insolentiam1 quis existimet memet studium meum laudando extollere. Atque ego credo fore, qui, quia decrevi procul a re publica aetatem agere, tanto tamque utili labori meo nomen inertiae imponant: certe, quibus2 maxima industria videtur salutare plebem et conviviis gratiam quaerere. Qui si reputaverint, et quibus ego temporibus magistratum adeptus sim, et quales viri idem assequi nequiverint,3 et postea quae genera hominum in senatum pervenerint, profecto existimabunt me magis merito quam ignavia judicium animi mei mutavisse, majusque commodum ex otio meo quam ex aliorum negotiis rei publicae venturum. Nam saepe ego audivi, Q. Maximum,+ P. Scipionem, praeterea civitatis nostrae praeclaros viros solitos ita dicere, quum majorum imagines5 intuerentur, vehe

The words per insolentiam belong to laudando extollere, and the meaning is, that no one may believe me to extol my own occupation with excessive praise.' Per insolentiam is the same as insolenter, per expressing manner.

At least those to whom it appears to be a lofty occupation,' &c. Respecting the omission of the demonstrative pronoun before the relative, even when they are in different cases, see Zumpt, § 765.

And what distinguished men were unable to attain such a distinction.' Sallust here boasts of having obtained a seat in the senate, and a high magistracy, at a time when it was a matter of difficulty, and when even men of great merit were unable to gain either. But at the same time he adds the remark, that afterwards many undeserving persons were introduced into the senate, to co-operate with whom was no honour. Quae genera hominum refers to the filling up of the senate with persons from the lower classes, and even with such as were not free-born. This connivance at ambitious upstarts, or rather this recklessness in filling up the vacancies in the supreme council of Rome, was shown not only by the dictator J. Caesar, but by his successors in power, M. Antony and Octavianus. In consequence of such things, Sallust adds, it will be evident that he was justified in withdrawing from public life.

That is, the celebrated Fabius Maximus, surnamed Cunctator, who distinguished himself by his prudence in the Second Punic War. P. Scipio is the elder Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal. We might indeed imagine that Sallust is speaking of Scipio Africanus the younger, but his being mentioned along with Fabius Maximus must lead every reader to think of the elder Scipio.

5 The images (imagines) of ancestors might indeed be statues, but from the mention of wax in the next sentence, it is evident that we have to understand the wax masks which constituted the greatest ornament in the vestibule of the house of a noble family. The busts (portraits) of those ancestors who had been invested with a curule office were made of wax, and their descendants used these wax portraits to dress up persons representing in public processions the illustrious deceased, adorned with all the insignia of the offices with which they had been invested. Such processions, especially at public funerals

Etiam homines nobilitatem ante

mentissime sibi animum ad virtutem accendi. Scilicet1 non ceram illam neque figuram tantam vim in sese habere, sed memoria rerum gestarum eam flammam egregiis viris in pectore crescere neque prius sedari, quam virtus eorum famam atque gloriam adaequaverit.2 At contra, quis est omnium his moribus, quin divitiis et sumptibus, non probitate neque industria cum majoribus suis contendat? novi,5 qui antea per virtutem soliti erant venire, furtim et per latrocinia potius quam bonis artibus ad imperia et honores nituntur; proinde quasi6 praetura et consulatus atque alia omnia hujuscemodi per se ipsa clara et magnifica sint, ac non perinde habeantur, ut eorum, qui ea sustinent, virtus est. Verum ego liberius altiusque processi, dum me civitatis morum piget taedetque; nunc ad inceptum redeo.

5. Bellum scripturus sum,7 quod populus Romanus cum Jugurtha rege Numidarum gessit; primum quia magnum et

(a real kind of masquerade), were intended to keep alive in the memory of the Romans not only the names and exploits of their illustrious statesmen and warriors, but even their bodily appearance.

1 Scilicet, in this passage, is not a conjunction as usual, but as in the earlier Latinity of Plautus and Terence, it is used for scire licet, 'one may perceive,' or 'it is self-evident,' and is accordingly followed by the accusative with the infinitive.

2The flame of their noble ambition did not become extinguished until their merit had obtained the fame and glory' (namely, of those ancestors).

3 His moribus,' in the present state of morality,' an ablative absolute. Instead of neque, the author might have used aut, for both particles are used to continue a negative statement. See Zumpt, § 337.

