Chapter 12

[153] _Nisi tamen intellego_ refers to the preceding _plura scribere nolo_, and expresses an exception, as is always the case with _nisi_ after a negative: he will write nothing else, but still add the remark that Jugurtha aimed at something beyond the kingdom of Adherbal; namely, that he intended afterwards to attack the Romans themselves, because he saw that the acquisition of the kingdom of Adherbal was irreconcilable with the friendship of Rome. _Plura non scribam nisi hoc intellego_ is an elliptical expression, equivalent to _plura non scribam, nisi hoc scribam, me intellegere_. [154] 'Whatever may have been our mutual acts of injustice, it is no concern of yours;' that is, they must be indifferent to you. Consider only the fact, that he has taken possession of the kingdom of your ally. [155] Adherbal, for the purpose of exciting the sympathy of the senate, represents it as a fact that he is born only to exhibit (endure) the crimes of Jugurtha. Respecting the dative _ostentui_, see Zumpt, SS 90 and 422. [156] Adherbal prays the senate to _prevent (deprecor)_ his enemy from acquiring the sole sovereignty, and from killing him amid tortures.

25. His litteris recitatis fuere, qui exercitum in Africam mittendum censerent et quam primum Adherbali subveniundum; de Jugurtha interim uti consuleretur,[157] quoniam legatis non paruisset. Sed ab iisdem illis regis fautoribus summa ope enisum,[158] ne tale decretum fieret. Ita bonum publicum, ut in plerisque negotiis solet, privata gratia devictum. Legantur tamen in Africam majores natu, nobiles, amplis honoribus usi; in quis fuit M. Scaurus, de quo supra memoravimus, consularis et tum in senatu princeps. Hi, quod res in invidia erat, simul et ab Numidis obsecrati, triduo navim ascendere, dein brevi Uticam appulsi litteras ad Jugurtham mittunt, quam ocissime[159] ad provinciam accedat, seque ad eum ab senatu missos. Ille ubi accepit homines claros, quorum auctoritatem Romae pollere audiverat, contra inceptum suum venisse, primo commotus, metu atque libidine diversus agitabatur. Timebat iram senatus, ni paruisset legatis; porro animus cupidine caecus ad inceptum scelus rapiebat. Vicit tamen in avido ingenio pravum consilium. Igitur exercita circumdato summa vi Cirtam irrumpere[160] nititur, maxime sperans, diducta manu hostium[161] aut vi aut dolis sese casum victoriae inventurum. Quod ubi secus procedit neque quod intenderat efficere potest, ut prius quam legates conveniret, Adherbalis potiretur; ne amplius morando Scaurum, quem plurimum metuebat, incenderet, cum paucis equitibus in provinciam venit. Ac tametsi senati verbis graves minae nuntiabantur, quod ab oppugnatione non desisteret, multa tamen oratione consumpta legati frustra discessere.

[157] _Consuleretur_; supply _senatus_; 'that the subject of the disobedience shown by Jugurtha should be brought for decision before the senate.' [158] _Enisum est_, 'it was carried.' Observe the passive meaning of the deponent verb. [159] _Quam ocissime_, 'as speedily as possible.' The positive of _ocissime_ is not in use in Latin. Zumpt, S 293, note. [160] _Cirtam irrumpere_ is a peculiarity in the style of Sallust, the common expression being, _in urbem irrumpere_. See Zumpt, S 386, note. [161] By engaging the enemy's troops in different places, and thus dividing them. This is the meaning of the inseparable particle _dis_ or _di_.

26. Ea postquam Cirtae audita sunt, Italici, quorum virtute moenia defensabantur, confisi deditione facta propter magnitudinem populi Romani inviolatos sese fore, Adherbali suadent, uti seque et oppidum Jugurthae tradat, tantum ab eo vitam paciscatur, de ceteris senatui curae fore. At ille, tametsi omnia potiora fide Jugurthae rebatur,[162] tamen quia penes eosdem, si adversaretur, cogendi potestas erat, ita, uti censuerant Italici, deditionem facit. Jugurtha in primis Adherbalem excruciatum necat, deinde omnes puberes Numidas atque negotiatores promiscue, uti quisque armatis obvius fuerat, interficit.

[162] 'Although he considered everything else to be of more weight than the faithfulness (promise) of Jugurtha.' The conquest of Cirta, and the putting to death of Adherbal, belong to the year B. C. 112.

