Publius Sulpicius Rufus

Publius Sulpicius Rufus probably came from the Roman equestrian class,[1] and was born in 124 BC or perhaps the following year.[2] He had close ties to prominent elements of the Roman senatorial aristocracy,[3] and in his youth was tutored in rhetoric and groomed for public life by Lucius Licinius Crassus, a renowned orator and prominent senator.[4] Under his tutelage Sulpicius became one of the most distinguished orators of the time,[5] and, together with two friends and fellow disciples of Crassus – Marcus Livius Drusus and Gaius Aurelius Cotta – he formed a circle of "talented and energetic" young nobles in whom the senatorial oligarchy (the self-styled "optimates" or boni, "best men") placed significant hope to defend their interests in the near future.[6] The first major event of Sulpicius's public life occurred around 95 BC, when, with support of the boni, he prosecuted a turbulent tribune of the plebs, Gaius Norbanus – unsuccessfully, despite Sulpicius's impressive performance on the occasion.[7] Sulpicius continued appearing in more trials in the following years.[8]

One historian described Sulpicius and the circle of Crassus as supporters of moderate political reform in a way that strengthened the Roman state and at the same time did not remove control of the state from the established oligarchy.[9] They all agreed between themselves on a program of reform which Crassus's disciples would introduce upon consecutively running for the office of tribune of the plebs, Drusus in 91 BC, Cotta in 90 and Sulpicius 89.[10]

Drusus's main objective once in office was the transfer of the state courts from the equestrian class to the Senate directly.[11] He also proposed the extension of Roman citizenship to the Republic's long disenfranchised and dissatisfied Italian allies. Finally, he courted the support of lower classes by promises of land reform and subsidized food.[12] This package, he hoped, would strengthen the old senatorial oligarchy's hold on the state while at the same time satisfying potentially unruly elements in other segments of society, giving the Republic more stability than it had enjoyed in the past generation.[12] Although Drusus's program had the support of many leading senators, he was violently opposed by the equestrians, who stood to lose the most from the proposed reform of the courts. Sulpicius remained a firm supporter of his friend,[8] and attended, together with the rest of the Crassus circle and other political allies, a meeting in September 91 BC at Crassus's villa near Tusculum, to assess the political situation.[13] Crassus himself died shortly afterwards, depriving Drusus of his mentor and chief supporter in the Senate, and severely undermining his cause. Drusus lost popularity as he failed to break the existing political deadlock, and his program ended in failure when he himself was murdered in mysterious circumstances shortly after.[14]

Not long after Drusus's death it became clear to Rome's Italian allies that their long-awaited citizenship was not forthcoming. The Italians, having unattended long-standing grievances with regards to their inferior legal status, launched a general uprising in late 91 BC, triggering what contemporaries called the Marsic War. A pro-equestrian tribune of the plebs, Varius, took advantage of the situation by establishing a commission to prosecute Drusus's supporters on the charge that they had "incited" the Italians to revolt.[15] Sulpicius's friend, Gaius Cotta, who was supposed to succeed Drusus in the tribunate, was forced into exile to avoid condemnation under Varius's court,[16] spelling another setback to the political agenda of the Crassus group. Sulpicius, for his part, narrowly avoided prosecution under the Varian commission, due to military service in the Italian uprising.[17] He served in the war as legatus (deputy), throughout 90 and 89 BC, which forced him to delay his aspired candidacy to the tribunate to the next year.[18]

Although Sulpicius's activities in the Marsic War cannot be reconstructed with any certainty, certain military accomplishments tentatively attributed to him[lower-roman 1] seem to suggest he had a distinguished performance.[18] In 90 BC, Sulpicius and another legate, Pompeius Strabo, found themselves trapped and besieged at Firmum in Picenum, after suffering a defeat at the hands of the Italian insurgents. Upon hearing that the besieging Italians were bringing reinforcements, Pompeius made a sally up front and sent Sulpicius to attack the enemy on the rear. The outcome of the ensuing battle was uncertain until Sulpicius set fire to their camp, which prompted the Italians to retreat.[22] In 89 BC, Pompeius Strabo became consul, and Sulpicius possibly carried on the war on Picenum as his deputy, defeating the insurgent Vestini and Marrucini.[23][24] By the end of the year, the uprising in northern Italy was all but crushed,[25] and Sulpicius was finally able to return to Rome and oversee his election as tribune, assuming office on 10 December.[26]

Soon afterwards Sulpicius declared in favour of Gaius Marius and the populares, a move considered to be a surprising volte face by contemporaries: Cicero, for instance, remarks that 'the popular breeze carried Sulpicius, who had set out from an excellent position, further than he wished'[27] He was deeply in debt, and it seems that Marius had promised him financial assistance in the event of his being appointed to the command in the Mithridatic Wars, to which Sulla had already been appointed. To secure the appointment for Marius, Sulpicius brought in a franchise bill by which the newly enfranchised Italian allies and freedmen would have swamped the old electors. The majority of the senate were strongly opposed to the proposal; a justitium (cessation of public business) was proclaimed by the consuls, but Marius and Sulpicius fomented a riot, and the consuls, in fear of their lives, withdrew the justitium. The proposals of Sulpicius became law, and, with the assistance of the new voters, the command was bestowed upon Marius, at the time a privatus holding no elected office.[28]

Sulla, who was then at Nola, immediately marched upon Rome. Marius and Sulpicius, unable to resist him, fled from the city. Marius managed to escape to Africa, but Sulpicius was discovered in a villa at Laurentum and put to death; his head was sent to Sulla and exposed in the forum, and his laws annulled.

Sulpicius appears to have been originally a moderate reformer, who by force of circumstances became one of the leaders of a democratic revolt. Although he had impeached the turbulent tribune Gaius Norbanus in 95 BC, and resisted the proposal to repeal judicial sentences by popular decree, he did not hesitate to incur the displeasure of the Julian family by opposing the illegal candidature for the consulship of Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus, who had never been praetor and was consequently ineligible.[29] Sulpicius' franchise proposals, as far as the Italians were concerned, were a necessary measure of justice; but they had been carried by violence.

Cicero as a young man went almost daily to see Sulpicius speak as tribune in the Forum (Brutus, 306), and judged him an able orator. Of his skills, Cicero says (Brutus, 55): "He was by far the most dignified of all the orators I have heard, and, so to speak, the most tragic; his voice was loud, but at the same time sweet and clear; his gestures were full of grace; his language was rapid and voluble, but not redundant or diffuse; he tried to imitate Crassus, but lacked his charm." Sulpicius left no written speeches, those that bore his name being written by a Publius Canutius. Sulpicius is one of the interlocutors in Cicero’s De oratore.