5 Homines novi, 'new men,' so called by the Romans, were those persons who were the first of their family to rise to curule offices, as Cato Censorius, and at a later time Cicero. In former times, Sallust says, such homines novi distinguished themselves by their ability, while now they rise by base means, especially by party strife and party interest, which he contemptuously calls latrocinium.

Proinde quasi, 'just as if,' and afterwards perinde habentur ut, 'they are considered as of equal value.' Compare Zumpt, §§ 282 and 340. 7 Respecting the special meaning of this periphrastic conjugation, see Zumpt, § 498. Sallust states that he wishes to describe this war separately, because during its progress there was kindled at Rome that struggle between the populares and the optimates, which was in the end carried on with such senseless vehemence, that only the devastation of Italy put a stop to the civil discord (studiis civilibus), and that only a military despotism (first of Caesar, and afterwards of the triumvirs) was able to restore peace. This part of the description of the Jugurthine war, accordingly, is of the greatest importance in forming a correct idea of the history of Rome at that time.

atrox variaque victoria fuit, dein quia tunc primum superbiae nobilitatis obviam itum est; quae contentio divina et humana cuncta permiscuit eoque vecordiae processit, uti studiis civilibus bellum atque vastitas Italiae finem faceret. Sed priusquam hujuscemodi rei initium expedio, pauca supra repetam, quo ad cognoscendum omnia illustria magis magisque in aperto sint.1 Bello Punico secundo, quo dux Carthaginiensium Hannibal post magnitudinem nominis Romani2 Italiae opes maxime attriverat, Masinissa rex Numidarum, in amicitiam receptus a P. Scipione, cui postea Africano3 cognomen ex virtute fuit, multa et praeclara rei militaris facinora fecerat; ob quae victis Carthaginiensibus et capto Syphace, cujus in Africa magnum atque late imperium valuit,5 populus Romanus quascunque urbes et agros manu ceperat, regi dono dedit. Igitur amicitia Masinissae bona atque honesta nobis permansit. Sed imperii vitaeque ejus finis idem fuit. Dein Micipsa filius regnum solus obtinuit, Mastanabale et Gulussa fratribus morbo absumptis. Is Adherbalem et Hiempsalem ex sese genuit, Jugurthamque, filium Mastanabalis fratris, quem Masinissa, quod ortus ex concubina erat, privatum dereliquerat, eodem cultu quo liberos suos domi habuit.

6. Qui ubi primum adolevit, pollens viribus, decora facie, sed multo maxime ingenio validus, non se luxu7 neque inertiae corrumpendum dedit, sed, uti mos gentis illius est, equitare, jaculari, cursu cum aequalibus certare, et quum omnes gloria

1 The same meaning might have been expressed by ut omnia ad cognoscendum illustriora et apertiora sint. See Zumpt, § 106.

2 That is, after the Roman name had become great ;' for in earlier times the Roman people had suffered still greater reverses, especially when the Gauls took and burned the city of Rome itself. But the author purposely avoids speaking of those early periods.

3 Africano. See Zumpt, § 421.

4 About et after multa, see Zumpt, § 756.

5

Magnum atque late, the connection of an adjective and adverb is somewhat singular- the dominion of Syphax existed as a large one, and had a wide extent;' for he possessed the whole of western Numidia, being the hereditary king of the people of the Massaesyli, while Masinissa had only the smaller, eastern, part, and the tribe of the Massyli.

6 He had left him behind in a private station;' that is, he had not appointed him in his will ruler of any portion of his dominions. But his uncle Micipsa gave him that which his grandfather Masinissa had refused to him; namely, he recognised him as a prince of the royal family.

7 Luxu for luxui. See Zumpt, § 81.

anteiret, omnibus tamen carus esse; ad hoc pleraque tempora in venando agere, leonem atque alias feras primus aut in primis ferire, plurimum facere, minimum ipse de se loqui. Quibus rebus Micipsa tametsi initio laetus fuerat, existimans virtutem Jugurthae regno suo gloriae fore, tamen, postquam hominem adolescentem exacta sua aetate et parvis liberis magis magisque crescere intellegit, vehementer eo negotio permotus, multa cum animo suo volvebat. Terrebat eum natura mortalium avida imperii et praeceps ad explendam animi cupidinem, praeterea opportunitas suae liberorumque aetatis, quae etiam mediocres viros spe praedae transversos agit;2 ad hoc studia Numidarum in Jugurtham accensa, ex quibus, si talem virum dolis interfecisset, ne qua seditio aut bellum oriretur, anxius erat.

