Sullas Marsch auf Rom

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App. Civ. 1, 57-60 – Original

[57] πυθόμενος δ᾽ ὁ Σύλλας καὶ πολέμῳ κρίνας διακριθῆναι συνήγαγε τὸν στρατὸν εἰς ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τόνδε τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν Μιθριδάτην στρατείας ὀρεγόμενόν τε ὡς ἐπικερδοῦς καὶ νομίζοντα Μάριον ἐς αὐτὴν ἑτέρους καταλέξειν ἀνθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν. τὴν δ᾽ ὕβριν ὁ Σύλλας τὴν ἐς αὑτὸν εἰπὼν Σουλπικίου τε καὶ Μαρίου καὶ σαφὲς οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐπενεγκών ῾οὐ γὰρ ἐτόλμα πω λέγειν περὶ τοιοῦδε πολέμοὐ, παρῄνεσεν ἑτοίμοις ἐς τὸ παραγγελλόμενον εἶναι. οἱ δὲ συνιέντες τε ὧν ἐπενόει καὶ περὶ σφῶν δεδιότες, μὴ τῆς στρατείας ἀποτύχοιεν, ἀπεγύμνουν αὐτοὶ τὸ ἐνθύμημα τοῦ Σύλλα καὶ ἐς Ῥώμην σφᾶς ἄγειν θαρροῦντα ἐκέλευον. ὁ δὲ ἡσθεὶς ἦγεν ἓξ τέλη στρατιωτῶν αὐτίκα. καὶ αὐτὸν οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες τοῦ στρατοῦ χωρὶς ἑνὸς ταμίου διέδρασαν ἐς Ῥώμην, οὐχ ὑφιστάμενοι στρατὸν ἄγειν ἐπὶ τὴν πατρίδα: πρέσβεις δ᾽ ἐν ὁδῷ καταλαβόντες ἠρώτων, τί μεθ᾽ ὅπλων ἐπὶ τὴν πατρίδα ἐλαύνοι. ὁ δ᾽ εἶπεν, ἐλευθερώσων αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τυραννούντων. καὶ τοῦτο δὶς τρὶς ἑτέροις καὶ ἑτέροις πρέσβεσιν ἐλθοῦσιν εἰπὼν ἐπήγγελλεν ὅμως, εἰ θέλοιεν τήν τε σύγκλητον αὑτῷ καὶ Μάριον καὶ Σουλπίκιον ἐς τὸ Ἄρειον πεδίον συναγαγεῖν, καὶ πράξειν, ὅ τι ἂν βουλευομένοις δοκῇ. πλησιάζοντι δὲ Πομπήιος μὲν ὁ σύναρχος ἐπαινῶν καὶ ἀρεσκόμενος τοῖς γιγνομένοις ἀφίκετο συμπράξων ἐς ἅπαντα, Μάριος δὲ καὶ Σουλπίκιος ἐς παρασκευὴν ὀλίγου διαστήματος δεόμενοι πρέσβεις ἑτέρους ἔπεμπον ὡς δὴ καὶ τούσδε ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς ἀπεσταλμένους, δεόμενοι μὴ ἀγχοτέρω τεσσαράκοντα σταδίων τῇ Ῥώμῃ παραστρατοπεδεύειν, μέχρι ἐπισκέψαιντο περὶ τῶν παρόντων. Σύλλας δὲ καὶ Πομπήιος τὸ ἐνθύμημα σαφῶς εἰδότες ὑπέσχοντο μὲν ὧδε πράξειν, εὐθὺς δὲ τοῖς πρέσβεσιν ἀπιοῦσιν εἵποντο.
