Sulla – Character Bio

One of Marius’ most influential allies 

To win for himself more glory than his commander 

loud, quiet, harsh, etc.

“Apollo save me” 

• He has a jovial manner, and conducts himself as friendly as possible at all times.
• He is easy to get along with, and is generally liked by everyone, from the lowliest slave to the highest ranking officers.
• He finds many things rather humorous, even to the point of irritating others. He takes very little seriously, but when he does it forces others to take notice.
• He is exceedingly giving, and offers everything he has to others. He seems to hold most of what he has in little value.
• He offers absurd mercies and enforces unjust punishments. He is completely unpredictable, and intimidating as a result.
• He is bold and unwavering. He doesn’t hesitate in anything, whether on the battlefield or in social life. He also never seems to regret his decisions.
• He is exceedingly handsome and charming. You are immediately drawn to him, although it is clear to see he cannot be trusted. He is an impulsive liar, and will state falsehoods as fact in front of those who know them to be false.
• He is as kind to Sertorius as the farmers he grew up around, but he stills finds something strange about Sulla’s personality.
• It’s as if Sulla were only acting, his true nature to never be revealed. It was as if Sulla felt that the whole world were absurd, and he were somehow above it.
• Sertorius felt that Sulla might snap at the slightest provocation, and cut his throat- even after the two bond.
• He is far more colorful when he is drinking. Fortunately, he is almost always drinking. Sertorius at first believes he is simply not a morning person, but soon realizes Sulla simply didn’t have much personality until his fourth or fifth cup.
• He cares about his physical body a great deal, not in a practical sense but in vanity.
• He is good at compromising, because he has no true moral compass.
• He treats everyone as if they may have something important to teach him. He listens with intent, only disagreeing after he has fully understood their point.

• He often prays to Apollo, and consults this particular deity very often.
• Sulla likes to watch how animals behave. He finds cats and dogs interesting, but cats more so.
• He likes to speak of poetry and philosophy when he drinks wine, to Marius’ irritation and Sertorius’ delight.
• His sexual appetite is outrageous, and it isn’t dissipated while on campaign.

• Bold and seemingly unafraid of anything life can throw at him.
• He is an excellent tactician, and almost all of his advice is implemented in Marius’ strategy.
• He has earned the trust of his men, not so much for his affability, but for his proven ability in the field.

• The friends he keeps (actors, Greeks, playwrights), ostracize him from his peers, but he is unable to break from them.
• Once his temper is roused, he can do nothing to tame it.
• Because he has created such a persona for himself, he has few that truly knows him- and he therefore has a deep set feeling of being unloved.

• He enjoys watching animal behavior.
• He isn’t afraid to seek out Gallic trollops if there isn’t someone else to satisfy his needs.
• He kicks his feet up on tables and chairs, reclining, whenever they have formal meetings- which irritates Marius.

• He has not yet set his eyes on the highest ambitions he will later seek, but he has the upmost belief that he will become someone special.
• He wants to restore the Sulla name, undoing the damage caused to it by his drunken and impoverished ancestors.

• That Marius will ultimately be remembered in more glory than himself.

• He has a STD, which resulted in the loss of one of his testicles.
• That he killed his two old lovers, receiving their inheritance after the fact.

• He is a friend to all, but as he might say, there was no greater friend, no worse enemy.
• Those who had caught his enmity are unlikely to ever lose it.

• Drinking with his companions, speaking of poetry, and thinking on life.

• That the gods will carry him through anything, and that all of his actions are justified because he is divinely favored by Apollo.
• He believes that the ends justify the means, and that if he is victorious, his actions must be correct, because Apollo has not abandoned him.

• That the majority of his wealth was earned from the elder women he courted, when they gave it to him in their inheritance. He is very temperamental when this is brought up.

• Italians. Sertorius finds it odd (and offensive) that Sulla seems to show more affinity for Gauls and Celts than his does for Italians. He says he dislikes that they view themselves as equals with Romans, whereas other nations know their place.
• He views the plebs with relative indifference- he doesn’t hate them or disdain their squabbling as some of the other nobles do, but he holds them in a place of minimal value.

• Optimate- he believes that the power has always, and should always, belong to the Senate- the descendants of the good men who founded the city.
• He opposes any legislation that takes away from that power, and puts power into the hands of the plebs, the tribunals, or the equestrians.

• He is deeply devoted to Apollo, the god he believes has favored him in all things.
• He rarely consults any of the other gods, deferring to Apollo and a few goddesses from time to time.
• He doesn’t believe in portents or signs very often, except when they validate his actions. His belief is that he is intrinsically favored.

• He seems to have an unbelievable talent for managing stressful situations. He treats threats as if their outcome has already been decided, and always in his favor.
• Unlike his mentor, there is very little that can perturb him.

• He hums when he should perhaps be quiet.

• To win the war against the Cimbri, and to create a narrative that he, in fact, was the true conquerer. If that was too much to be conceived (as it is), than he at least wants to take that power away from Marius, and give it to Catulus.

• He wants to find himself in a position of power, so that he must bend a knee to no man. He hasn’t quite decided on being a dictator, but he wants to control everything around him. He wants to live in the manner he so choses, without having to defer to others for permission or blessings.

• He was raised in poverty on the Subura. He is very self conscious about this, and is quick to point out that he no longer lives there.

• His father died when he was just a young man, and his mother before him. After both his parents were dead, he shacked up with his mother-in-law.
• She also dies, and it seems that most of the people in his life have died, and some far before their time.

• He has had a Consular ancestor, but it has been so long that his family is of little consequence. The Sulla name is considered with little more regard than the common plebeian new man.

• He was close friends with the Caesar brothers- Gaius and Sextus. He was also close with the Cato brothers, and Marcus Drusus. These were friends in terms of distance and the amount of time they spent with one another, but Sulla always felt like an outsider.

• His father screwing one of the neighbor’s wives the evening after his mother died.

• There was a cat that visited his insula in the Subura. Some of the neighborhood boys killed it, and he was devastated. If he could go back and kill them, he says he would.

• At the theater, watching a Greek play. He can remember the weather- it was cool and there was a fine mist from a recent rain. It was evening, but the streets were well lit with torches. He remembers a feeling of awe and excitement as they told a tale of Apollo and the human he had deigned to carry out his will in protecting a village from minotaurs and gorgons.

• Not extensive, but thorough in the Roman perception. Most of his knowledge comes from self-learning, as he has done a great deal of reading, as well as speaking with others whom he is interested to learn from.

• Capturing Jugurtha with the help of the Mauretanian king Bocchus.

• Quaestor under Marius in Africa

He does, however, like a good joke, and isn’t upset when the soldiers joke with him, despite his rank.