27. Quod postquam Romae cognitum est, et res in senatu agitari coepta, iidem illi ministri regis interpellando[163] ac saepe gratia, interdum jurgiis trahendo tempus, atrocitatem facti leniebant. Ac ni G. Memmius, tribunus plebis designatus, vir acer et infestus potentiae nobilitatis, populum Romanum edocuisset id agi, ut per paucos factiosos Jugurthae scelus condonaretur, profecto omnis invidia prolatandis consultationibus dilapsa foret: tanta vis gratiae atque pecuniae regis erat. Sed ubi senatus delicti conscientia populum timet, lege Sempronia[164] provinciae futuris consulibus Numidia atque Italia decretae; consules declarati P. Scipio Nasica, L. Bestia Calpurnius; Calpurnio Numidia, Scipioni Italia obvenit;[165] deinde exercitus, qui in Africam portaretur, scribitur; stipendium aliaque, quae bello usui forent, decernuntur.

[163] _Interpellando_, 'by interrupting the speakers, and introducing other topics.' [164] By this law of the tribune G. Sempronius Gracchus, in the year B. C. 122, it had been ordained that every year previous to the election of the consuls for the next year, the senate should determine those provinces which should be assigned to the consuls about to be elected, after the expiration of the year of their office. As two provinces were thus fixed upon, the consuls afterwards determined by lot which should have the one, and which the other. The object of this law was to prevent intrigues in the senate, which would be carried on by the ruling consuls if they had to choose their own provinces. [165] _Obvenit_, 'fell to the lot.' Whenever Italy is called a province, it is implied that the consul undertaking its administration was to remain at Rome, and was to be ready for any other war which might break out. For in the first place, there were now no wars in Italy, and in the second place, Italy was not a province in the ordinary sense of the term. The consuls here mentioned entered upon their office on the 1st January, B. C. 111.

28. At Jugurtha, contra spem nuntio accepto, quippe cui Romae omnia venum ire[166] in animo haeserat, filium et cum eo duos familiares ad senatum legatos mittit, hisque ut illis, quos Hiempsale interfecto miserat, praecipit, omnes mortales pecunia aggrediantur. Qui postquam Romam adventabant,[167] senatus a Bestia consultus est, placeretne legatos Jugurthae recipi moenibus; iique decrevere, nisi regnum ipsumque deditum venissent, uti in diebus proximis decem[168] Italia decederent. Consul Numidis ex senati decreto nuntiari jubet; ita infectis rebus illi domum discedunt. Interim Calpurnius, parato exercitu, legat[169] sibi homines nobiles, factiosos, quorum auctoritate, quae deliquisset, munita fore sperabat; in quis fuit Scaurus, cujus de natura et habitu supra[170] memoravimus. Nam in consule nostro multae bonaeque artes animi et corporis erant, quas omnes avaritia praepediebat; patiens laborum, acri ingenio, satis providens, belli haud ignarus, firmissimus contra pericula et insidias. Sed legiones per Italiam Rhegium atque inde Siciliam,[171] porro ex Sicilia in Africam transvectae. Igitur Calpurnius initio, paratis commeatibus, acriter Numidiam ingressus est, multosque mortales et urbes aliquot pugnando cepit.

[166] _Venum eo_, or contracted _veneo_, infinitive _venire_, 'to go to be sold,' or 'to be sold;' the passive of _vendo_ (I sell) is not in use. Zumpt, S 187. [167] _Adventabant_, with the accusative, see Zumpt, S 489. [168] _In diebus_, &c.; for _in_, with words denoting time, see Zumpt, S 479. _Deditum_ is a supine. [169] _Legare_ properly signifies 'to despatch,' and 'to add to;' whence the word _legatus_ means both 'an ambassador,' and 'a person added to an officer,' who, when necessary, supplies his place. See _Catil._ chap. 59. It was the business of the senate to supply such legates to a magistrate (_senatus legat aliquem alicui_), but as this was commonly done on the proposal or recommendation of the magistrate himself, we also read _legat sibi_, 'he chooses some one to be his legate.' [170] _Supra_. See chap. 15. [171] Respecting the omission of _in_ before _Siciliam_, see Zumpt, S 398, note 1.

