Political refugees from Italy during the First Civil War and the dictatorship of L. Cornelius Sulla (88-79 BC)

During the First Civil War, political emigration occurred in Rome. The author of the paper distin­guishes three stages of this emigration. The first concerns the period immediately after the outbreak of the First Civil War in 88 BC. At that time, a small group of refugees escaping Sullan repression reached Spain and Africa. The second stage involved the persecution that broke out in Rome after the victory of Cinna and Marius. In this case, emigration concerned a much wider population. First, refugees fled to the East to join Sulla, but they also sought out asylum in other parts of the Republic, for example in Spain or Africa. The third stage of emigration followed the victory of L. Cornelius Sulla in the First Civil War in Italy and the introduction of proscription (82 BC). Spain became the main destination for refugees, and their number was so great that they established their own center of power, organized armed forces, and resisted Sullan troops for several years. In the paper, the author presents the reasons emigrants had for leaving Italy, the scale of the phenomenon, the main directions and circumstances of emigration, its nature as well as the actions undertaken by refugees to return to Italy.