A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

1. P. CORNELIUS (RUFINUS) SULLA, the great-grandfather of the dictator Sulla, and the grandson of P. Cornelius Rufinus, who was twice consul in the Samnite wars. [RUFINUS, CORNELIUS, No. 2.] His father is not mentioned. He was, as has been already mentioned, the first of the family who bore the surname of Sulla. He was flamen dialis, and likewise praetor urbanus and peregrinus in B. C. 212. The praetor of the preceding year, M. Attilius, had handed over to him certain sacred verses of the seer Marcius, partly referring to the past and partly to the future, and which commanded the Romans, among other things, to institute an annual festival in honour of Apollo. Upon this the senate ordered the decemviri to consult the Sibylline books, and as these gave the same command, Sulla presided over the first Ludi Apollinares, which were celebrated this year in the circus maximus. (Liv. 25.2, 3, 12, 15, 32, 41.)