29. Sed ubi Jugurtha per legatos pecunia temptare bellique quod administrabat asperitatem ostendere coepit, animus aeger avaritia[172] facile conversus est. Ceterum socius et administer omnium consiliorum assumitur Scaurus, qui tametsi a principio,[173] plerisque ex factione ejus corruptis, acerrime regem impugnaverat, tamen magnitudine pecuniae a bono honestoque in pravum abstractus est. Sed Jugurtha primo tantummodo belli moram redimebat, existimans sese aliquid interim Romae pretio aut gratia effecturum; postea vero quam participem negotii Scaurum accepit, in maximam spem adductus recuperandae pacis, statuit cum eis de omnibus pactionibus praesens agere. Ceterum interea fidei causa mittitur a consule Sextius quaestor in oppidum Jugurthae Vagam,[174] cujus rei species erat acceptio frumenti, quod Calpurnius palam legatis imperaverat, quoniam deditionis mora induciae agitabantur.[175] Igitur rex, uti constituerat, in castra venit, ac pauca praesenti consilio locutus de invidia facti sui atque uti in deditionem acciperetur, reliqua cum Bestia et Scauro secreta[176] transigit, dein postero die, quasi per saturam sententiis exquisitis,[177] in deditionem accipitur. Sed uti pro consilio[178] imperatum erat, elephanti triginta, pecus atque equi multi cum parvo argenti pondere quaestori traduntur. Calpurnius Romam ad magistratus rogandos[179] proficiscitur. In Numidia et exercitu nostro pax agitabatur.

[172] _Aeger avaritia_, 'sick with avarice;' a very appropriate expression, describing moral defects as a disease. [173] _A principio_; that is, _in principio_. See Zumpt, S 304. The faction of Scaurus is that of the nobility or aristocracy. [174] _Vaga_, a considerable town in Numidia, to the south-east of Cirta. [175] 'A truce was observed on account of (or during) the delay of the surrender,' which Jugurtha had promised, but which could not yet be carried into effect. [176] _Secreta_ refers to _reliqua_, so that the other negotiations were secret, whereas the proposal to surrender had been made in presence of the war council. It would have been more in accordance with ordinary usage to employ the adverb _secreto_ belonging to the verb. [177] The opinions of the persons invited to the war council were asked only _en masse (per saturam)_. The Latin expression is taken from _lanx satura_, a dish offered as a sacrifice to the gods, and containing different kinds of fruit. Its figurative application to other mixtures is here indicated by _quasi_. [178] _Pro consilio_; that is, _in consilio_. See Zumpt, S 311. [179] To cause the magistrates for the year B.C. 110 to be elected. The president in the elective assembly _rogat populum_ (requests the people) to appoint new officers; hence _rogare_, the usual term.

30. Postquam res in Africa gestas quoque modo actae forent fama divulgavit, Romae per omnes locos et conventus de facto consulis agitari. Apud plebem gravis invidia, patres solliciti erant; probarentne tantum flagitium, an decretum consulis subverterent, parum constabat.[180] Ac maxime eos potentia Scauri, quod is auctor et socius Bestiae ferebatur, a vero bonoque impediebat. At G. Memmius, cujus de libertate ingenii et odio potentiae nobilitatis supra diximus, inter dubitationem et moras senatus contionibus populum ad vindicandum hortari, monere, ne rem publicam, ne libertatem suam desererent, multa superba et crudelia facinora nobilitatis ostendere; prorsus intentus omni modo plebis animum accendebat. Sed quoniam ea tempestate Romae Memmii facundia clara pollensque fuit, decere existimavi unam ex tam multis orationem ejus perscribere, ac potissimum ea dicam, quae in contione post reditum Bestiae hujuscemodi verbis disseruit.

[180] _Parum constabat_, 'was not firmly determined upon;' namely, _iis, patribus_--that is, they had not yet made up their minds.

