Death in the Villa Publica. The Massacre of Prisoners after the Battle of the Colline Gate
Death in the Villa Publica. The Massacre of Prisoners after the Battle of the Colline Gate

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns the massacre of prisoners that occurred at the Villa Publica few days after the Battle of the Colline Gate. The order to slay the prisoners was issued by Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The view that only Samnites had died in the massacre due to Sulla’s personal hatred of those peoples is deeply embedded in historiography. The author of the article believes that Samnites constituted only a part of the murdered prisoners in the Villa Publica. Also Sulla’s motives were different – he aimed at intimidation of senators who held a meeting at the same time in the nearby Temple of Bellona. The massacre also launched reprisals against political opponents that escalated into the infamous proscriptions.

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