Chapter 32

being unwilling to fight against his old confederate.

2. _Bellum Iugurthinum_. (So in MSS. and Quint. iii. 8, 9.)

_Iug._ 5, 'Bellum scripturus sum, quod populus Romanus cum Iugurtha rege Numidarum gessit, primum quia magnum et atrox variaque victoria fuit, dehinc quia tunc primum superbiae nobilitatis obviam itum est.'

The object of the book is to give a picture of the low state of the oligarchical government (cf. _Iug._ 8, 'Romae omnia venalia esse'), and to glorify Marius, the chief of the democratic party.

Of his sources, Sallust mentions Sisenna (_Iug._ 95) for information about Sulla, and native authorities for African ethnography.

_Iug._ 17, 'Sed qui mortales initio Africam habuerint, quique postea adcesserint, aut quo modo inter se permixti sint ... uti ex libris Punicis, qui regis Hiempsalis dicebantur, interpretatum nobis est ... dicam.'

Sallust probably also used the memoirs of Scaurus, Sulla, and Catulus.

3. _Historiae_.--This work dealt with the events from B.C. 78 to 67. Cf. Ausonius, p. 264 (ed. Peiper),

'Ab Lepido et Catulo iam res et tempora Romae orsus his senos seriem conecto per annos.'

There is no reference in the fragments to any event after B.C. 67. The book took up the history where Sisenna had left off, B.C. 78. Cf. i. _frag._ 1 (ed. Maurenbrecher), 'Res populi Romani M. Lepido Q. Catulo coss. ac deinde militiae et domi gestas composui.'

Four speeches and two letters from the _Histories_ have been preserved in a collection of Sallustian speeches and letters made for rhetorical purposes, probably in the second century A.D. Besides these there are considerable fragments, chiefly from Books ii. and iii. We may conclude from _Iug._ 95, 'neque enim alio loco de Sullae rebus dicturi sumus,' that the career of Sulla was not treated of in the _Histories_. He is, however, repeatedly mentioned.

Two works are falsely attributed to Sallust:

1. _Oratio invectiva in Tullium_, composed, along with an _Oratio invectiva in Sallustium_ falsely ascribed to Cicero, by the same ancient rhetorician. The _Or. in Tull._ is quoted by Quintilian, if the MSS. are right, _e.g._ iv. 1, 68.

2. An oration and an epistle _ad Caesarem senem de re publica_, both probably belonging to the imperial period.

_Sallust as a historian._--1. He departed from the annalistic arrangement, and took a broader view of his subject, endeavouring to connect events together, and to trace the motives of actions.

2. He shows a want of precision in his facts. Instead of giving dates, he often says vaguely _interea_; _isdem temporibus_; _dum haec aguntur_. One year in the Jugurthine war is left unaccounted for, and Marius is represented as consul in B.C. 105. So in geography and ethnography (as in the _Iugurtha_) he is not to be trusted. In _Iug._ 21 he forgets that Cirta is fifty miles from the sea, and that city is besieged in the usual way, though surrounded on three sides by gorges.

He prides himself on his impartiality.

_Cat._ 4, 'Mihi a spe, metu, partibus rei publicae animus liber erat.' So _Hist._ i. fr. 6.

His leaning to the popular party, however, has been shown above.

3. His speeches do not always suit the speaker or his audience, and are not historical. Thus the speech of Catiline (_Cat._ 20) does not suit his audience and is not authentic, and that of Marius (_Iug._ 85) is too learned for the speaker.

4. His prefaces have little to do with what follows. Cf. Quint. iii. 8, 9, 'C. Sallustius in bello Iugurthino et Catilinae nihil ad historiam pertinentibus principiis orsus est.'

5. He is too fond of hackneyed moral maxims and trite sayings. Thus:

_Cat._ i, 'Sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est,' etc.

_Iug._ 2, 'Nam uti genus hominum compositum ex corpore et anima est, ita res cunctae studiaque omnia nostra corporis alia, alia animi naturam secuntur.'

His tone is that of a severe moralist.

_Cat._ 3, 'Sed ego adulescentulus initio sicuti plerique studio ad rem publicam latus sum, ibique mihi multa advorsa fuere. Nam pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro virtute audacia, largitio, avaritia vigebant,' etc.

As this moralizing did not fit in with the facts of his life he was censured for it, as shown above.

_Sallust's authorities and models._--Besides the authorities mentioned above, he used a _breviarium rerum omnium Romanarum_ prepared for him by the grammarian Ateius (Sueton. _Gramm._ 10). He is said to have borrowed phrases from Cato.

Quint. viii. 3, 29, 'Nec minus noto Sallustius epigrammate incessitur:

"Et verba antiqui multum furate Catonis, Crispe, Iugurthinae conditor historiae."'

