Background
Not much is known about Cinna before his bid for the consulship of 87 BC.
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Lucius Cornelius Cinna
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After serving in the Social War (90–88), Cinna became consul in 87. When Sulla left Rome to fight Mithradates VI, king of Pontus, in the East, Cinna repealed Sulla’s laws and threatened him with prosecution. Cinna’s proposed revival of a bill of Publius Sulpicius Rufus (for the equal distribution of the newly enfranchised Italians among all the 35 tribes) caused riots and led to his expulsion from the city. He collected an army and, together with Marius, captured Rome. Executions of Sulla’s supporters followed.
The death of Marius in January 86 left Cinna in control, and he remained consul, with Lucius Valerius Flaccus in 86 and with Gnaeus Papirius Carbo in 85–84. During this period Cinna enacted economic reforms and began enforcement of the Sulpician voting rights measure. In 84 he prepared to cross to Dalmatia but was killed in a mutiny. Cinna’s daughter Cornelia married Julius Caesar.
Achievements
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Lucius Cornelius Cinna was important within Roman history. He played an important role in the dispute between Gaius Marius and Lucius Sulla, allowing Marius to return to Rome for his seventh consulship. Cinna’s rule was not well documented and many argue that his only goal was his own advancement. His alliance with Marius was to better his interests rather than as a statement of his politics. He attempted to become a tyrant behind a veiled disguise of a republic under a strict constitution. His only real cause was that of the equalization of the Italian groups. Although he was not as well documented as his contemporaries, Cinna was still an essential player in the fall of the system of the Roman Republic, ushering in a thinly veiled form of tyranny.
Connections
Cinna was married to Annia, who was the daughter of Annius (unidentifiable). They had two daughters and a son.
