26. ab adulēscentiā bella, etc.: when Sulla returned from the East in B.C. 83, to take vengeance upon the Marian party, Catiline, who was then 25 years old, served in Sulla's army as quaestor. Throughout the frightful proscriptions that followed, he was one of Sulla's most bloodthirsty agents. He killed his own brother, and then, to evade prosecution, persuaded Sulla to put his brother's name on the list of the proscribed, as though he were still living. With a troop of Gallic cavalry, he plundered and slaughtered on every hand, murdering, among others, Q. Caecilius, his own brother-in-law. He most cruelly tortured M. Marius Gratidianus, a relative of C. Marius, and having at last put him to death, carried his gory head through the streets of Rome and presented himself with it in triumph before Sulla's tribunal. He is charged later with making away with his own son, in order to win the hand of Orestilla, who objected to having a full-grown step-son; see § 15. 29. inediae: B. 204, 1; A. 218, b; H. 451, 3; G. 375. quam, 'than,' naturally follows the comparative idea contained in suprā; translate, beyond what.' 30. Animus audāx, subdolus, etc. : the omission of connectives in this chapter makes the lines of the character sketch all the stronger. 31. cuius rei lubet: for cuius lubet rei, 'of whatever he pleased.' simulātor: one who pretends to be what he is not; dissimulātor: one who conceals what he is. aliēnī and (32) sui: neuter adjectives used as substantives, 'covetous of others' property, lavish with his own.' 32. satis, etc.: ' quite eloquent, he was lacking in discretion.' Page 4. 1. vāstus, etc. : 'his insatiable mind always entertained inordinate, startling, over-ambitious desires.' 3. dominātiōnem: Sulla was absolute master in Rome from B.C. 82 until his abdication in 79. 4. neque id, etc.: nor did he have the slightest scruple about the means by which he should accomplish this, provided he secured the supreme power for himself.' 5. pararet: B. 310; A. 314; H. 587; G. 573. pēnsī partitive genitive with quicquam. 7. quae utraque: neuter plural in agreement with two nouns in the feminine singular; B. 235, в, 2, α; A. 187, c; H. 395, 2, N.; G. 286, 3. artibus practices.' 8. Incitabant, etc. Besides, he was urged on by the corruption of the state's morals, which were being ruined by the worst and most opposite of evils, luxury and avarice.' 11. Rēs ipsa, etc.: The occasion itself, since my account has brought the public morality to mind, seems to encourage me to go further back.' 12. repetere : ut with the subjunctive is more often the construction with hortārī, 13. militiae: how did this paucīs as in 3, 21. 16. disserere has as in 19, 12. Digression: Sketch of the gradual change of the Romans from a simple, brave, industrious people to an utterly corrupt nation. Sections 6-13. § 6. Tradition relates that Trojan colonists united with the Aborigines in founding Rome. As the city grew and became prosperous, it was attacked by neighboring tribes; but Roman valor triumphed. The liberal policy of the Romans after their victory won them many friends. At first they were ruled by a king, with the advice of a council of elders. But the kings, becoming tyrannical, were expelled; and thereafter two chief magistrates, clothed with equal power, were elected annually. 17. sicuti ego accēpī: 'as I have heard on good authority." Sallust follows Cato in tracing the beginnings of Rome to the intermingling of Trojan colonists with the Aborigines. 18. habuēre: 'possessed.' sēdibus incertīs: 'without fixed abodes.' 19. Aborīginēs: a name given by Roman writers to the primitive race which, mixing with the ancient Siculi, was said to have produced the Latins. Cf. Vergil's account of them in the Aeneid, VIII, 314–323: CICERO. "Haec nemora indigenae Fauni Nymphaeque tenebant quis neque mos neque cultus erat, nec iungere tauros nōrat for Page 4. 1. Ille: Catiline. istis: these (scoundrels),' the conspirators. sed tam diū, dum: 'but only so long as.' 2. continēbātur: B. 293, II; A. 276, e, N.; H. 603, 1; G. 569. noverat, from nōscō. 4. Erat ei, etc.: 'not only did he possess the ability to plan crime, but neither hand nor tongue ever failed to support his ability'; i.e. he lacked neither a persuasive tongue to urge his plans, nor a deft hand to execute them. 6. descriptōs: 'assigned.' cum mandārat: B. 288, 3; A. 322, 309, c; H. 539, 2; G. 567. 7. nihil erat, etc. there was nothing to which he did not give his personal attention and energy, nothing for which he did not himself watch and toil.' sed rami atque asper victu venatus alebat. Page 5. 2. moenia, which usually means 'city walls,' here denotes a walled city'; note the use of una in the plural to agree with moenia. dispari genere: although they were unlike in race.' 3. alii aliō mōre vīventēs: accustomed to different modes of life.' 6. rēs state." mōribus: 'civilization.' 7. sīcuti, etc.: 'as generally happens with human possessions.' 9. rēgēs: the Etruscan kings. populique finitumī: the Sabines, Aequians, Rutulians, and Volscians. temptāre and (10) esse: the first instances of the historical infinitive, which, although rare in Caesar and Cicero, Sallust uses very freely. B. 335; A. 275; H. 610; G. 647. pauci: 'but few; it is probable that the alliance existing later with the lowland Hernicans began in the regal period. 10. auxiliō: B. 191; A. 233; H. 433, 3; G. 356. 11. intenti: ' energetically.' 14. auxilia portābant: colloquialism for auxilia ferebant; portāre is restricted more properly to the carrying of material objects. 