[58] καὶ Σύλλας μὲν τὰς Αἰσκυλείας πύλας καὶ τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτὰς τεῖχος ἑνὶ τέλει στρατιωτῶν κατελάμβανε, Πομπήιος δὲ τὰς Κολλίνας ἑτέρῳ τέλει: καὶ τρίτον ἐπὶ τὴν ξυλίνην γέφυραν ἐχώρει, καὶ τέταρτον πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἐς διαδοχὴν ὑπέμενε. τοῖς δ᾽ ὑπολοίποις ὁ Σύλλας ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἐχώρει δόξῃ καὶ ἔργῳ πολεμίου: ὅθεν αὐτὸν οἱ περιοικοῦντες ἄνωθεν ἠμύνοντο βάλλοντες, μέχρι τὰς οἰκίας ἠπείλησεν ἐμπρήσειν: τότε δ᾽ οἱ μὲν ἀνέσχον, Μάριος δὲ καὶ Σουλπίκιος ἀπήντων περὶ τὴν Αἰσκύλειον ἀγορὰν μεθ᾽ ὅσων ἐφθάκεσαν ὁπλίσαι. καὶ γίγνεταί τις ἀγὼν ἐχθρῶν, ὅδε πρῶτος ἐν Ῥώμῃ, οὐχ ὑπὸ εἰκόνι στάσεως ἔτι, ἀλλὰ ἀπροφασίστως ὑπὸ σάλπιγγι καὶ σημείοις, πολέμου νόμῳ: ἐς τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς κακοῦ τὰ τῶν στάσεων ἀμεληθέντα προέκοψε. τρεπομένων δὲ τῶν Σύλλα στρατιωτῶν, ὁ Σύλλας σημεῖον ἁρπάσας προεκινδύνευεν, ὡς αἰδοῖ τε τοῦ στρατηγοῦ καὶ δέει τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ σημείῳ εἰ ἀπέχοιντο, ἀτιμίας εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς τροπῆς αὐτοὺς μετατίθεσθαι. καὶ ὁ Σύλλας ἐκάλει τε τοὺς νεαλεῖς ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου καὶ ἑτέρους κατὰ τὴν καλουμένην Σιβούραν ὁδὸν περιέπεμπεν, ᾗ κατὰ νώτου τῶν πολεμίων ἔμελλον ἔσεσθαι περιδραμόντες. οἱ δ᾽ ἀμφὶ τὸν Μάριον πρός τε τοὺς ἐπελθόντας ἀκμῆτας ἀσθενῶς μαχόμενοι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς περιοδεύουσι δείσαντες περικύκλωσιν τούς τε ἄλλους πολίτας ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἔτι μαχομένους συνεκάλουν καὶ τοῖς δούλοις ἐκήρυττον ἐλευθερίαν εἰ μετάσχοιεν τοῦ πόνου. οὐδενὸς δὲ προσιόντος ἀπογνόντες ἁπάντων ἔφευγον εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ὅσοι τῶν ἐπιφανῶν συνεπεπράχεσαν.
[59] ὁ δὲ Σύλλας τότε μὲν ἐς τὴν λεγομένην Ἱερὰν ὁδὸν παρῆλθε καὶ τοὺς διαρπάζοντάς τι τῶν ἐν ποσὶν αὐτίκα ἐν μέσῳ πάντων ἐφορώντων ἐκόλαζε, φρουρὰν δὲ κατὰ μέρος ἐπιστήσας τῇ πόλει διενυκτέρευεν αὐτός τε καὶ ὁ Πομπήιος, περιθέοντες ἑκάστους, ἵνα μή τι δεινὸν ἢ παρὰ τῶν δεδιότων ἢ παρὰ τῶν νενικηκότων ἐπιγένοιτο. ἅμα δ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ τὸν δῆμον ἐς ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγόντες ὠδύροντο περὶ τῆς πολιτείας ὡς ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῖς