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The Turning Tide: The Politics of the Year 79 b.c.e.
- Transactions of the American Philological Association
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 144, Number 2, Autumn 2014
- pp. 415-444
- 10.1353/apa.2014.0008
- Article
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summary:
Most scholars are convinced that Rome in 79 b.c.e. remained cowed by fear of Sulla. This paper attempts a new reconstruction of the political mood of the year 79 and the significance of the successful consular canvass of M. Aemilius Lepidus. I argue that the insecurity of Sulla’s settlement was felt almost immediately after he stepped back from formal power. A general unease crystallized around two specific and explosive issues: the unresolved fate of those in exile from the Sullan regime and the possibility of recriminations for actions taken during the civil war and proscriptions.