Lucius Cornelius Cinna

Lucius Cornelius Cinna (before 130 BC – early 84 BC) was a four-time consul of the Roman republic. Opposing Sulla's march on Rome in 88 BC, he was elected to the consulship of 87 BC, during which he engaged in an armed conflict – the Bellum Octavianum – with his co-consul, Gnaeus Octavius. Emerging victorious, Cinna initiated with his ally, Gaius Marius, extrajudicial killings of their personal enemies. In the aftermath, he dominated the republic for the next three years, serving continuously as consul.

While his domination was not complete – he largely contented himself with securing the consulship for himself and allies – his political rule set a "crucial precedent"^[1] for later strongmen in the republic. Through 85 and 84 BC, he prepared for civil war with Sulla, who was soon to return from the First Mithridatic War. But when trying to ferry his men across the Adriatic at Ancona early in 84 BC, they mutinied and Cinna was killed.