Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by

ELDREDGE & BROTHER,

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

[merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small]

TO THE

REV. HENRY PALETHORP HAY, D.D., LL.D.,

LATE PRESIDENT OF BEDFORD UNIVERSITY,

RECTOR OF THE PARISH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, RADNOR, PA.,

This Work

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY HIS FRIEND,

THE EDITOR.

PREFACE.

THE advantages enjoyed by Gerlach and Jordanus in

regard to manuscripts of Sallust have put the text of that author in the most exact and complete form in which it is now likely it can appear. The labors of these scholars have rendered the historian more readable and attractive: for the sweeping emendations of Cortius too often corrupted the elegance of Sallust's style. The text here presented is accordingly based upon a careful comparison of the approved German editors just named. The oldest manuscripts of Sallust date back to the tenth century.

As Sallust is for the most part used as a preparatory text-book, the grammatical references and explanations of construction are very numerous and full; and the always interesting subject of antiquities and mythology forms not the least prominent portion of the notes. Biographical and historical explanations are given both in the Notes and in the Lexicon.

Sallust was very partial to the old phraseology and the older forms of the language; yet, as the manuscripts, our ultimate authority, exhibit great variety, it is simply impossible to present his words as he wrote them. It has therefore been deemed proper, while avoiding the widest departures from established usage, to retain what may be fairly considered the leading and distinctive features of the Sallustian orthography.

The Lexicon is quite full, containing not only all the words and names of the text, but also all the forms of less obvious derivation. The definitions are copious, much more so than in the Caesar. The young student of Caesar makes surer and more rapid progress when he can select one, even though it be not the most accurate or elegant, from a small number of definitions: with a multitude of meanings he is too apt to be perplexed, and he often passes from the Lexicon to the text with a feeling of increased bewilderment. The more advanced student of Sallust is reasonably capable of greater discrimination; in two or three lines of synonyms he may see both their natural connections and their obvious distinctions, while he may also select with a view both to accuracy and elegance.

Although the Catilina was unquestionably written before the Jugurtha, the works have been arranged in the order of their chronology rather than in that of their composition. This is, however, a matter of little importance, as the reverse order may be followed in reading.

The Plan of the Forum will localize many of the events narrated in the text, and give a sense of reality to the student's comprehension of them.

In conclusion, the Editor expresses the hope, that so charming an author as Sallust, and so deserving of a place in a course of classical study, may soon be much more extensively read and studied in the schools and seminaries of this country.

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, Philadelphia, Sept. 1st, 1870.

G. S.

« IndietroContinua »