The similarity of Sallust's style to that of Thucydides, whom he tried to emulate, was remarked by the ancients.

Quint. ix. 3, 17, 'Ex Graeco vero translata vel Sallustii plurima, quale est "volgus amat fieri"' [_Iug._ 34, a poor instance, and wrongly quoted]. Cf. _Cat._ 6, 'magisque dandis quam accipiundis beneficiis amicitias parabant,' and Thuc. ii. 40, 4, +ou gar paschontes eu alla drôntes ktômetha tous philous+: _Iug._ 73, 'in maius celebrare,' and Thuc. i. 10, 3, +epi to meizon kosmêsai+.

Sallust's popularity is shown by the numerous references to him, particularly in Quintilian. Cf. Quint. x. 1, 101, 'At non historia cesserit Graecis, nec opponere Thucydidi Sallustium verear'; § 102, 'immortalem illam Sallustii velocitatem.' Cf. also Martial, xiv. 191, 'primus Romana Crispus in historia.' Tacitus is the most important writer influenced by Sallust. For imitations cf. Tac. _Agr._ 37, where part of the description of a battle is modelled on _Iug._ 101. Cf. also _Cat._ 43, 'facto non consulto in tali periculo opus esse,' and Tac. _Hist._ i. 62, 'ubi facto magis quam consulto opus esset.'

CATULLUS.

The poet's full name, C.[35] Valerius Catullus, is got from Jerome and other authorities quoted below, as also his birthplace, Verona, to which Catullus himself refers (c. 67, 34, 'Veronae meae'; 68, 27; 100, 2). The dates of his birth and death are uncertain. Jerome gives them as B.C. 87-58.

Yr. Abr. 1930 = B.C. 87, 'Gaius Valerius Catullus scriptor lyricus Veronae nascitur.'

Yr. Abr. 1959 = B.C. 58, 'Catullus xxx. aetatis anno Romae moritur.' His early death is referred to by Ovid, _Am._ iii. 9, 61,

'Obvius huic [Tibullo] venias hedera iuvenilia cinctus tempora, cum Calvo, docte Catulle, tuo';

but it is quite certain that the year of his death given by Jerome as B.C. 58 is wrong. In c. 113, 2, the second consulship of Pompeius in B.C. 55 is referred to, and cc. 11 and 29 were written after Caesar's expedition to Britain in B.C. 55. C. 52 used to be taken as referring to B.C. 47, from l. 3, 'per consulatum perierat Vatinius,' but, as shown below, was written in B.C. 55 or 54. As no clear reference is found to any event after B.C. 54 (a highly important time, which would have been likely to produce some sarcastic poetry from Catullus), it is best to accept the view that Catullus lived from 87 to 54 or 53 B.C. B. Schmidt (ed. mai. 1887, prolegomena), on the other hand, fixes the dates as 82-52 B.C. (accepting Jerome's account of Catullus' age), and attributes c. 38 (to Cornificius) to the latter year.

Catullus' family was wealthy and of good position, as is seen from his having estates at Sirmio (c. 31) and Tibur (c. 44), and from the fact that his father was a friend of Julius Caesar.

Sueton. _Iul._ 73, 'Hospitioque patris eius [Catulli], sicut consueverat, uti perseveravit.'

Catullus went to Rome early, and there, as Schmidt thinks, was taught by the grammarian Valerius Cato, to whom c. 56 is probably addressed. From c. 68, 34-5, we see that he was settled at Rome.

'Romae vivimus: illa domus, illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas.'

Catullus wrote love-poetry soon after taking the _toga virilis_; c. 68, 15,

'Tempore quo primum vestis mihi tradita purast, iucundum cum aetas florida ver ageret, multa satis lusi.'

Catullus' love for Lesbia is the outstanding fact of his life. Her real name was Clodia, the sister of P. Clodius, nicknamed for her immorality 'quadrantaria.'

Apuleius, _Apol._ 10, 'Accusent C. Catullum quod Lesbiam pro Clodia nominarit.'

Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 427,

'Sic sua lascivo cantata est saepe Catullo femina, cui falsum Lesbia nomen erat.'

The name Lesbia (which scans like Clodia) may be got from Sappho, the Lesbian poetess, on whom c. 51 (probably the first addressed to Clodia) is modelled. The facts known about Clodia all fit in with what Catullus tells us of Lesbia. For Lesbia's beauty, cf. cc. 43 and 86; Clodia was called +boôpis+ from her large and lustrous eyes (Cic. _ad Att._ ii. 9, 1; 12, 2, etc.). For her relations with her husband, cf. Cic. _ad Att._ ii. 1, 5 (written B.C. 60), 'Est enim seditiosa: cum viro bellum gerit.' A hint of the real name is got from