31. 'Multa me dehortantur a vobis,[181] Quirites, ni studium rei publicae omnia superet, opes factionis, vestra patientia, jus nullum, ac maxime, quod innocentiae plus periculi quam honoris est. Nam illa quidem piget dicere, his annis XV.[182] quam ludibrio fueritis superbiae paucorum, quam foede quamque inulti perierint vestri defensores, ut vobis animus ab ignavia[183] atque socordia corruptus sit, qui ne nunc quidem, obnoxiis inimicis,[184] exsurgitis, atque etiamnunc timetis eos, quibus decet terrori esse. Sed quamquam haec talia sunt, tamen obviam ire factionis potentiae animus subigit.[185] Certe ego libertatem, quae mihi a parente meo tradita est, experiar; verum id frustra an ob rem[186] faciam, in vestra manu situm est, Quirites. Neque ego vos hortor, quod saepe majores vestri fecere, uti contra injurias armati eatis. Nihil vi, nihil secessione opus est: necesse est suomet ipsi more praecipites eant.[187] Occisso Ti. Graccho, quem regnum parare ajebant, in plebem Romanam quaestiones habitae sunt. Post G. Gracchi et M. Fulvi caedem item vestri ordinis multi mortales in carcere necati sunt; utriusque cladis non lex, verum libido eorum finem fecit. Sed sane fuerit regni paratio plebi sua restituere; quicquid sine sanguine civium ulcisci nequitur, jure factum sit.[188] Superioribus annis taciti indignabamini aerarium expilari, reges et populos liberos paucis nobilibus vectigal pendere, penes eosdem et summam gloriam et maximas divitias esse; tamen haec talia facinora impune suscepisse parum habuere.[189] Itaque postremo leges, majestas vestra, divina et humana omnia hostibus tradita sunt. Neque eos, qui ea fecere, pudet aut poenitet, sed incedunt per ora vestra[190] magnifici, sacerdotia et consulatus, pars triumphos suos ostentantes, perinde quasi ea honori non praedae habeant. Servi aera parati injusta imperia dominorum non perferunt; vos, Quirites, imperio nati, aequo animo servitutem toleratis? At qui sunt hi qui rem publicam oocupavere? Homines sceleratissimi, cruentis manibus, immani avaritia, nocentissimi iidemque superbissimi, quibus fides, decus, pietas, postremo honesta atque inhonesta omnia quaestui sunt. Pars eorum occidisse tribunos plebis, alii quaestiones injustas, plerique caedem in vos fecisse, pro munimento habent.[191] Ita quam quisque pessime fecit, tam maxime[192] tutus est: metum a scelere suo ad ignaviam vestram transtulere;[193] quos omnes eadem cupere, eadem odisse, eadem metuere in unum coegit.[194] Sed haec inter bonos amicitia, inter malos factio est. Quodsi tam vos libertatis curam haberetis, quam illi ad dominationem accensi sunt, profecto neque res publica, sicuti nunc, vastaretur, et beneficia vestra[195] penes optimos, non audacissimos, forent. Majores vestri parandi juris et majestatis constituendae gratia bis per secessionem armati Aventinum occupavere,[196] vos pro libertate, quam ab illis accepistis, non summa ope nitemini?[197] atque eo vehementius, quo majus dedecus est parta amittere quam omnino non paravisse. Dicet aliquis: Quid igitur censes? Vindicandum in eos,[198] qui hosti prodidere rem publicam? Non manu neque vi, quod magis vos fecisse quam illis accidisse indignum est, verum quaestionibus[199] et indicio ipsius Jugurthae, qut si dediticius est, profecto jussis vestris obediens erit; sin ea contemnit, scilicet existimabitis, qualis illa pax aut deditio sit, ex qua ad Jugurtham scelerum impunitas, ad paucos potentes maximae divitiae, in rem publicam damna atque dedecora pervenerint. Nisi forte[200] nondum etiam vos dominationis eorum satietas tenet, et illa quam haec tempora magis placent, quum regna, provinciae, leges, jura, judicia, bella atque paces, postremo divina et humana omnia penes paucos erant; vos autem, hoc est, populus Romanus, invicti ab hostibus, imperatores omnium gentium, satis habebatis animam retinere; nam servitutem quidem quis vestrum recusare audebat? Atque ego, tametsi viro flagitiosissimum existimo impune injuriam accepisse, tamen vos hominibus sceleratissimis ignoscere, quoniam cives sunt, aequo animo paterer, ni misericordia in perniciem casura esset. Nam et illis, quantum importunitatis habent,[201] parum est impune male fecisse, nisi deinde faciundi licentia eripitur, et vobis aeterna sollicitudo remanebit, quum intellegetis aut serviundum esse aut permanus libertatem retinendam. Nam fidei quidem aut concordiae quae spes est? Dominari illi volunt, vos liberi esse, facere illi injurias, vos prohibere; postremo sociis vestris veluti hostibus, hostibus pro sociis utuntur. Potestne in tam diversis mentibus pax aut amicitia esse? Quare moneo hortorque vos, ne tantum scelus impunitum omittatis. Non peculatus aerarii factus est, neque per vim sociis ereptae pecuniae, quae quamquam gravia sunt, tamen consuetudine jam pro nihilo habentur: hosti acerrimo prodita senatus auctoritas, proditum imperium vestrum, domi militiaeque res publica venalis fuit. Quae nisi quaesita erunt, nisi vindicatum in noxios, quid erit reliquum, nisi ut illis, qui ea fecere, obedientes vivamus? Nam impune quaelibet facere, id est regem[202] esse. Neque ego vos, Quirites, hortor, ut malitis cives vestros perperam quam recte fecisse, sed ne ignoscendo malis bonos perditum eatis.[203] Ad hoc in re publica multo praestat beneficii quam maleficii immemorem esse;[204] bonus tantummodo segnior fit, ubi neglegas, at malus improbior. Ad hoc si injuriae non sint, haud saepe auxilii egeas.'