16. parābant: 'secured.' Imperium, etc. : 'Rule over them was regulated by law; but their ruler was called king.' 17. rēgium: not from rex. 18. rei publicae consultābant: this is the only case in which the frequentative is used like the simple verb consulō with the dative, to denote 'taking counsel for.' 19. curae similitūdine: 'from the similarity of their duties.' patrēs: they were more probably called patrēs because the senate originally consisted of all the patrēs familias over 45 years old; their age gave them the title senātōrēs, which is derived from the same root (SEN, 'old') as senex. 21. conservandae lîbertātis: this use of the gerundive as predicate genitive to express purpose is rare. B. 339, 6; A. 298, R.; H. 626, 5; G. 428, R.2. 23. annua, etc.: they elected two rulers to hold office for one year; in this way they thought the mind of man would be least likely to grow overbearing for want of restraint.' 6 § 7. With the establishment of the republic, men's ambitions — long stifled by suspicious kings were aroused. Young men were willing to undergo any hardship, to incur any danger, in the hope of winning fair fame. Glory in war, rather than mere wealth, was their aim. Their bravery bore fruit in the defeat of large armies, and in the capture of many cities belonging to their enemies. : 26. ea tempestāte: more archaic and poetical than the usual eo tempore. quisque in apposition with 'they,' the subject of coepere; it regularly follows the reflexive, as it does in this case. 30. adeptā: here used in a passive sense; cf. māchinātum, 38, 28. B. 112, b; A. 135, ƒ; H. 222, 2; G. 167, n.2. Page 6. 3. habebant: Sallust seems to forget that he has already put two verbs, erat and discēbat, agreeing with iuventūs, in the singular. For other examples of a combination of singular and plural verbs in the same sentence, see 12, 13-17, and 17, 9-12. 5. glōriae: what case? B. 200; A. 217; H. 440, 2; G. 363, 2. 6. sē: cf. use of reflexive with student in 1, 1; here the presence of quisque is responsible for it in some degree. 7. facinus faceret: alliteration, of which there are innumerable instances in Sallust. When the words are from the same root, as in this case, it is called figūra etymologica. 8. faceret: subjunctive by attraction. B. 324, 2; A. 342; H. 652; G. 663, 1. 11. possem . . . traheret: as these form a contrary-to-fact present conditional, the perfect subjunctives fecerit and ceperit are only apparent violations of the law of sequence of tenses. 13. pugnandō = oppugnando. Sallust often uses a simple verb instead of a compound. nī, etc. if this enumeration would not draw us too far from our undertaking.' § 8. But surely capricious Dame Fortune reigns supreme in this world. For while the Athenians have had several talented historians to laud their brave deeds, the Roman people unfortunately have let their exploits go unheralded, simply because they were always so absorbed in business affairs that they never developed historians of any merit. 15. ea: ‘she,' i.e. fortuna; the subject of celebrat obscuratque, while res is the object. 16. ex lubidine: according to her caprice.' 19. feruntur : 6 are famed to be.' 20. scriptōrum māgna ingenia = scriptōrēs māgni ingenī; such clever historians as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon contributed to the renown of Athens. 21. prō māxumīs: 'as being most remarkable.' 22. fēcĕre: used absolutely, i.e. without any object expressed. 23. populō Rōmānō: Q. Fabius Pictor and L. Cincius Alimentus, the best of the early Roman historians, were mere annalists, who wrote altogether in Greek. Cato the Censor, B.C. 184, who was Sallust's model in many particulars, was the first to write a history in Latin. With the exception of Julius Caesar, whose writings are memoirs rather than histories, Rome produced no historian of ability before Sallust. 24. cōpia: ‘advantage.' prudentissimus quisque : 'all their ablest men.' B. 252, 5, c; A. 93, c; H. 515, 2; G. 318, 2. § 9. But to resume: The Romans of the early republic were a people of good morals, thrifty and harmonious at home, brave and energetic in the field. Their success was due to their daring in war and their fairness in peace. That these qualities were characteristic of them is proven by the fact that in war the penalty for disobedience to orders was much more severe than for either fleeing or giving way in battle, while in peace they ruled by kindness rather than by fear. 29. Igitur: 'well then,' used to resume a line of thought after a digression, and hence called resumptive. In this case there is a return to the idea expressed in § 7. bonī mōrēs: 'good morals'; the picture of the Romans contained in the following lines, although somewhat highly colored, is fairly representative of the period of the conquest of Italy, B.C. 350-275. Indeed, it was not until after the Second Punic War, B. C. 218-201, that the Romans began to show unmistakable signs of deterioration. Before that, they had been for the most part simple peasants, remarkable for their industry in peace and their aggressiveness in war. 30. iūs bonumque, etc.: 'justice and goodness prevailed among them, not so much because they were compelled to practice these virtues by their laws, as from their natural inclination.' 31. valēbat: the verb is in the singular, although there are two subjects. B. 255, 3; A. 205, b; H. 392, 4; G. 285, 2. Page 7. 1. suppliciīs, which generally means 'punishment,' is an archaism for supplicationibus, 'thanksgivings.' On these thanksgiving days all the temples were thrown open to the public. Priests and people, crowned with bay wreaths, marched in procession to all the sanctuaries and prostrated themselves before the statues of the gods, while wine and incense were offered on the altars, and prayers were read to the deities. This was generally followed by much feast |