δημοκοποῦσιν ἐκδεδομένης, καὶ αὐτοὶ τάδε πράξαντες ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης. εἰσηγοῦντό τε μηδὲν ἔτι ἀπροβούλευτον ἐς τὸν δῆμον ἐσφέρεσθαι, νενομισμένον μὲν οὕτω καὶ πάλαι, παραλελυμένον δ᾽ ἐκ πολλοῦ, καὶ τὰς χειροτονίας μὴ κατὰ φυλάς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ λόχους, ὡς Τύλλιος βασιλεὺς ἔταξε, γίνεσθαι, νομίσαντες διὰ δυοῖν τοῖνδε οὔτε νόμον οὐδένα πρὸ τῆς βουλῆς ἐς τὸ πλῆθος ἐσφερόμενον οὔτε τὰς χειροτονίας ἐν τοῖς πένησι καὶ θρασυτάτοις ἀντὶ τῶν ἐν περιουσίᾳ καὶ εὐβουλίᾳ γιγνομένας δώσειν ἔτι στάσεων ἀφορμάς. πολλά τε ἄλλα τῆς τῶν δημάρχων ἀρχῆς, τυραννικῆς μάλιστα γεγενημένης, περιελόντες κατέλεξαν ἐς τὸ βουλευτήριον, ὀλιγανθρωπότατον δὴ τότε μάλιστα ὂν καὶ παρὰ τοῦτ᾽ εὐκαταφρόνητον ἀθρόους ἐκ τῶν ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν τριακοσίους. ὅσα τε ὑπὸ Σουλπικίου κεκύρωτο μετὰ τὴν κεκηρυγμένην ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων ἀργίαν, ἅπαντα διελύετο ὡς οὐκ ἔννομα.
[60] ὧδε μὲν αἱ στάσεις ἐξ ἔριδος καὶ φιλονικίας ἐπὶ φόνους καὶ ἐκ φόνων ἐς πολέμους ἐντελεῖς προέκοπτον, καὶ στρατὸς πολιτῶν ὅδε πρῶτος ἐς τὴν πατρίδα ὡς πολεμίαν ἐσέβαλεν. οὐδ᾽ ἔληξαν ἀπὸ τοῦδε αἱ στάσεις ἔτι κρινόμεναι στρατοπέδοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐσβολαὶ συνεχεῖς ἐς τὴν Ῥώμην ἐγίνοντο καὶ τειχομαχίαι καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πολέμων ἔργα, οὐδενὸς ἔτι ἐς αἰδῶ τοῖς βιαζομένοις ἐμποδὼν ὄντος, ἢ νόμων ἢ πολιτείας ἢ πατρίδος. τότε δὲ Σουλπίκιον δημαρχοῦντα ἔτι καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Μάριον, ἑξάκις ὑπατευκότα, καὶ τὸν Μαρίου παῖδα καὶ Πούπλιον Κέθηγον καὶ Ἰούνιον Βροῦτον καὶ Γναῖον καὶ Κοίντον Γράνιον καὶ Πούπλιον Ἀλβινοουανὸν καὶ Μᾶρκον Λαιτώριον ἑτέρους τε, ὅσοι μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἐς δώδεκα μάλιστα, ἐκ Ῥώμης διεπεφεύγεσαν, ὡς στάσιν ἐγείραντας καὶ πολεμήσαντας ὑπάτοις καὶ δούλοις κηρύξαντας ἐλευθερίαν εἰς ἀπόστασιν πολεμίους Ῥωμαίων ἐψήφιστο εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἐντυχόντα νηποινεὶ κτείνειν ἢ ἀνάγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους: τά τε ὄντα αὐτοῖς δεδήμευτο.