[181] _Dehortantur a vobis_--that is, _ad causam vestram suscipiendam_, 'many things dissuade me to undertake your cause.' According to the context, the expression might, or rather should be, _multa me dehortantur, ni superaret_; but the present represents the act of _superare_ as an actual fact, and is at the same time more impressive. [182] The number XV., which is found in all good manuscripts, points to the year B. C. 125, in which the aristocracy gained a decisive victory through the praetor L. Opimius, who destroyed the town of Fregellae, and thereby crushed the first attempt of the Italian allies (_socii_) to obtain the Roman franchise. It may be supposed that this attempt of the allies was even then supported by the Roman plebs, as was the case afterwards in the time of Marius. [183] _Ab ignavia_ is to be taken in the sense of 'in consequence of,' or 'on account of your cowardice.' See Zumpt, S 305. [184] 'When your political enemies (in consequence of the crime which they have committed) are deserving of punishment, and in your hands.' [185] _Animus subigit_. 'My feelings compel me to stand out against the faction (of the optimates), in spite of your lukewarmness.' [186] _Ob rem_, 'effectually,' 'with success.' [187] 'They must ruin themselves.' [188] 'I will grant that everything has been done with justice, which cannot be punished without again shedding the blood of citizens;' that is, the cruelties then committed by the optimates in crushing Tib. and G. Gracchus may be considered as legitimate, since the perpetrators cannot be punished without fresh executions. _Ulciscor_, usually a deponent, is here used in a passive sense, just as the participle _ultus_ is sometimes used in the sense of _vindicatus_. For the same reason, the passive form _nequitur_ has been chosen; respecting which, see Zumpt, S 216. [189] _Parum habuere_, 'they considered it too little' (this is the meaning of _parum_): it was not enough for them that they had committed such disgraceful acts. [190] _Incedere per ora hominum_, 'to walk in the eyes' or 'in the sight of men.' [191] 'The cruelties committed against the defenders of the plebs, serve them as a bulwark;' that is, make them only the more audacious. [192] About _quam maxime--tam maxime_, expressing a proportionate increase, see Zumpt, S 725. [193] A complicated expression--'they have transferred their fear, which they ought to have on account of their crime, to your cowardice;' that is, to you who are cowards, or whom they consider as cowards. [194] _In unum coegit_; that is, _conjunxit, copulavit_. The infinitives here are the subjects of the sentence: the same fear and the same greediness have united all your opponents into one league. Compare _Cat._ 20: _idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est_. [195] _Benejicia vestra_; that is, _honores, magistratus, imperia_. [196] The speaker refers to the two most important secessions of the Roman plebs--the one in which they obtained their tribunes in B.C. 510, and the other, which was undertaken in B.C. 449. to restore the consulate and the tribuneship after the overthrow of the tyrannical rule of the decemvirs. Both led to the establishment of a legitimate state of things (_jus_), and the latter, in particular, to the establishment of the decisive authority of the people against the magistrates and the patricians. This sovereignty of the Roman people was termed _majestas_. These secessions, according to the statements of the ancients, were made to the Mons Sacer, and not to the Aventine; but Sallust here follows other ancient authorities; and it is probable enough that the plebs may have occupied both hills. [197] Respecting the form of this sentence, see Zumpt, S 781. The answer to this question is contained in the clause _atque eo vehementius_, to which we must supply _nitendum vobis est_. _Atque_ introduces the answer with emphasis. [198] _Vindicare_ is construed with _in_ and the accusative, as well as _vindicare scelus in aliquo_ and _vindicare aliquam rem_. _Vindicare in aliquem_, 'to use force against a person for the purpose of taking revenge.' _Vindicare sibi rem_, 'to claim a thing for one's self,' or 'to appropriate a thing.' [199] _Quaestio_, 'a judicial inquiry into a crime,' 'a criminal trial.' [200] _Nisi forte_ supposes, with a strong irony, a case which cannot be conceived. See Zumpt, S 526. [201] _Quantum importunitatis habent_, 'according to the high degree of impudence and arrogance which they possess.' Sallust might have said, _quae eorum importunitas est_, or _pro eorum importunitate_. See Zumpt, S 705. [202] _Rex_, according to Roman notions, always contains the idea of an absolute ruler, and is therefore frequently used in the sense of 'a tyrant.' The idea of a constitutional or limited monarchy was not known in antiquity, except perhaps at Sparta. [203] _Perditum eatis_; that is, _perdatis_. See Zumpt, S 669. [204] Practically, it is quite correct, that in the administration of a state it is more necessary to punish criminals than to reward good services; for it is impossible that all good citizens should be rewarded with external distinctions; but if a criminal remains unpunished, he does harm by his example, and undermines the organism of the state.