CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: E - Sulla was nominated dictator following the first Roman civil war in 83/82 BCE. Sulla began a reign of terror and bloodshed that involved the execution of many members of the patrician class and elected senators. It marked the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic, as Rome was soon overtaken by a succession of emperors. Augustus founded the Roman Empire, in which Julius Caesar and Cicero were pivotal players (as statesmen). (Hannibal was a Carthaginian leader who lost the Second Punic War to the Roman Republic.)