Lucius Cornelius Sulla Faustus

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Lucius Cornelius Sulla Faustus, second son of the notable Faustus Cornelius Sulla, Consul under the Principitate of Augustus, born in Arretium in 20BC, of the infamous Cornelii Sullae.

Even under the Principitate, the Cornelii were highly respected and feared members of the Empire, none more so than Lucius Sulla known as Faustus to distinguish himself from the great Dictator, his direct great-grandfather. Lucius was said to affected deeply by the adoption of his brother Faustus by his Uncle Barbatus Sulla; he was close to his brother, known henceforth as Barbatus Cornelius Sulla Albinus Faustullus Cornelianus for the remainder of his life.

As the senior Sulla in his generation, he was favored by the Imperial Household, in particular Augustus, who took a special interest. Some think this is because his mother, Junia Albina, was in fact Augustus' daughter by Aemilia Scaura. He became friends with both Drusus the younger and Germanicus, often healing or preventing rifts betwixt the two.

He was appointed Consul at the young age of thirty, much to the embarrassment of his father, not yet even Praetor. He was a formidable general, and many later Imperial historians think it was he, not Germanicus, who was the true winner of the German war. He did not court favor, and was made Augur in AD4.He did however incite the jealousy of his younger brothers, in particular Illyricus Cornelius Sulla, who tried to have both Lucius and Barbatus banished, claiming they were plotting to re-establish a Sullan Dictatorship. This was discovered to be false, and Illyricus was executed.

This spawned what became known as the Sullan 'Civil War' as soon after Barbatus and his youngest son Gaius Cornelius Sulla Albinus were brutally murdered by Proculus Sulla, brother of Lucius and Illyricus. Their father Faustus ( II ) Cornelius Sullatook advantage of this in AD 9 when he tried to assassinate Augustus. All his descendants had their estates confiscated, and it wasn’t until the reign of Tiberius that Lucius was re-granted his estates after military exile in Belgium. It was there that he was hailed Imperator, and granted the title 'Belgicus' which he refused for himself but gave to his youngest son.

Lucius lived into the reign of Caligula, but died after a month of the Caligulan reign. After his exile he was never the same man, and focused on using his popularity to gain favors for his numerous children. He was highly regarded for long after his untimely death. Many consider him to also be the father of both the Emperor Nero and "barrack emperor" Servius Sulpicius Galba^{[citation needed]}.

He was married five times.

Marriage and Children

• Aemilia Lepida
  • Faustus ( III ) Cornelius Sulla Lucullus
  • Lucius Cornelius Sulla Magnus
  • Cornelia Sulla Lucia

• Cornelia Sulla Ancina
  • Servius Cornelius Sulla
  • Numerius Cornelius Sulla
  • Publius Cornelius Sulla Faustullus
  • Caelus Cornelius Sulla

• Julia Caearia Lucullina
  • Cornilla Sullilla

• Fabia Persicana
  • Cornelia Sulla Persicana
  • Rufinus Cornelius Sulla
  • Decimus Cornelius Sulla Ahala
  • Fabus Cornelius Sulla
  • Persicus Cornelius Sulla Maximus
  • Quintus Cornelius Sulla

• Claudia Pulchra
  • Appius Cornelius Sulla
  • Gnarus Cornelius Sulla
  • Belgicus Cornelius Sulla Maximus