Publius Cornelius Cethegus (political boss)

Publius Cornelius Cethegus (c. 131 BC – before 66 BC) was a politician of the Roman Republic. During the civil wars of the 80s BC, he was originally a partisan of Gaius Marius, but survived the purges of the political class by defecting to the eventual victor, Sulla, whose favor he endeavored to win by treacherously abetting in the massacre of several thousand prisoners of war. 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. He played a key behind-the-scenes role in the allotment of important provincial governorships and military commands in the year 74 BC, and probably died not long afterwards.