* This study advances on my earlier discussion of the date of Sulla's abdication in Cahiers Gustave Glotz 2004 (pp. 58-68). All dates are BCE unless indicated otherwise. Translations are taken from the Loeb Classical Library series, modified where needed. For John the Lydian, I have worked from A. C. Bandy's 1983 edition (Ioannes Lydus on Powers or The Magistracies of the Roman State. Introduction, Critical Text, Translation, Commentary, and Indices, Philadelphia). I am much obliged to Em. Prof. Ronald Ridley, Dr. Christopher Dart, Dr. Alexandra Eckert and the anonymous referees for their incisive and helpful feedback on earlier drafts. All remaining errors are my own.