Lucius Cornelius Sisenna (c. 120 – 67 BC) was a Roman soldier, historian, and annalist.

Life

Little is known of Sisenna's life or family. The first Cornelius Sisenna (perhaps Lucius' grandfather or great-grandfather) appears as urban praetor in 183 BCE. It is not thought that his family, the Cornelii Sisennae, were related to the patrician branches of the famous ''

gens Cornelia The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any othe ...

'', with some scholars suggesting that the Sisennae hailed from

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

instead. It is likely that Sisenna actively supported

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 ...

during the civil wars of the 80s BCE. He was friends with some of Sulla's most important associates, including

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingdom ...

, and was apparently overly partial towards Sulla in his writings. Moreover, soon after Sulla's dictatorship, Sisenna was elected to the praetorship for 78 BCE, which implies that he had benefitted politically from Sulla's victory. Apart from his praetorship in 78 BCE, very little is known of Sisenna's political career. It has been suggested that he governed Sicily in 77 BCE after his praetorship, but it is impossible to be certain. Later, he contributed to the failed defence of Verres, prosecuted by Cicero in 70 BCE. He was also chosen as a legate for Pompey's campaign against the pirates, and was killed in action on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

in 67 BCE.

''Histories''

Sisenna is most noteworthy as the author of a lost ''Histories'' covering the years ca. 90 to 78 BCE. Nothing survives of this work save a few fragments, mostly preserved by the late antique grammarian

Nonius Marcellus Nonius Marcellus was a Roman grammarian of the 4th or 5th century AD. His only surviving work is the ''De compendiosa doctrina'', a dictionary or encyclopedia in 20 books that shows his interests in antiquarianism and Latin literature from Plautu ...

. It seems Sisenna's history ran to at least 12 books, but perhaps as many as 23. It covered in detail the Social War and Sulla's civil wars of the 80s BCE.

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

, whose fragmentary ''Histories'' start in the year 78 BCE, seems to have begun his work as a continuation of Sisenna. Sisenna's work was widely read in antiquity, and became a crucial source for the 80s BCE: in Ernst Badian's words, it was "the standard history of the period".

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, Sallust,

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 ...

, and Velleius Paterculus all cite Sisenna at some point, and other historians are assumed to have used him extensively as well, such as

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...

, and

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

. Despite his wide readership, few direct judgements on Sisenna survive.

states that Sisenna was a learned man dedicated to his studies (''doctus vir et studiis optimis deditus''), and claims that his history 'far surpassed all its predecessors' (''facile omnis vincat superiores''). Sallust also commends Sisenna, calling his account of Sulla's life 'the best and most carefully written' (''optime et diligentissime omnium''). Sallust does, however, critique him for being overly partisan towards Sulla.

also mentions that Sisenna was fond of unusual and antiquated language: he sought to be a 'reformer of ordinary speech' (''quasi emendator sermonis usitati''), and persisted in using 'strange and unheard-of words' (''minus inusitatis verbis uteretur''). Sisenna may also be the writer, mentioned by

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, who translated a collection of

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

and picaresque tales by Aristides of Miletus entitled ''Milesiae fabulae'', which was said to have served as a model for

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
120s BC births 67 BC deaths 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century BC historians Ancient Roman generals Latin historians Roman generals killed in action Roman governors of Sicily