He was a gifted and innovative general and achieved numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and domestic. Sulla had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history, and became the first man of the republic to seize power through force. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix ( / ˈ s ʌ l ə/ 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman.