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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;nerosmyfavorite68, post: 8223053, member: 134416&quot;]Lucius Cornelius Sulla has interested me since my college days, and while AE of Nero are my favorite coins, L.C. Sulla is my favorite Roman; favorite as in most fascinating.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; He associated with a colorful and diverse crowd, had a distinguished military career, attempted to right a decaying republic, was the bain of radicals, retired voluntarily at the top of his game and allegedly had one of the coolest tomb epitaphs (the thread title).</p><p>&nbsp; Shamefully, I have no portrait Denarius of Sulla (Sydenham 908).&nbsp; They rarely come up on vcoins, and when they do, they tend to be fourrees.&nbsp; I don&#039;t do auctions.</p><p>&nbsp;This fellow <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Sulla_Glyptothek_Munich_309.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Sulla_Glyptothek_Munich_309.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Sulla_Glyptothek_Munich_309.jpg</a>&nbsp; has been attributed as Sulla in the past, but like the Wiki caption says, if one adds hair to the older &#039;Marius&#039; bust, it&#039;s the same guy.&nbsp; Young Marius, if that is he, was certainly a ferocious-looking individual.</p><p>&nbsp; History is a funny thing; Diocletian, for example, has a mostly positive reputation, but his economic reforms were a huge bust and he he ushered in a North Korean-style state.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure he also probably executed more people than did Sulla. </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Although I admire the Divine Augustus, are there any numbers of the proscriptions of 43 BC?&nbsp; I&#039;m sure they were comparable to Sulla&#039;s.</p><p>&nbsp; Whatever one may think of Sulla, weak and ephemeral certainly aren&#039;t words to describe him.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; As an aside, what numismatic issues are being referenced in Wikipedia&#039;s Sack of Athens section?, </p><p>&quot;On arrival, Sulla threw up siegeworks encompassing not only Athens, but also the port of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piraeus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piraeus" rel="nofollow">Piraeus</a>. At the time, Archelaus had command of the sea, so Sulla sent Lucullus to raise a fleet from the remaining Roman allies in the eastern Mediterranean. His first objective was Piraeus, as Athens could not be resupplied without it. Huge earthworks were raised, isolating Athens and its port from the landside. Sulla needed wood, so he cut down everything, including the sacred groves of Greece, up to 100 miles from Athens. When more money was needed, he took from temples and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibyl" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibyl" rel="nofollow">sibyls</a> alike. <span style="color: #8000ff">The currency minted from this treasure was to remain in circulation for centuries and was prized for its quality.&quot;</span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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