7. His difficultatibus circumventus ubi videt neque per vim neque insidiis opprimi posse hominem tam acceptum popularibus, quod erat Jugurtha manu promptus et appetens gloriae militaris, statuit eum objectare periculis et eo modo fortunam temptare. Igitur bello Numantino3 Micipsa, quum populo Romano equitum atque peditum auxilia mitteret, sperans vel ostentando virtutem vel hostium saevitia facile eum occasurum, praefecit Numidis, quos in Hispaniam mittebat. Sed ea res longe aliter, ac ratus erat, evenit. Nam Jugurtha, ut erat impigro atque acri ingenio, ubi naturam P. Scipionis, qui tum Romanis imperator erat, et morem hostium cognovit, multo labore multaque cura, praeterea modestissime parendo et saepe obviam eundo periculis in tantam claritudinem brevi pervenerat, ut nostris vehementer

1 'The favourable opportunity of his advanced age and of the tender age of his children.'

2 Opportunities are apt to lead ordinary persons (not endowed with great mental powers) away from the right path. Transversus, 'that which turns away to one side.'

In the war against Numantia.' Numantia was the capital of the Arevaci, a tribe of the Celtiberians in Spain, and was situated on the upper Durius (now Duero), in the mountainous district whence the Durius and Tagus flow westward, and other rivers eastward, into the Iberus (Ebro), and southward into the Mediterranean. This city carried on a desperate' war against Rome to defend its own independence. After a brave resistance of many years, it was taken and destroyed, B. C. 133, by Scipio the younger, the destroyer of Carthage. Its ruins are believed to be in the neighbourhood of the modern Soria.

4 Qui tum erat-that is, quem tum Romani imperatorem habebant.

carus, Numantinis maximo terrori esset. Ac sane, quod difficillimum in primis1 est, et proelio strenuus erat et bonus consilio; quorum alterum2 ex providentia timorem, alterum ex audacia temeritatem affere plerumque solet. Igitur imperator omnes fere res asperas per Jugurtham agere, in amicis habere, magis magisque eum in dies amplecti ; quippe cujus neque consilium neque inceptum ullum frustra erat.3 Huc accedebat munificentia animi et ingenii sollertia, quîs rebus sibi multos ex Romanis familiari amicitia conjunxerat.

8. Ea tempestate in exercitu nostro fuere complures novi atque nobiles, quibus divitiae bono honestoque potiores erant,4 factiosi domi, potentes apud socios, clari magis quam honesti, qui Jugurthae non mediocrem animum pollicitando accendebant, si Micipsa rex occidisset, fore, uti solus imperio Numidiae potiretur, in ipso maximam virtutem, Romae omnia venalia esse. Sed postquam Numantia deleta P. Scipio dimittere auxilia et ipse reverti domum decrevit, donatum atque laudatum magnifice pro contione5 Jugurtham in praetorium abduxit ibique secreto monuit, uti potius publice quam privatim amicitiam populi Romani coleret neu quibus largiri insuesceret; periculose a paucis emi, quod multorum esset: si permanere vellet in suis artibus,7 ultro illi et gloriam et regnum venturum, sin properantius pergeret, suamet ipsum pecunia praecipitem casurum.

9. Sic locutus cum litteris eum, quas Micipsae redderet, dimisit. Earum sententia haec erat: 'Jugurthae tui bello

1 Difficillimum in primis, like difficillimum omnium; that is, the most difficult among those that were the first or foremost in difficulty.

2 The one-namely, to be good in council-usually produces timidity; the other—namely, to be bold in battle-rashness. Alterum alterum, takes up the things mentioned before, but in an inverse order; respecting which, see Zumpt, § 700, note.

3 Erat for the usual subjunctive esset.

4 "To whom wealth was of more importance than that which is good and noble.'

5 For the meaning of pro in this and similar expressions, see Zumpt, § 311.

6'Not to make presents to individuals,' quibus being used for aliquibus. Scipio must have seen with displeasure the intimacy between Jugurtha and certain young ambitious Romans of an equivocal character.

7'In his own mode of acting,' must be understood here of his honourable mode of acting; though there are also malae artes, such as faithlessness, cunning, flattery, and the like.