Publius Cornelius Sulla was a Roman commander and politician of the mid‑3rd century BC. He belonged to the patrician gens Cornelia, the branch known as the Sullae. His father served as flamen Dialis (high priest of Jupiter) circa 270–250 BC, and his grandfather, Publius Cornelius Rufinus, held the consulship twice during the Samnite Wars.
In 212 BC, during the Second Punic War, Sulla was elected praetor urbanus, the magistrate responsible for administering justice among Roman citizens. He also received the additional jurisdiction of praetor peregrinus, which dealt with legal matters involving foreigners. While holding this office, Sulla presided over the inaugural ludi Apollinares, establishing an annual public festival in honor of the god Apollo. He is also recorded as having served as Decemvir Sacris Facundis, a member of a college of ten priests tasked with overseeing certain religious rites.
Sulla is historically notable as the great‑grandfather of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the later Roman dictator (82–79 BC). Beyond these familial and official connections, no further details of his life or career are preserved in surviving ancient sources.
References
- Smith, William (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 3, p. 933.
- Broughton, T. R. S. (1952–1986). The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. I, pp. 268, 271.
- Wikipedia contributors. “Publius Cornelius Sulla (praetor 212 BC).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from the article on Publius Cornelius Sulla (praetor 212 BC).