Nero. Background Suetonius reports that Passienus was born at Viselliu ...

.Syme, ''Augustan Aristocracy'', p. 172

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Sulla Felix, Lucius 1st-century Romans Felix, Lucius Imperial Roman consuls