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Übersetzung: Horace White
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Übersetzung

[57] When Sulla heard of this he resolved to decide the question by war. He called the army together in a conference. They were eager for the war against Mithridates because it promised much plunder, and they feared that Marius would enlist other soldiers instead of themselves. Sulla spoke of the indignity put upon him by Sulpicius and Marius, and while he did not openly allude to anything else (for he did not dare as yet to mention this kind of a war), he urged them to be ready to obey his orders. They understood what he meant, and as they feared lest they should miss the campaign they spoke boldly what Sulla had in his mind, and told him to be of good courage, and to lead them to Rome. Sulla was overjoyed and led six legions thither forthwith, but all of his superior officers, except one quæstor, left him and hastened to the city, because they would not submit to the idea of leading an army against their country. Envoys met him on the road and asked him why he was marching with armed forces against his country. „To deliver her from her tyrants,“ he replied. He gave the same answer to a second and a third embassy that came to him, one after another, but he announced to them finally that the Senate and Marius and Sulpicius might meet him in the Campus Martius if they liked, and that he would do whatever might be agreed upon after consultation. As he was approaching, his colleague, Pompeius, came to meet him and praised him for what he had done, for Pompeius was delighted, and cooperated with him in every way. As Marius and Sulpicius needed some short interval for preparation, they sent other messengers, in the guise of envoys from the Senate, directing him not to move his camp nearer than forty stades from the city until they could consider of the business in hand. Sulla and Pompeius understood their game perfectly and promised to comply, but as soon as the envoys were returning they followed them. [58] Sulla took possession of the Cœlian gate and of the adjoining wall with one legion of soldiers, and Pompeius occupied the Colline gate with another. A third advanced to the Sublician bridge, and a fourth remained on guard in front of the walls. With the remainder Sulla entered the city, being in appearance and in fact an enemy. The inhabitants round about tried to fight him off by hurling missiles from the roofs until he threatened to burn the houses; then they desisted. Marius and Sulpicius went, with some forces they had hastily armed, to meet the invaders near the Æsquiline forum, and here a battle took place between the contending parties, the first that was regularly fought in Rome with trumpet and signal under the rules of war, and not at all in the similitude of a faction fight. To such extremity of evil had the recklessness of party strife progressed among them. Sulla’s forces were beginning to waver when Sulla seized a standard and exposed himself to danger in the foremost ranks. Out of regard for their general and fear of ignominy if they should abandon their standard, they rallied at once. Sulla ordered up fresh troops from his camp and sent others around by the socalled Suburran road to take the enemy in the rear. The Marians fought feebly against these new-comers, and as they feared lest they should be surrounded they called to their aid the other citizens who were still fighting from the houses, and proclaimed freedom to slaves who would share their labors. As nobody came forward they fell into utter despair and fled at once out of the city, together with those of the nobility who had cooperated with them. [59] Sulla advanced to the so-called Via Sacra and there, in sight of everybody, punished certain soldiers who had plundered persons on the road. He stationed guards at intervals throughout the city, he and Pompeius keeping watch by night. Each kept moving about his own command to see that no calamity was brought about either by the frightened people or by the victorious troops: They summoned the people to an assembly at daybreak and lamented the condition of the republic, which had been so long given over to demagogues, and said that they had done what they had done as a matter of necessity. They proposed that no question should ever again be brought before the people which had not been previously considered by the Senate, an ancient practice which had been abandoned long ago. Also that the voting should not be by tribes, but by centuries, as King Servius Tullius had ordained. They thought that by these two measures–namely, that no law should be brought before the people unless it had been previously before the Senate, and that the voting should be controlled by the well-to-do and sober-minded rather than by the pauper and reckless classes–there would no longer be any starting-point for civil discord. They proposed many other measures for curtailing the power of the tribunes, which had become extremely tyrannical. They enrolled 300 of the best citizens at once in the list of senators, who had been reduced at that time to a very small number and had fallen into contempt for that reason. They annulled all the acts performed by Sulpicius after the vacation had been proclaimed by the consuls, as being illegal. [60] Thus the seditions proceeded from strife and contention to murder, and from murder to open war, and now the first army of her own citizens had invaded Rome as a hostile country. From this time the civil dissensions were decided only by the arbitrament of arms. There were frequent attacks upon the city and battles before the walls and other calamities incident to war. Henceforth there was no restraint upon violence either from the sense of shame, or regard for law, institutions, or country. Now Sulpicius, who still held the office of tribune, together with Marius, who had been consul six times, and his son Marius, also Publius Cethegus, Junius Brutus, Gnæus and Quintus Granius, Publius Albinovanus, Marcus Lætorius, and others with them, about twelve in number, fled from Rome, because they had stirred up the sedition, had borne arms against the consuls, had incited slaves to insurrection, had been voted enemies of the Roman people, and anybody meeting them had been authorized to kill them with impunity or to drag them before the consuls, and their goods had been confiscated. Detectives were in pursuit of these men. They caught Sulpicius and killed him.

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App. Civ. 1, 57-60

Leitfragen:

1) Wie schildert Appian den Ablauf von Sullas Marsch auf Rom?

