Sulla the Fortunate

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I must confess I read this more for the style of historiography, rather than the accuracy of the content. In the former it lived up to expectation, having that travelogue style to the scholarship that is almost delightfully quaint. Not that there is a problem with that early twentieth century style of history because it is far better at drawing the general reader into a real sense of 'being there' and creating a personality. And therein lies it flaw. As with many other modern historical biographies of its time it lacks the refined historical approach of the contemporary essay, which are in themselves, confessionably dry to read.
So, read it but if you're a serious scholar of Sulla go elsewhere for your information.

Rating:
Summary: Brings Rome and its politics back to life
Review: Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 BC) won fame as a Roman solider and parleyed that fame into a bid to seize power over the entire empire as its dictator. In Sulla's time, Rome had suffered a decay of its historical religious faith, a weakening of its aristocracy, the ascent of a wealthy oligarchy, and the growth of international finance. This impressive and informative biography relates the numerous battles Sulla and his arch rival Gaius Marious (a Roman general of great abilities) fought in Africa, Gaul, and Greece to defend the empire's borders. Also described in detail is the bloody civil war that would pave the way for Sulla's dictatorship, and the political reforms he enacted in his efforts to revive faded beliefs that had once served to unify the Roman people and their government. One of Sulla's most enduring legacies was the influence he had on Julius Caesar, who seized power using Sulla's methods. Highly recommended reading for all students of Roman history, Sulla The Fortunate is an marvelously presented historical record of warfare, alliances, and betrayals that brings Rome and its politics back to life.

Rating:
Summary: Every Villian The Hero of His Own Story
Review: The Roman aristocrat Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the penultimate Dictator of Rome (Julius Caesar was the last to hold that office), is widely remembered for two things. First, by trivia buffs, as the general/statesman who gave himself the cognomen "Felix," or "the Fortunate," only to die riddled with worms. Second, and foremost, as the stage-villain of the Roman Republic; as the first man to lead a standing army into Rome itself (thereby establishing a new tradition in civil war); as the author of the Great Proscription (an ancient Enemies List, bringing death to its members) and as a sexual degenerate who spent his leisure time with prostitutes and actors. Baker, a famous historian of the early c.20th, admits that while Sulla was all of these things, he was also a brilliant strategist and a reasonably capable (if cruel) administrator. Sulla accompanied his great rival Marius on a wildly successful North African expedition and later defeated a Greek uprising using tactics that were to draw admiration from Caesar and Napoleon. As dictator, he struggled to restore an aristocratic order, but ultimately failed: his protege, Pompey the Great, was destined to be vanquished by Caesar. It is a happy day that someone has thought to reprint Baker. He wrote this account of Sulla at a time (the late 1920s) where it seemed the Western world was about to enter a new age of dictators (as indeed was the case in many countries); his life of Sulla is infused with the politics of the day, and, like Liddell Hart's contemporaneous work on Scipio, can thus be read on several levels.

Rating:
Summary: Disapointment
Review: This book is old, outdated and very naive in its approach to the subject matter.

It is about time to see a new book about Sulla the dictator, a book which shall present all the recent research material to the modern reader.

Amazon should warn the customers that this book is not a new creation but a re-print of an old book.

On the other hand, although being useless for the student of ancient history, it is fluent and interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Opinionated gossip not history
Review: This is a book which was written in 1927 and is very dated. The author has no foot notes and the book does not have a bibliography. It is a folksy anecdotal telling of the career of the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelious Sulla which is replete with the the prejudices of the author.

For example Mithradates VI King of Pontus is described at one point as "every much a Turk". At another point he is described as a "typical Asiatic" despite the fact that the concept was invented after the conquests of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the book concepts more at home with Victorian England than ancient Rome are continually introduced. He thus talks of the influence of "Capatalists" in what was basically a land owning society.

The book seems to be based on Plutarch with the author providing his own gloss. The historical accuracy is not great. Baker accepts on face value ancient accounts of battles which had been called into question by both Dodge and Delbruck prior to the writing of this book in 1927.

This is popular and opinionated history at its worse. I am surprised that the book is still in print.

Rating:
Summary: SULLA, the Tormented
Review: While this is not an exhaustingly researched book replete with facts and figures on Sulla, it was never meant to be such as the author himself says in the foreword. It was always meant to be a brief history of Sulla and his times, and a subjective analysis of his life, character and actions. Sometimes the historian must use imagination and not just facts and figures. I found the insights in this book fascinating and would recommend it for someone who wants a grasp of the essentials of Sulla and what made him tick if not the details.