Sulla Cornellius

Pronunciation: SOOL-luh + kohr-NEHL-lee-uhs

Occurrences: 17

First Reference: 3rd Endowment 24:7

And over so great an army did Commodus III place in command, a general of great renown, even the man Sulla Cornellius; and he made haste the great invasion, drawing into every port a great many naval ships and barges.

See: First Track, First World, Rome, South Africa

Summary: During the First Track of the world of the First Power, Sulla Cornellius was a decorated military general for the empire of Rome. Under the reign of Emperor Commodus III, Cornellius was appointed to plan and oversee an assault against the Drakonian occupied land of Antarctica (3:24:6-8). Having received intelligence concerning Rome’s impending siege, the Drakonian military launched a brilliant offensive strike conceived of by the young Kronus Maximillius. Not only did Sulla’s mission to sieze Antarctica fail, but his naval fleet became trapped and useless as Drakonian forces bombarded the garrison cities of South Africa, plundering Rome of up to half of its wealth (3:24:9 — 3:25:22).

In an attempt to escape blame for the botched invasion, Commodus brought charges against Sulla, commanding that he, along with every son of his lineage, be crucified on the walls of Rome. In addition, every woman who “bore the seed of Sulla” was impaled upon the stake. The same measures were also brought upon all military personnel involved in the failed mission (3:25:38-40). Hoping to further protect himself against the scorn of his empire, Commodus offered a reward of one million gold sestersies for the head of Kronus Maximillius (3:25:42-45).

Azrael’s Commentary — Sulla Cornellius

A descendant of the second imperial line of Roman emperors, the first being that of the Julians of which Julia Caesar was first and foremost; having himself changed Roman society and government from that of a republic to that of imperial rule. As the Julian line died out, a new imperial line was chosen. This was the line of the Cornelli. The Cornelli line of emperors lasted some 800 years before it fell out of favor with both the Senate and the powerful Praetorian Guard. This disfavor was the result of Rome’s loss of the entire western Roman Empire situated in North and South America. To avoid a second civil war, the last of the Cornelli emperors abdicated the throne in favor of the Marians. This was a rare peaceful surrender of power, and was thought necessary in order to avoid another civil war which could jeopardize whatever remained of the Roman Empire.

Sulla Cornellius was one of the most feared men in Rome. His military philosophy was simple: plan carefully, use overwhelming force, strike hard and without mercy, and do not stop until the enemy is dead and broken beneath your feet. In his lifetime, Sulla Cornellius never surrendered the battlefield to his enemy. He would keep attacking, and if that didn’t work he would shift his lines and attack again. He would keep attacking until the enemy broke and scattered. To the Chen he was a dreadful and relentless opponent. Sulla Cornellius was ferocious, cunning and totally unpredictable. His war against the Mongols, which took place on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains was devastating for the advancing Mongol hordes. This war occasioned the first use of nuclear weapons against an enemy of Rome.

Any Roman army under Sulla’s command dared not disappoint their general. At the battle Abu-Kan, when the third legion of Praxus proved unable to collapse one of the enemy flanks, Sulla Cornellius was forced to send in another legion to get the job done. After a long and bitter struggle the enemy flank collapsed and the Chen were forced to withdraw. After the battle, Sulla Cornellius singled out every officer of the third legion and had them crucified for failing to achieve his initial order.

During the long career of Sulla Cornellius, the general had never commanded an army against Drakonia. His war career had been made fighting against the encroachments of the Chen along the far eastern borders of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Emperor Commodus expressed his desire that Antarctica be taken away from Drakonia and returned to Roman control, Sulla made every effort to secure the command for himself. And although the Emperor made sure that Sulla got the command, the ill fated expedition failed to achieve its primary objective. This failure was chiefly the result of two factors: first came Sulla’s decision to send his transport vessels back to South Africa once he landed his forces on Antarctica. This insured that Sulla had no immediate means to go to the aid of South Africa once the Drakonians attacked it. Second, was the misfortune of having a fierce storm settle in right on top of his invading forces. Even if he wanted to call back his ships, they could not get through the heavy seas, much less take on such a large force as Sulla commanded.

The severe measures taken against Sulla Cornellius by the Emperor and the senate was engineered solely by Commodus III and was meant to save the Emperor from the senate itself. The senate was ruled by very powerful Roman families. Families who could trace their senatorial seats back beyond Julius Caesar, to the very founding of the Roman Republic itself. So Sulla Cornellius became the scapegoat and with his public shame came the death knell of the last of the imperial line of the Cornelli clan.

Notes/References:

Suli-Kahn

Sumer