2) Welche Meinung hat Appian über Sulla?

3) Welche Rückschlüsse auf die Gründe für den Untergang der Republik lassen sich aus dieser Quelle ziehen?

Kommentar:

Appian, ein griechischer Autor der Wende vom ersten zum zweiten nachchristlichen Jahrhundert, beschreibt in diesem Teil seines bellum civile, wie Sulla auf Rom marschiert und damit als Erster römische Truppen gegen Rom führt.

Auslöser für Sullas Marsch auf Rom ist nach Appian, dass die Soldaten und Sulla erbost darüber waren, doch nicht gegen Mithridates in den Krieg ziehen zu können. Sie fürchteten, dass ihnen dadurch Beute entgehen könnte. Sulla ist noch zögerlich, von den Soldaten einen Angriff auf Rom zu verlangen, aber sie bieten es ihm selbst an. Beim Marsch auf Rom wird er vom Konsulskollegen Pompeius unterstützt, nicht zu verwechseln mit dem Triumvirn Pompeius Magnus. Der Senat und Marius, der noch in der Stadt ist, versuchen noch, den Marsch mit Boten aufzuhalten, aber die Armee erreicht Rom, zieht in die Stadt ein und besiegt die von Marius eilig zusammengestellten Truppen in der Stadt im Straßenkampf. Marius und seine Verbündeten fliehen nach der Niederlage aus der Stadt, woraufhin Sulla sofort beginnt, Neuerungen in seinem Sinne durchzusetzen. De facto hat er die Stadt militärisch besetzt und einen Militärputsch durchgeführt.

Appians Meinung über Sulla ist aus dieser Quellenstelle nur schwer zu entnehmen, da er sich mit direkten Kommentaren zurückhält. Man bemerkt allerdings einen gewissen missbilligenden Ton, dass Sulla gewissermaßen die Büchse der Pandora geöffnet habe, denn nach ihm sei kein Konflikt mehr innerhalb des Staates ohne Waffengewalt und Militäreinsatz gelöst worden. Außerdem wird deutlich hervorgehoben, dass Sulla der Erste ist, der Legionäre gegen Rom einsetzt, zumindest seit dem mythischen Coriolanus. Gleichzeitig werden einige seiner Maßnahmen, wie die Beendigung der „tyrannischen“ Herrschaft der Volkstribunen und die Einschränkung der Mitbestimmung der Massen, von Appian durchaus begrüßt.

Die Quelle lässt ferner einige Rückschlüsse auf die Gründe für den Untergang der Republik zu, der sich jetzt bereits abzeichnete, auch wenn das den Zeitgenossen nicht unbedingt klar war. Ein Grund ist direkt am Anfang der Quelle zu erkennen: Die Soldaten haben Angst, nicht genug Beute zu machen und wollen deshalb unbedingt in den Krieg ziehen, und da sie keine große Loyalität gegenüber dem Senat oder dem römischen Staat empfinden, folgen sie ihrem Feldherren sogar nach Rom. Wir sehen auch, dass sie nicht vor Plünderungen in Rom selbst zurückschreckten und Sulla sie dafür bestrafen musste, damit die Situation nicht vollends eskalierte. Damit werden die Schwächen der marianischen Heeresreform deutlich: Das neue Proletarierheer, dessen einzige Hoffnung auf ein Auskommen beim Feldherren und den durch seinen Erfolg möglichen Plünderungen liegt, will um jeden Preis Krieg führen und dabei Beute machen. Die Armeen sind nur noch ihren Feldherren, nicht jedoch dem Senat oder dem Volk gegenüber loyal, auch wenn SPQR (senatus populusque Romanus) auf den Standarten prangte. Und zusätzlich hatten sich die Gräben zwischen den Parteien der Optimaten um Sulla und den Popularen um Marius so vertieft, dass keine Seite mehr vor Gewalt im Ausmaß eines Bürgerkrieges zurückschreckte. Damit war der Weg zu den Bürgerkriegen der 40er Jahre geebnet, die das Ende der Republik einläuteten.