Did Sulla suffer from some bizarre skin affliction?

[G-Manicus]

(*Disclaimer ... yes, I fully realize what I'm about to present comes from a book of historical FICTION)

 

I've recently begun reading "Fortune's Favourites" by Colleen McCullough chronicling Sulla's rise to Dictator. Early on she portrays a scene where young Pompey Magnus leads his troops to join with Sulla's forces and Pompey is aghast at Sulla's physical appearance (not to mention the fact that he was drunk!). Pompey comes to find that Sulla is suffering from some sort of affliction which causes his skin to itch uncontrollably, the effect of which is his skin is riddled with sores and bleeds, and his hair has fallen out. She indicates that Sulla at that point has taken to wearing a wig to hide this and that somehow drinking voluminous amounts of wine helps to control this condition from breaking out. The book mentions that the condition came about as a result of a bad sunburn suffered by Sulla in Greece during the Mithrandatic Wars.

 

Can anyone shed any light (no pun inteneded, Sulla!) as to whether there is any historical basis for the above? If so, any idea what this affliction was that Sulla suffered from? Was he believed to have suffered from skin cancer? Earlier on in the series, Sulla was said to have suffered a horrendous sunburn while on campaign with Marius in Jugurtha.

 

Why would wine counteract it? I know it's considered to be a preventative. (Doctor Asclepiades ... I'm looking at you!)

Edited November 21, 2007 by G-Manicus

[Kosmo]

He had some sort of skin disease with open ulceration. I don't remeber where I've read that maggots crawled from one to the other.

[Primus Pilus]

Clearly McCullough did her research, as did novelists such as Robert Graves, but a novelists nature is always to take that research and insert their own interpretations of it. Are they wrong? Not necessarily, but there is often not enough actual historical to support some of the details.

 

However, in this case, Plutarch provides some interesting information. He, unlike us unfortunately, would've also had access to Sulla's personal memoirs.

 

Plutarch provides a decent summary of the 'blotchy' skin condition in Life of Sulla ch 2

 

Describing his death, Plutarch goes on to explain the condition with worms that Kosmo mentioned. Life of Sulla ch. 36

[G-Manicus]

Thanks, Primus. I had just come across the Plutarch references and was coming here to post them as well.

[guy]

I enjoyed reading this post from more than a decade ago.

Sulla's skin disease has been discussed frequently in past.

From Plutarch's "Parallel Lives, Sulla:"

 

Quote

36 1 However, even though he had such a wife at home, he consorted with actresses, harpists, and theatrical people, drinking with them on couches all day long. For these were the men who had most influence with him now: Roscius the comedian, Sorex the archmime, and Metrobius the impersonator of women, for whom, though past his prime, he continued up to the last to be passionately fond, and made no denial of it. By this mode of life he aggravated a disease which was insignificant in its beginnings, and for a long time he knew not that his bowels were ulcerated. This disease corrupted his whole flesh also, and converted it into worms, so that although many were employed day and night in removing them, what they took away was as nothing compared with the increase upon him, but all his clothing, baths, hand-basins, and food, were infected with that flux of corruption, so violent was its discharge. Therefore he immersed himself many times a‑day in water to cleanse and scour his person. But it was of no use; for the change gained upon him rapidly, and the swarm of vermin defied all purification.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sulla*.html

Although suggested by many (and certainly consistent with some features of Sulla's presentation), secondary and tertiary syphilis are unlikely since the virulent form of syphilis causing this eruption was unknown in Europe at the time.

http://www.casa-kvsa.org.za/1961/AC04-06-Carney.pdf

Perhaps Sulla suffered from a not-too-rare condition in the elderly known as bullous pemphigoid. Without treatment, patients with bullous pemphigoid suffer from intact blisters and erosions that frequently become secondarily infected with bacteria.

 

Whatever the primary cause of the skin eruption,  maggots can lay eggs on these or any other open wounds (myiasis).

 

(Image of dog suffering from myiasis.)

 

 

guy also known as gaius

Edited April 3, 2023 by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

Interesting old thread--

To summarize Plutarch- Sulla had a generalized skin condition that seemed to start as a severe red rash, became ulcerated and the open sores became infested with worms...

Any skin ulcerstions, given the conditions of hygiene of an ancient military operation, would be susceptible to infestation by flies\maggots.

It seemed to have started with a severe sunburn....probably that just meant a generalized red rash or a blistering skin condition that looked like a sunburn. Pemphigus (cleverly mentioned above) is a blistering condition that covers large areas of skin, but was fatal within a year in 90% of cases without modern treatment....."Red Man Syndrome," a form of lymphoma affecting the skin is very itchy leading to destructive scratching and then infestation, is another uncommon possibility, and has a longer course.

Plutarch also mentions "ulcerstion of the bowels" Who knows what he means? Celiac disease is quite common and can show Dermatitis Herpetiformis, although pruritus severe enough to cause generalized ulcerstion is not typical.

Any allergic dermatitis would cause redness, pruritis, scratching and open sores. A severe allergy to wool garments may be the most likely explanation.

Secondary syphylis causes odd rashes, but not usually pruritic. It does not seem to be described in Europe prior to 1500AD...(Consorting with harpists and transvestites is bad enough, but MIMES? Sulla, how could you sink so low?)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19 by guidoLaMoto

[guy]

On 11/19/2024 at 12:39 AM, guidoLaMoto said:

Pemphigus (cleverly mentioned above) is a blistering condition that covers large areas of skin, but was fatal within a year in 90% of cases without modern treatment.

Thank you for reading my response. 

You are correct that Sulla is unlikely to have pemphigus vulgaris (since it has a high mortality rate) and occurs at a younger age. I had suggested, however, that Sulla had bullous pemphigoid, a different type of autoimmune disease. 

Bullous pemphigoid primarily affects older adults, typically those over the age of 60. (Sulla was 60 when he died.) It is generally considered less life-threatening than pemphigus vulgaris, which usually arises in individuals a decade or two earlier. Bullous pemphigoid often begins with itching (pruritus) and can later develop into hive-like urticarial plaques; these symptoms may persist for months or even years before the appearance of blisters.

In contrast, most patients with pemphigus vulgaris experience oral lesions, making eating difficult. However, this particular aspect was not mentioned in the referenced ancient text. Fortunately, patients with bullous pemphigoid rarely experience oral lesions, and when they do, the involvement is much less debilitating.

Thank you once again for your thoughtful response. I appreciate being challenged on various topics, which encourages me to reconsider my views. If Sulla had a severe skin disorder, it was likely bullous pemphigoid rather than pemphigus vulgaris since the former is generally less life-threatening.

 

 

Edited November 23 by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

Not to belabor the point, but pemphigoid is rare enough, but even more rare under the age of 60, and always associated with some other, usually debilitating condition.

Leishmaniasis is another infectious dermatitis causing ulcerations which could get infested secondarily with maggots. It's a protozoal parasite spread by the sandfly-- that fits Sulla's situation.

When you hear hoof beats coming down the road, it's probably a horse and not a zebra (unless you're in sub-Saharan Africa). The most likely situation is that Sulla had a nasty, pruritic allergy, scratched himself raw and the open sores got infested..,

Pemphigus occurs in 1 in 500,000 people; pemphigoid in 1 in 50,000; leishmaniasis in 1 in 1000 (but very rare in industrialized nations) allergic dermatitis 1 in 5.....I'm putting my money on allergic dermatitis.