Lucius Cornelius Sulla marched on Rome twice, published proscription lists that legalized the murder of his enemies, and ruled as dictator with absolute power. Then he voluntarily resigned and retired to his country estate. Every tyrant who followed him borrowed from his methods.

This episode traces how Sulla shattered the norms of the Roman Republic and created the template for its destruction.

• The first march on Rome and why it shocked the ancient world
• The proscriptions and how they turned murder into government policy
• His constitutional reforms and why they failed to save the Republic
• The voluntary resignation that baffled his contemporaries