Publius Cornelius Cethegus (political boss)

Although he was regarded as a moral reprobate with a dissolute lifestyle, Cethegus became in the 70s BC a leading figure in the Roman Senate as a master of intrigue and manipulation, to the extent that the most eminent men of the state vied for his favor.

Declared a public enemy, Cethegus, alongside Marius and other fellow outlaws, fled to Africa, but returned to Rome the following year, after Sulla and his army had left Italy to fight the Mithridatic War in the east.

Seeking to win Sulla's favor, Cethegus joined the victorious conqueror at the siege of Praeneste in 82, and there helped him organize a large-scale massacre of Marian prisoners of war by giving them false assurances of safety.

[8] Although Cethegus was regarded as low of moral character and unsavory in his lifestyle choices, he acquired much influence in the Roman Senate during the post-Sullan era as a master of intrigue and manipulation.

[10] His contemporary Cicero, although thinking of him as a poor speaker, noted that Cethegus's eloquence in, and knowledge of, state affairs caused his auctoritas to rival that of former consuls.